Thought for the Day – 2 February – The Purification of Our Lady

Thought for the Day – 2 February – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)

The Purification of Our Lady

“In the Gospel narrative of St Luke (Cf 2:22-31), another character also appears.
He intrudes upon the scene without any apparent right to be there but, he had been inspired by God.
This is the old and saintly Simeon.
He was not a priest.
He was an upright man, careful in the observance of the law, who was waiting longingly for the coming of the promises Redeemer.
The Holy Spirit dwelt in him and had revealed, that he would not die until he had seen the Saviour.
He was inspired to go to the Temple, where he saw Jesus.
He took Him in his arms and was overcome with joy.
Then he blessed God and declared that he was now prepared to accept death, as he had been able to see and embrace the Saviour, as God had promised.
“Now thou dost dismiss thy servant, O Lord, according to thy word, in peace” (Lk 2:29).
It was a beautiful way to meet death, to be able to hold Jesus close to his heart and see his long life of hope and expectation rewarded by the loving embrace of his Lord.

Let us try and live like Simeon, with our minds and hearts turned towards Jesus.
Let us think chiefly of Him, love Him, above everything else and work only for Him.
Then our death will be as beautiful as his.
In fact, we shall be even more fortunate, for we can go further than receiving Jesus into our arms.
We shall be able to receive Him into out hearts.
He will be at hand to give us the supernatural strength which we shall need on our great journey into eternity.”

Antonio Cardinal Bacci

PART ONE;
https://anastpaul.com/2020/02/02/thought-for-the-day-2-february-the-purification-of-our-lady/
PART TWO:
https://anastpaul.com/2021/02/02/thought-for-the-day-2-february-the-purification-of-our-lady-2/