25 The Venerably, Happily aging Blessed Simeon and Anna (Lk 2)
Oh, venerably, happily aging Blessed Simeon,
Whenever I think of you, the memories of my minor seminary days pop up in my mind. As a part of our Night Prayers, we were taught to sing your Canticle in Latin.
"Nunc dimittis servum tum Domine.... in pace"
("Now Lord, let your servant go in peace.. ")
Oh, venerably, happily aging Blessed Simeon,
Though you spoke in your vernacular Aramaic /Hebrew, somehow I have taken a liking for the Latin translation of your Canticle. In the minor seminary Latin was taught.
The Latin phrase,
'Nunc dimittis...' meaning, 'now let (me) go"
has ever since been a fascination for me and has been indelibly inscribed in my mind.
As I age along in terms of the years I have lived, earnestly I wish and want and even fantasize to grow up like you and reach a grace-filled grateful, happy, and content state of body, mind, and soul, where, like you, someday I would love to say spontaneously my,
"Nunc dimittis..... Domine.. in pace"
"Now Lord, let your servant go in peace"
Oh, Venerable, happily aging Blessed Simeon,
Rare indeed are people like you who are so grateful, happy, and content in the sunset years of their lives and are ready
to say gracefully their '
Nunc dimittis.. Domine...in pace"
Many a times,I myself, along with many others, feel like quitting this world when met with severe disappointments due to an incurable disease or on account of an acute financial crisis or due to a badly broken relationship issues or as a reaction to abject failures of any undertakings etc.
Our wish to quit in desperation is far from your 'Nunc dimittis.. Domine.. '
You said it with delight and not with dejection, right?
On the other hand, some of us, though terribly unhappy and disillusioned, yet grudgingly want to hang on to life for ever or so.They too are no where close to your graceful and grateful attitude towards life and to you unique "Nunc dimittis.. Domine... ,"
Oh, venerably, happily, aging Blessed Simeon,
I wonder:
whether I am or I will be willing or ready to say:
my 'Nunc dimittis..' as you did!
In fact, at times, it has been the other way around. Often enough I am tempted to continue to live as if my life on earth is for ever. And to make it worse, in certain situations when I had felt terribly hurt, horribly lonely, and deeply disappointed and badly felt abandoned like Job or Jeremiah, I have had fleeting moments of death wish out of utter dejection. It was a sort of running away.
Oh, no, it was nothing like your graceful and joy filled 'Nunc dimittis'.
Oh, venerably, happily aging Blessed Simeon,
you are different, you are on a higher level of life! You are one of a kind, you are indeed so unbelievably unique! The grace, the joy, the happiness, and the peace you exude are often foreign to me. To be frank, I am very envious of you! Even though as a senior priest I am inching towards seventy, unlike you, I am afraid,
I am totally unprepared to say
my 'Nunc dimittis.'
Often I find myself with an ungrateful heart and an unsteady mind along with an unsettled life and am unwilling to say my 'Nunc dimittis.' It my endeavor to keep trying to reach that stage when I am happily and gratefully able to say my ' Nunc dimittis...'
Oh, Venerable, happily aging Blessed Simeon,
The Gospel Narratives describe you as a righteous and devout person. So you must have been a very upright, a very just, and a very pious a person.Though nothing about your personal life is mentioned, the couple of your known qualities like, your righteousness, your devotedness, and your total contentment with the life you had been living, would help me to draw a very vivid mental portrait of your personality and of your life.
Oh, venerable, happily aging Blessed Simeon,
You were neither a Pharisee nor a Sadducee.
If you were so, it would have been explicitly mentioned, right? While you were genuinely righteous, the Pharisees were self-righteous. While you were deeply devout they just pretended to be so. You didn't hold any political or religious office, did you? Probably, you were not extraordinarily rich, yet you were financially secure and without much undue worries, right?
It is quite probable that you had been happily living out your life as a great grand father, Weren't you?
Oh, venerably, happily aging Blessed Simeon,
It is amazing to see you bursting out with joy as you caught sight of the Baby Jesus and instantaneously recognizing and proclaiming him to be the long awaited Messiah! Remember, Mary and Joseph had initial difficulties in accepting and believing even when the Angel had announced it to them. They raised questions and entertained doubts, Didn't they? Strikingly, in your case there was no angel to make any announcement. You didn't need one, Did you? Yet inspired by the Holy Spirit, as soon as you saw the Baby Jesus, you were certain that he is the promised Messiah, right?
Wasn't it a spine tingling experience of beatific joy to have held the Baby Jesus in your arms?
This was the moment you had been waiting and hoping for, dreaming of and praying for, right?
Every fiber of your soul was satiated and saturated with the Heavenly Bliss and every pore of your body was glowing and your heart was overflowing with a rare feeling of Heavenly Peace, right?
No wonder, with an elated enthusiasm you were able to say so spontaneously and so joyfully your 'Nunc dimittis'!!!
Oh, venerably, happily aging Blessed Simeon, you stand out as an ever shining example of a gracefully aging and graciously willing human being who gladly sings his 'Nunc dimittis'.
Will I ever be able to make it my Swan-Song too?
I shall and I will keep trying to prepare myself to sing my own 'Nunc dimittis'.
Oh, Venerably, happily aging Prophetess Anna,
You were a widow, you were a childless widow, and you were an eighty-four year old childless widow, a widow for sixty plus years or so! Could there have been anything worse for a woman of your time and of your culture?
Oh, venerable, happily aging Prophetess Anna, you were married to your man as a teenager and lived together as a married couple just for seven years and becoming a widow for the rest your life did not demolish your indomitable spirit.You could have ended up a basket case, totally dejected and fully withdrawn. As a young widow, you could have been thrown out on to the streets and could have been abused and left in the lurch or you could have been dumped as a slave. But none of the above horrible things happened to you, right?
Oh, venerably, happily aging Prophetess Anna, You held on and held out with dignity and positive defiance.Yet there was no bitterness or rancour on account of your very early widowhood and the subsequent hardships attached to it. You never drenched your life in self-pity.You had successfully dealt with your bitter past and placed it behind you, Didn't you?
Oh, Venerable, happily aging Prophetess Anna,
You seemed to have been living attached to the Temple and happily serving the Lord day in and day out, right? You were held in high esteem as a prophetess in the line of Miriam, Deborah, and Huldah in Old Testament. In fact you might have been the one and only prophetess in the New Testament that we know of, right?
Oh, Venerable, happily aging Prophetess Anna, Your unwavering devotion and your unceasing worship in the Temple are the impeccable credentials of your unflinching faith in the Lord. You were so thrilled to see the Baby Jesus and recognized him to be the promised Messiah, Weren't you? So profusely, you thanked the Lord for giving the Messiah.You proclaimed him enthusiastically as the Messiah to all others around. as per the Lucan Narratives, in fact, you are the first one to preach the Good News of the arrival of the Messiah, Weren't you?
Oh, venerably, happily aging Prophetess Anna,
You are a miracle indeed! So beautifully and positively, you did handle your griefs, misfortunes, and tragedies in your life, Didn't you?
You haven't even a speck of hurt feelings towards your God. When I look back to my life, occasionally, I still nurse the feelings of being deprived of my mother soon after bringing me into this world. At times I do feel unjustly treated by the Lord. It keeps reminding me that I have to continue to work on my healing! You do inspire me with your life oozing with openness and optimism.
Thank you!
My Lord and My God, as an Infant baby,
You were a joy to be gazed upon with awe,
You were a thrill to be held in arms,
You were a miracle baby to be pondered on.
I want to spend some time in silence and imagine you being brought to the Temple and greeted by the venerably, happily aging, and saintly Simeon and Anna.
My Lord and My God, I began this Reflection with:
"Nunc dimittis.. Domine."
of the the Night Prayers
recited way back in my minor seminary.
I want to conclude with finishing line of the same Night Prayers,
"Into your hands oh Lord, I commend my spirit. "
In Latin we sang,
"In manus tuas Domine, commendo spiritum mum."
"Nunc dimittis Domine.."
"In manus tuas Domine, commendo spiritum meum"
Amen
JoAchen
Tuesday, January 14th, 2015
joachenmonologues@gmail.com
Facebook
My Monologues
Blog:
www.my-monologoues.blogspot.in
PS
Dear Reader,
These Reflections are neither pure scientific exegesis nor are they any highly theological explanations. They are my devotional meditations mainly meant for my personal renewal and spiritual growth. They are a part of my, 'Prodigal Priest's' journaling on my Pilgrimage to the Home of our Heavenly Father. You are welcome to share them.
Dear Reader, I keep holding you in my prayers and I request you to include me in yours.
I plan on uploading a Reflection each on 7th, 14th, 21st, and on the 28th of every month. If you do not want get these Reflections via email, please send a note and your email id will be deleted from the mailing list.
Thank you!
No comments:
Post a Comment