Feast of the Presentation in the Temple

In the spiritual life, faith and hope are closely linked to the virtue of waiting in trust for the fulfillment of God’s promises. This can be difficult when spiritual growth seems excruciatingly slow and God’s promises of salvation, freedom from sin, and eternal union with him appear untrustworthy. Simeon, however, seems to have been able to sustain hope while patiently waiting for the consolation of Israel. Despite his advanced age, he never gave up waiting in patient hope. And it was this patient waiting that allowed the Spirit to alert his watchful and longing heart to the arrival of the Infant Messiah in the temple. Anna seems to have been similarly patient and trusting in her waiting and was likewise privileged to behold the Infant Savior. And so we need to ask ourselves if we are still in a faithful and hopeful state of patient waiting for the fulfillment of God’s promises in our lives. And if we have long ago given up (and thus stopped growing) we need to call upon Simeon and Anna to intercede for the resurrection of our hope and the reawakening of our expectant waiting for our own consolation and that salvation the One presented in the temple came to bring.