Who Do You Say That I Am?

“But who do you say that I am?” Mark 8:29

Do we really know who Jesus is? Where do we get our idea about Jesus, His character, what He values, what He did and what He said? Do we get it from the source of truth, the Bible? Or do we make up our own God by our experiences, and what others say, or read in other materials? It is easy to get misled because there is a great deceiver that looks for all the ways and means to beguile us and hoodwink us. The only trustworthy starting point is to read from the Bible what Jesus says about Himself. 

I read about a man named Daniel. Before he attended a church in Southern California, he lived in Uganda, when Idi Amin was President from 1971-1979. At that time, he was caught and tortured brutally for being a Christian. For several days at a time, a guard would hang him from his feet and whip him. One night as the guard was leaving, Daniel said, "Have a nice evening."

The guard turned back to him, and asked incredulously, "How can you say that to me? After what I have been doing to you?" Daniel then told him about Jesus, about the blood shed on the cross for him, about freedom, about how he had been forgiven and loved. A few days after that, the guard helped him escape, brought Daniel to his house, fed him and let him share about Jesus to his family. 

Jesus won't have to ask Daniel, "Who do you say that I am?" Jesus already knows the answer by the life Daniel lived and continues to live. How about us?

Lord, may I be faithful to Your calling. May I live in such a way as to show You that I know You, love You and obey You. May others who know me, know as well that I am Your servant. 

How Shall I Make a Return to the Lord?

“How shall I make a return to the Lord for all the good he has done for me?” Psalm 116:12

Nobody loves us as much as God does. He loved us first, and He loves us best, and He will love us forever. Indeed our whole life is a testament to God's unfailing goodness and love. He surrounded us with people to love, support and encourage us to be the best we can be. He put us in a place where we can use our gifts and talents. He answers our prayers and speaks to us when we need His help, and even when we feel we don't. He forgives us seventy times seven and assures us that nothing shall ever separate us from His love. 

In 1 Corinthians 3:9, St. Paul writes: "We are God's garden, His field..." Can we picture God as our gardener, making sure we are blooming and fragrant? He watches out for little pests that can make some of the plants wither, or even destroy the root systems. He also prunes and cuts away dead leaves.

We don’t even realize that we carry around something dead with us every day. It's smelly and ugly, but we can't shake it off. It's our sin nature. It's the one that wants its  own way. It's selfish, it's cranky, it's indulgent. But it's dead, because in baptism, Jesus pruned it away! We are dead to sin, but alive in Christ (Romans 6, Col. 2:13). Yes, God never gives up on us. Each one of us is His own unique masterpiece and He is constantly working on us. How do we repay Him for His goodness and faithfulness?

The psalmist in Psalm 116 asks this same question and answers it well: “I will lift up the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord.” (v.13)

 

We can and we certainly should “toast” the graciousness of the Lord, and proclaim His faithfulness. It is the custom of the Jews to drink a cup of blessing and thanksgiving during festivals as a special expression of thanksgiving. “Blessed be the Lord, the maker of the world, who has created the fruit of the vine!” they exclaim exuberantly. When we “call upon the name of the Lord”, we proclaim what the Lord has done. Isn’t this evangelization, preaching the good news? We who have experienced God’s many gifts should also announce or preach the gospel in every way we can, to repay Him.

 

If we continue reading Psalm 116, we will see another way to offer the Lord our thanks. “I will fulfill my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people.” (v.14) We can keep our promises as His people to live the way of life He has taught us.

 

Lord, may we always be grateful to You, knowing we owe You everything. Everything we have is Yours. May we live our life fully committed to You and to the way of life You have called us to.

The Favor of the Lord

“Noah found favor with the Lord.” Genesis 6:8

It says in Genesis that when God smelled the sweet odor of Noah’s burnt offerings, He promised that He will never again destroy all living things. He made a covenant with Noah and his sons and he set a rainbow in the sky as a sign of that promise. 

When I see the evil around the world, I wonder if all that is keeping God from destroying us is His promise. Surely he abhors that hundreds of thousands of His little angels are killed in the womb, and how about the women and children who are victims of human trafficking? I am certain He finds the thousands of extrajudicial killings and the homicide cases hidden under the rug here in the Philippines and around the world an abomination. What about plunderers and thieves and liars going scot free and running for positions in government and winning? 

But just like in Noah’s time, God has provided a safe haven, a bulwark, an ark, for His people. Noah and His family were saved from destruction in the safety of the ark. The Church, the barque of St. Peter, is also our safety. 

St. Augustine, in the “City of God”, compares the ark of Noah to the body of Christ. He said that just like Noah and his relatives entered through the door at the side, we enter the Church through the side of Christ, which was pierced pouring forth blood and water, symbolizing our baptism and the Eucharist. 

In Genesis 7:16, we learn that it was God who closed the door to the ark to keep the family and animals inside. Is it not God who ensures our complete safety and well-being within the body of Christ? 

My Brother’s Keeper

“Am I my brother's keeper?" Genesis 4:9

None of us has perfect families. Just the fact that we belong to it makes it imperfect already!! Although we love each other, try to be kind and generous, something will happen to bring out some thorns. Usually it's not even intentional.

In the story of Cain and Abel, the conflict starts with both of them offering God the fruits of their labor. While God favors the offering of Abel which consists of several choice lambs from the best of his flock, God is not so pleased with what Cain gives him. Reading from the original Hebrew shows that Cain offered the last remnants of his harvest. Leftovers. In Malachi 1:6-14, God is not pleased when we do not offer to Him our best. It is the same as when we give a worthless gift to the President or to an important guest. It is as if we give them an insult instead of a compliment! But even after Cain insults God, God still teaches Him by saying that Cain should learn to respond in a right way to His teachings because "...if you don't, watch out! Sin is waiting to attack and destroy you!" Sin has a way of escalating. From envy, anger, then hatred, then before Cain knows it, he is the first murderer!!!

After Cain murders Abel in his rage, God asks him where Abel is. "Am I my brother's keeper?" Cain answers defiantly. In Ezekiel 33:7-9, God makes it clear that we are responsible for our brothers and sisters. We are stewards of our relationships. And that is why God constantly reaches out to us. He takes it upon Himself to reconcile us to Himself.

Thank you Lord for Your loving kindness to us! Thank you for Your perseverance and faithfulness to us! Thank you for Your forgiveness!

Blessed are the Poor

"Blessed are you who are poor, for the kingdom of God is yours." Luke 6:20

In another gospel, we read that Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for the kingdom of God is yours." This is kind of a difficult passage with many interpretations.

I guess it's because we tend to pick and choose what we want to follow. I think Jesus meant that we have to be poor in spirit, dependent on Him, empty of ourselves, before we can have the kingdom and the King come into our lives. We can't fill a bottle which is already full of water or wine. 

But I think this is also about being really poor, wanting, needing...when you are poor, you are NOT content with the state of your life, and you are ready to cling to God. Someone like the rich, young man in Matthew 19:16-26 was already perfectly happy with what he had and did not want to give up anything for God.

I hope we will never be content with our lives as it is. No matter how special we are, we should know that we are spiritually poor, bankrupt before the Almighty God. We have absolutely nothing to offer Him aside from our sinful selves. Still He calls us to Himself, worthless as we are. As His children, we are given the riches of heaven, robes of royalty in exchange for rags, beauty for ashes. We are all earthen vessels, cracked pots. The treasure is inside and it is the cracks in us that lets the treasure shine out.

Blessed are we indeed if we see the truth!

Clothed Not Naked

“Who told you that you were naked? You have eaten, then, from the tree of which I had forbidden you to eat!” Genesis 3:11

I don't think we can imagine the beauty, the lushness, the fragrance of the trees and plants in the Garden of Eden. According to the boundaries in the Bible, the Garden was probably just a few hundred square miles in what is now war-torn Iraq. It was full of good food for the first man and woman. But God has always given us free will from the beginning, the choice to obey or not to obey. And like many of us today, Adam and Eve chose to eat of the fruit of the one tree forbidden!

I think of our lives today. So much blessing surrounds us. Food on our table, a roof over our heads. People we love and who love us. There is so much favor available to us if we choose to obey God. But many of us choose to disobey. To choose the one thing forbidden, or even many things that God abhors. And that is why there is so much death all around. Death of marriages, of relationships, abortion, war, pollution, corruption, fake news and misinformation, etc.

Fr. Dwight Longenecker, an American convert to Catholicism, enumerates what he calls The Six Stages of Evil: 1. First, we overlook evil. 2. Then we permit evil. 3. Then we legalise evil. 4. Then we promote evil. 5. Then we celebrate evil. 6. Then we persecute those who still call it evil. This is so blatant in our society today. 

But just as God clothed Adam and Eve (Gen.3:21), He still gives us another chance. We can be clothed with the righteousness of Jesus if we accept this precious gift from God's hand.

Flesh of My Flesh

“This one at last is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh." Genesis 2:23

After saying that everything was good in the first chapter of Genesis, God says it is NOT good for the man He created to be alone. "I will make a helper suitable for him" (Gen. 2:18,20) A study of the Hebrew words for suitable helper yields the meaning "an equal and perfect counterpart". Eve is by no means inferior in standing to Adam.

There is a joke that God told Adam He would provide a partner for him, perfect in every way. Adam then asked what would it take for him to have this perfect partner. God answered, "An arm and a leg." "OK", Adam asked next, "What can I get for a rib?" And the rest is history!!!

Most of the time, relationships are far from perfect because we are not perfect. And marriage between an imperfect man and an imperfect woman is one of the most "efficient" ways God uses to "perfect" us. Couples are like sandpaper to each other. Sounds painful, but if we are committed to God and to each other, if we do not give up, and forgive time and again, we will eventually get our rough edges smooth!

God Sees Us

“But what comes out of the man, that is what defiles him. From within the man, from his heart, come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly. All these evils come from within and they defile.” Mark 7:20-23

When my mother was still alive, we went on a tour of pilgrimage sites in Europe with Father Suarez and two other priests. She wanted to do this because she was diagnosed with tongue cancer. On the very first day, we waited to have lunch in a busy Chinese restaurant in Paris. While seated inside, we noticed that the waiters removed the tea cups from a pail, and placed them on our table. The insides of the cups were filthy with the tea residue. After discussion, we left, along with many of our tour mates. The dirt inside the tea cups was easy to see. Even the pail was yukky. What an experience in one of the most beautiful cities in the world! 

In contrast, only God can see what is inside us! Jesus saw that the Pharisees were hypocrites, that they were experts in making people feel guilty about small matters of the law, while they themselves neglected what was more important to God, loving our neighbor and putting God first. In Psalm 139, David wrote, “O Lord, You have probed me and You know me...You understand my thoughts...my journeys and my rest you scrutinize, with all my ways You are familiar.” 

Yes, God knows us inside out. We cannot hide from Him. He made us and we are His. We cannot fool Him. Just as He probes us, let us probe ourselves as well, observing what we need to repent of. What comes out of our mouth and heart? 

“For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” (Matthew 12:34) 

“The good person out of the good treasure of the heart produces good, and the evil person out of evil treasure produces evil; for it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks.” (Luke 6:45)

He loves us in spite of our weakness and sin. He is willing to help us be more than conquerors! 

God Cares

"What is man that You should be mindful of him?" Psalm 8:4

The current world population is 8,204,530,048 as of Monday, February 10, 2025 according to the most recent United Nations estimates. The Philippines contributes about 119,106,224 people to that number. 

How can we say then that God minds each one of us, loves each one as if there is only one of us to love? Does He really? 

Beth Moore, a preacher, likes to tell the story about when she was in a crowded airport hall and a stewardess came in, pushing a man in a wheelchair. His hair was long and scraggly, and he was just a sight that everyone followed their progress. Beth heard God say that He wanted her to brush his hair. She was quite adamant at first and didn't want to obey, but God was persistent. So eventually she went over and asked the man in a whisper if she could have the honor of brushing his hair. He couldn't hear very well so she had to repeat her question several times until the whole hall could hear, and he said yes. She had to find his hair brush in his bag because she didn't have one. It took some time before all the tangles of his matted hair became smooth. Then she got up, kneeled down in front of him, saw his tears, and asked, "Sir, do you know Jesus?”

"Yes I do. My bride said I would have to know Jesus before she'd marry me so I read the Bible and I got to know Jesus. But I've been in the hospital a long time and now I'm going home to my bride, and I thought that I must look a terrible mess and was feeling sad because I couldn't brush my hair by myself. Thank you so much. Thank you." By this time a lot of people, including the stewardess had tears running down their faces. 

Yes, God cares. He cares about what we care about. It's mind boggling to think that God would care about one man in 7.9 billion people, that He sent Beth to untangle his hair so he would feel he was presentable to see his bride. 

Lord, I know You care about me. I don't want to take for granted all the times You take care of me and surround me with love.

Excellent in Every Way

“God saw that it was good." Genesis 1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31

God saw that what He created was good- light (v.4), land and sea (v.10), plants and trees (v.12), sun, moon and stars (v.18), fish (v.21), animals (v.25), man and all he had made (v.31). 

It wasn't enough to say that God saw what He made and it was good once, twice, three times. In the first chapter of Genesis, it is repeated all of 7 times! And the original Hebrew translation is not only good, not only very good, but "exceedingly good". 

In Genesis 1:31, in the New Living translation, we can read, "Then God looked over all He had made, and He saw that it was excellent in every way." What was the point of creating a world excellent in every way? Of course God who is the ultimate "Creator" can't make anything less than excellent. But the fact that He took so much care with the world also bears witness to how much He loves us, don't you think?

The spectacular Taj Mahal was created for the remains of the 3rd wife of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan. The Emperor was devastated when his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal died during childbirth, and he built the mausoleum to show his devotion. The Emperor described the beautiful Taj Mahal thus: "In this world this edifice has been made to display thereby the creator's glory."

If a mere man can come up with this gem of a building for his dead wife, how much more will God show His love for His people who are living in His image? The earth's glory has dimmed somewhat through the ages because of man's carelessness and willful destruction. But God did not give up. Jesus heralds the new creation.

In the Cathechism of the Catholic Church (CCC349), we can find that "the work of creation culminates in the greater work of redemption. The first creation finds its meaning and its summit in the new creation in Christ, the splendor of which surpasses that of the first creation."

One Life

“Through Jesus, let us continually offer God a sacrifice of praise, that is, the fruit of lips that confess His name.” Hebrews 13:15

We have only one precious life to live. Will we give it back to the One who loves us best, or will we live it with no concern for the purpose for which we were made? We may have a difficult life, but we can still live it for God. We celebrate today the Feast day of St. Josephine Bakhita. She is the first Saint from Sudan and was canonized in the year 2000 by Pope John Paul II. 

Today is also appropriately designated a day of prayer and awareness against human trafficking. Josephine was born into a prestigious and prosperous family but when she was about 7 to 9 years old, she was abducted by Arab slave traders and was sold and re-sold five times in the markets of El Obeid and Khartoum. She was beaten by her masters, and from one of those beatings, could not move from her bed for a month. A total of 114 intricate patterns were tattooed on her body while her mistress was watching with a whip in hand.

The Italian Vice Council who bought her, brought her to Italy and there she became nanny to a young girl named Mimmina. When the mother needed to meet her husband in Sudan, Josephine and Mimmina were left in the care of the Canossian sisters in Venice. There, Josephine first learned of Jesus and was enamored. "Those holy mothers instructed me with heroic patience and introduced me to that God who from childhood I had felt in my heart without knowing who He was,” she wrote. 

When Mimmina’s mother came to take them away, Josephine refused to leave, and an Italian court had to intervene. Slavery was outlawed in Sudan before Josephine’s birth and Italian law did not recognize slavery. Josephine chose to remain with the Sisters, entered the novitiate and took her vows. Her life was marked by a heart for missions, and an ever-present gentle smile. 

When asked what she thought of those who kidnapped, flogged her and kept her a slave, Josephine said, “If I were to meet them, I would kneel and kiss their hands, for if that did not happen, I would not be a Christian and religious today.” 

One life to live. Do we give it to God?

You are My Light in the Darkness

“The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom should I fear? The Lord is my life’s refuge; of whom should I be afraid?” Psalm 27:1

An Indonesian priest came over to pray over me some time ago. He is the only priest I know who goes out into the streets and marketplaces to evangelize. He invites people to go to Church. Sometimes they go, sometimes they don’t. Sometimes they put a knife on his neck. This is what happened in Australia, when 6 men harassed him and his companions. One threatened to kill him, and while he had the knife pressed to his neck, he said, “Don’t you know that God loves you so much?” To his surprise, the man crumpled up and cried. 

After fasting and praying for several weeks, Father and his companions went back again. The same men approached them and they were able to invite them to Church. Eventually, three of them became Catholic. 

The world is full of things that look and feel frightening. We can be anxious about many things. The future of our country, our world, can look very bleak indeed. Personal problems can seem overwhelming. That’s why we need to have God’s perspective when we look at the world we live in. The priest could have been tempted to punch the man who threatened him, but he saw him through God’s eyes and knew how much God loved him. Why should he fear this man? 

Problems like a debilitating sickness, losing a job, a broken relationship, etc., are devastating, no doubt about it. But if we let God light our way, and find our refuge in Him, His grace will envelope us. He has many gifts for us, if only we trust Him with our life. I know this to be true. 

Corrie ten Boom, a survivor of the Ravensbrück concentration camp, is known for shining the light of God in the darkness of World War II. She believed that "In darkness, God's truth shines most clear.”

Take Nothing for the Journey

“Jesus summoned the Twelve and began to send them out two by two...He instructed them to take nothing for the journey but a walking stick –no food, no sack, no money in their belts.” Mark 6:7-8

When St. Francis of Assisi heard the gospel on taking nothing for the journey on Feb. 24, 1208, he was overjoyed. I can't imagine anyone being overjoyed at Jesus' instructions to the Twelve Apostles to go out preaching and to take nothing but a walking stick! But Saint Francis had been feeling the pull of God in dreams and visions, and he felt that this was the clear direction he had been seeking. Although he had been a rich young man, with a taste for luxurious clothes and good food, he had renounced his possessions to the dismay of his father, and embarked on begging for food and for stones to rebuild a small church.

We are all called to be missionaries for Jesus. If we think we have to go to a foreign land to be a missionary, we are sadly mistaken. We don’t have to pack up and leave, we can go visit our neighbor. We can go to the hospital and comfort a friend or even a stranger. Our prayers are powerful. If we cannot go to the QC Jail, we can pray for the inmates there. David Livingstone, a Scottish missionary doctor, undertook three extensive expeditions throughout much of the African continent to bring Christianity to the people there. How did he start? When he was a little boy, he was helping the organist while a preacher talked about the need to send missionaries to Africa to some old women. He decided then and there he would go. The old women were his prayer warriors. 

Like Saint Francis and David Livingstone, we too are pilgrims on a journey. We take different paths, but we go to the same God. We will all learn eventually that we need to take nothing on our journey. Everything will be left behind. Some learn this later than others. So let’s accumulate heavenly treasure while we can. Like St. Paul Miki, whose feast we celebrate today, let us use up to our last breath to call fellow pilgrims to Jesus. When he was martyred in Japan, St. Paul Miki professed his faith at the cross. “As I come to this supreme moment of my life, I do gladly pardon the Emperor and all who have sought my death. I beg them to seek baptism and be Christians themselves”. 

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, to gain that which he cannot lose." (Jim Elliot, from his diary, Oct. 28, 1949)

The Discipline of the Lord

“My son, do not disdain the discipline of the Lord or lose heart when reproved by him; for whom the Lord loves, he disciplines; he scourges every son he acknowledges.” Hebrews 12:5-6

Yesterday, my 4 yr old grandchild and I finished a project on my iPad. It was all his idea, making a book about how a hyena lost his spots and hired detectives to help him find it. Elijah said, “Lola Pat, I appreciate our Procreate time.” So polite and well behaved! But he can be a little monster at times when his expectations are not met, and he will jump up and down in frustration. 

We do not expect to be able to do everything we want every day of our lives. When we were children, we were disciplined because our parents want the very best for us, just as the Lord disciplines us. My son is already 30 years old, but when he was young, if he did something wrong, he would have a time out and had to stand in the corner. He used to sleep in between Luigi and me when he was still a toddler, and one time in his sleep, he kicked me, and I shouted out in pain. Luigi and I were surprised when he got out of bed and walked to the corner in the dark and stayed there. I appreciated what my son did, although I would not have told him to do so. 

We too should not disdain the discipline of the Lord as we know it is for our own good. We should welcome it. Sin brings consequences and we should not expect to get away with doing things against God’s will unless God has given up on us. God uses our earthly struggles to mold us. Of course God takes no pleasure in afflicting us, but He will do everything to guide us, His beloved children, back to Him. 

Hannah Whitall Smith, a speaker in the 1800s, said, “Look upon your chastening as God’s chariots sent to carry your soul into the high places of spiritual achievement.” Thank You Father, for loving us enough to correct us when we stray.

Your Faith Has Healed You

“Daughter, your faith has healed you." Mark 5:34

The story of this woman who had been hemorrhaging for 12 years can be discouraging. She spent everything she had for doctors and medicine and she was not getting better. In fact she was getting worse! I know so many people who have been sick a long time. In fact I am one of them! I have Pulmonary Hypertension, a condition of increased blood pressure in the arteries of my lungs. Sometimes I feel like that veiled woman in a crowd in search of Jesus. "If only I can get close to Him. If only I had enough faith."

This woman was very fortunate in that she managed to touch Jesus' garments and she was healed instantly. Jesus looked around at the crowd surrounding Him, and asked, "Who touched me?" What is important to me in this story is that Jesus looked for her. For 12 years, perhaps she was feeling neglected by God, insignificant. How many times do we pray, "Do you care, God? Do You know what I am going through?" This is what our enemy wants, that we think God does not care, God does not know what we are going through. In this battle of the mind, we need to fight for the truth.

God does care. We matter to Him. Every single one of us. We are loved. That is what we want to know in our heart. "Who touched me?" is the cry of a God who wants to connect with us. Faith is our connection. "Daughter, your faith has healed you," Jesus said. And so with us. Our faith that whatever we go through, whether 12 years or not, whether it is about healing, or broken relationships, or lack of money or whatever, God walks with us. God is there, loving us whatever we are going through. He will never allow things to happen to us that is not good for our character. That will not make us bloom. In the next story of Jairus and his daughter, Jesus says, "Do not be afraid. just trust me."

Yes Lord, I trust You. You will work everything in my life for my good, because I love You and I trust You! (Romans 8:28)

Jesus Among the Living

“...he had his dwelling among the tombs.” Mark 5:3

Jesus met all sorts of people. Rich tax collectors, poor men and women in need of healing, powerful religious men, widows, children, fishermen, even the demon-possessed who lived amongst the dead. He met them where they were in their journey, and touched their lives, whether they liked it or not. 

Saint Damien of Molokai was a Catholic priest who chose to live among the lepers quarantined in the Hawaiian island of Molokai. He taught them the faith, helped them build roads, houses, a school, a hospital, cared for them, ate with them, and dug their graves. With his leadership they built the Parish Church of St. Philomena which still stands today. One day, 11 years after he arrived, he realized he contracted leprosy when he spilled hot water on his foot and could not feel anything. He continued to serve there faithfully till his death in 1889. 

The people of Molokai wanted Father Damien buried there for he was one of them. He touched their lives, and cared for them. But he was originally from Belgium and the Belgians wanted their hero back. In 1936, his body was transferred to Belgium. The people of Molokai continued to petition, and in 1995, his right hand was returned to Molokai for burial. We may not have Saint Damien’s heroic unselfishness, nor his strength to sacrifice his life for others, but we too should find a way to touch the lives of others, to be Jesus to them. 

As Mother Teresa said, “At the end of life, we will not be judged by how many diplomas we have received, how much money we have made, how many great things we have done. We will be judged by ‘I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was naked and you clothed me. I was homeless and you took me in’.” 

May we be Jesus among the living, and not be so concerned about the dead things of this world that we cannot take to our eternal home. 

Revelation

“Lord, now let Your servant go in peace; You word has been fulfilled: my own eyes have seen the salvation which You prepared in the sight of every people, a light to reveal You to the nations and the glory of Your people Israel.” Luke 2:29-32

In the 2nd chapter of Luke, Joseph and Mary bring the forty day old Jesus to present him to the Lord, following the law of Moses. At the Temple, they meet Simeon, who is described as righteous and devout. It had been revealed to the old man by the Holy Spirit that he will not die before he had seen the Messiah, the Christ. When Simeon is given the child to be carried, he speaks in the spirit. His words, like the Magnificat of Mary, have been made into song in the different traditions of Christian faith. 

The Canticle of Simeon is a most beautiful prayer, and I love closing the day singing the melody with other brothers and sisters: “Lord, You may let your servant go in peace; Your word has been fulfilled: my own eyes have seen the salvation which You have prepared in the sight of every people: a light of revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of Your people Israel. Glory to the Father, to the Son, and Holy Spirit: both now, and for ever. Amen.”

Have we ever felt that urge to sing to God in gratitude? That upon waking up, we really mean, “Good morning!” and upon closing our eyes, “Thank You!” Do we live as if every day is a gift, a wonderful gift from God? We should not wait to be grateful, to be thankful for all His gifts until it is taken from us. I remember when I could not sing or talk because my mouth was full of mouth sores from Pemphigus Vulgaris. Or after my open heart surgery, I could not even lift my arm much less myself out of bed! We have so many blessings we take for granted. How about our family, our work, electricity, water, the freedom to speak our mind, to worship? 

Simeon had lived a full life. He was old. But he knew there was one last burning desire in his life left to wait for. To see the Messiah. To hold Him in his arms. When God granted him that wish, Simeon said he was ready to leave this earth. What is our one burning desire? Is it to see the Lord? To meet Him? We can meet Him every day if we quiet our hearts and listen, if our hearts are full of gratitude for His gifts!