The Sheepfold and the Voice of the Shepherd

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Stone sheepfold John 10:22-30 Recently my boys have been spending a great deal of time outside in the area that will soon be transformed into our garden. They spend endless hours digging in the dirt for worms. They then promptly take those worms and throw them to the chickens. It amazes me how even chickens can learn to recognize sounds or voices. My oldest makes this funny high-pitched sound when he comes out of the house and heads toward the coop. The chickens practically fall over themselves running toward the fence or out of the coop when they hear him making his sound. They know there is food to follow! In Sunday's Gospel Jesus tells us that, "My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me." and "I am the gate for the sheep." Today, again, Jesus mentions that His sheep know His voice and follow Him.  In these few verses we learn that Jesus is both gate and shepherd for the sheep. In those days and even today in some places, a sheepfold w
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Saint Simeon the God-Receiver

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The Presentation of the Christ Child in the Temple
Ludovico Carracci ca. 1605
Oil on Canvas 
Museu Nacional d'Art Catalunya

Luke 2:22-40

I often wonder in my heart and long to probe the mind of old Simeon...

When did the Lord reveal to you that you would not die until you set eyes upon the Savior of the World? Was it only a few weeks prior when the caravan of the Wise Men stirred up the city with talk and speculation? Was it years previous while you were praying at the Temple and fasting along with Anna? Were you a young man like St. Joseph, receiving the message from God's angels in a dream? Were you merely a boy, on one of your many trips to Jerusalem with your parents? When did you receive this promise from the Lord?

Regardless of when the Lord told you, did He also show you an image of the His Son? Did you wait patiently all those days, weeks, or years for a warrior king? Did you see Him from afar as the prophets did, arrayed in splendor as He was shown to Isaiah? Did you see Him as though hidden in a burning bush, flame of fire, or majestic cloud? Were you looking for a man, a king, a new prophet? Or, were you looking for a boy, a mere babe-in-arms amongst so many others you had seen over your long life?

As I ponder the Scriptures I wonder if maybe you weren't at the Temple day and night like Anna. Maybe this day began as all others did for you. Perhaps, during your morning prayers the Holy Spirit spoke to you that today was to be the day. He reminded you of the promise made by the Lord and marked this particular day as the one long awaited. A promise you never forgot and perhaps reminded Him of daily. Maybe you rose on old, cracking, weak legs and began your journey to the Temple, full of hope and joy.

You waited patiently looking at all the people milling about nodding to those you knew. You spied the woman from a distance and your heart leapt in your chest. There you saw the "Woman clothed with the Sun" hold a her Son. You regained new life in your tired body, a glorious rapture coursed through your heart and soul as you stepped forward to greet the Woman. She too was in on the secret, she too was told it was you that had received the promise, and so she handed you the Child. 

The beautiful boy in your arms slept peacefully while the world outside continued on it's journey unaware that God had arrived. He opened His eyes and looked into yours. He grabbed gently at your beard while stretching Himself awake. Not taking your eyes from Him you whispered your prayer but the Woman and her husband heard you:

"Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word; for mine eyes have seen thy salvation."

Oh! What a glorious picture! What a glorious day! What rapture you must have felt at that moment. I feel it too, sometimes. May it be my prayer after each communion from today onward. May your words become my own Saint Simeon the God-Receiver each time I receive the Lord.

Yet, you paused. You took your eyes off of the Child for just a moment to look at the Woman. God had further words, words you had not expected and know only that they came from God. From God, not for her alone but for us, those who have received the Light that you held so lovingly. Those of us that long too for the time when we will see God's salvation in the flesh;

"Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is spoken against, and a sword will pierce through your own soul also, that thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed."

You, St. Simeon, saw more than God's salvation in your arms. You saw that this Child and His Mother would both suffer. God rewarded your faithfulness and trust with further words. Words that foresaw joy with pain, redemption with suffering, and that God's love causes both rising and falling. These words you speak now are frightful. I want to turn from them and stop my ears but they are the words of the Lord and so I listen carefully because this too is according to thy word.

Oh St. Simeon the God-Receiver, make my heart like thine. Pray to the Child that I too may trust God be His word one of comfort or woe, succor or suffering. Pray also that I too, like you, may be patient. May your prayer to the Lord be mine after each communion, now and at the hour of my death - Lord, now, lettest thou servant depart in peace, according to thy word...


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