A New Commandment
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| Simeon’s Song of Praise |
Beloved, I am writing no new commandment to you but an old commandment that you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you have heard. And yet I do write a new commandment to you, which holds true in him and among you, for the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining. Whoever says he is in the light, yet hates his brother, is still in the darkness. Whoever loves his brother remains in the light, and there is nothing in him to cause a fall. 1 John 3:7-11
The child's father and mother were amazed at what was said about him; and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, "Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be contradicted (and you yourself a sword will pierce) so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed." Luke 2:33-35
Piety
“…create a new society within the shell of the old
with the philosophy of the new which is not a new philosophy
but a very old philosophy, a philosophy so old that it looks like new.”
(From “C.P. and C.M.” in the Easy Essays by Peter Maurin)[i]
Study
Ritual routines were very different back in ancient Palestine. People traveled for days just to get to Jerusalem for the Passover, hardly a routine desert crossing. They did not have unlimited trunk space in their car, carry-on baggage or checked bags to bring along what they would offer as a sacrifice on the altar. When Joseph and Mary presented their son in the temple, they also brought two turtle doves to sacrifice, too.
But that was not all…the new parents also presented their own lives, their fortitude, and forbearance, as a sign to all of us that self-giving is not something that is done at the spur-of-the-moment without second and third thoughts. It is not a single act, in a flash of mind devoid of echoes throughout life.
Action
We do like to get lulled into our routines. Coffee and breakfast at 6 a.m. Catch the 17G bus to the Pentagon Metro Station at 7:10. Transfer to the 7Y to be on time for the staff meeting at 9:00. Dial-in to the conference call at 10 a.m. Break for lunch at noon. Lester Holt brings us the evening news at 7. Meet up with Leroy Jethro Gibbs and the gang from NCIS at 8.
Sunday Mass is at 9 (or 11 or even 5:30 pm Saturday night for the Vigil.) Yet going to the temple is not about convenience, it is about commitment.
Remember the first time that you left your new baby at daycare? Remember freshman orientation at Villanova or Tulane or whatever college that child grew up to choose? Remember stepping out of work one final time and crossing the threshold into retirement?
When we begin something new – a school year, a diet, an art project, a liturgical season or a new medical regime – we have to see it through. Just because we start the endeavor enthusiastically, does not mean that we will have the energy and perseverance to stay on task until it is completed. We must have the depth of commitment it takes to carry us through to the end…the commitment to show up at Mass every week.
We need to make the kind of commitment Mary, Joseph and Jesus had to see his life through from the beginning to the end. From the manger to the temple to the cross. He wanted nothing to get in the way. He allowed nothing to get in the way although many people tried. From Egypt to Nazareth, from the desert to the Sea of Galilee, from the Passover Seder to the cross, from the Tomb to the Resurrection. Jesus allowed nothing to get in the way. Not six stone water jugs at Cana. Not Satan. Not St. Paul. Not three nails or a sword.
Those who put on Christ also take on the suffering life that will pierce our hearts, too. What we do has consequences. There is no half-way in Christianity. It is “All-in” or nothing. Just because the kneelers have cushions does not mean this is going to be easy.
About the Art: Rembrandt van Rijn (1606 – 1669), Simeon’s Song of Praise, 1669, oil on canvas, 99 × 80 cm, National Museum, Stockholm.
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