My Eyes Have Seen Your Salvation | iPray with the Gospel

And when the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord… Simeon took Jesus up in his arms and blessed God and said, “Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word; for mine eyes have seen thy salvation…” And his father and his mother marvelled at what was said about him.

Luke 2:22-35

The presentation of a firstborn Jewish child in the temple served two purposes; the first was the redemption of the first-born and the second was the purification of the mother. In this case, Jesus didn’t need to be redeemed because He was God of the Temple; similarly, Mary didn’t need purification because she was Immaculate from her Conception. Nevertheless, they went to fulfil the law. That’s today’s first lesson.

There Mary and Joseph were amazed at the things that were spoken about the Baby. At the end of this chapter, St Luke writes that Mary “kept all these things in her heart”. Some of us are amazed at the number of things that our mothers can remember about us. How much mothers can store in their memory – in their heart – about each of their children! Things that they did, things that they said, things that they love, things that they fear and also things that they heard about them. Love increases our capacity to remember. Our Lady was filled with these memories.

Many years later St Luke came to ask Mary about Jesus in order to write his Gospels. He couldn’t have found a better source! The heart of Mary was an archive of memories about Jesus. She stored them; she meditated on them; she spoke with Jesus about them; in time, she could understand them more and more. That is mental prayer: To take all these things written in the Gospels and meditate on them in your heart. Can you imagine the prayer of Mary when she remembered all these things? So should be your prayer and mine.

Mary, my Mother, during this season of Christmas you can give a boost to my mental prayer. With you, I’ll take the Gospel as cherished memories about Jesus, I’ll find Jesus there and get to know Him better and love Him more. “May you seek Christ; may you find Christ; may you love Christ!” (St Josemaría).