February 15th 2024

Thursday February 15.  The Meeting of the Lord
 
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. 
Today’s Gospel event, the meeting of the Lord, is a feast of both the Lord and of the Mother of God.  The Lord, a forty-day-old baby, is silent but He teaches us even from His birth.  He teaches about God’s humility and trust towards us which are an expression of His love.  The Mother of the Lord and the righteous Joseph teach us today about their obedience to the law of God which enabled them to rise to true spirituality. The person who teaches today with his words is of course, Simeon, a man with a pure heart and mind.  He is a prophet who sees and speaks by the Holy Spirit. He speaks about Christ’s future and the future of His mother whose soul will be pierced by the sword. Simeon speaks about the fall and rising of many in Israel who will be enlightened by the light of revelation or else will choose to stay in the darkness, scandalized and provoked by the Lord’s humility.  To us, Simeon speaks through his inspired song used by the church for private and public worship since the apostolic times: For mine eyes have seen thy salvation Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.
In objective terms, what does Simeon see?  He sees a very modest, if not a poor, couple bringing a baby for the required prayers, and sacrifices.  But he received in his arms God as fire, more than the coal brought by the angel to the great ancient prophet Isaiah, which was a prototype of this meeting of the Lord. 
 
No one is stopping us from preparing for the meeting with the Lord.  This preparation can take a long time, as we hear in Psalm 90: with length of days I will satisfy him and show Him My salvation. The preparation for meeting the Lord can happen progressively, step by step.  This is our life within the church, the struggle against wrong thoughts, which are thoughts without love.  Repentance, reconciliation with love and communion with love.  We have access to much more than Simeon had.  He was only waiting for the consolation of Israel.  He waited a long time until he could say, My eyes have seen Your salvation.  
May this feast always be an inspiration for us to be patient, trusting and loyal to the Lord. This is our part. The fire of love is the gift of God. He meets with us when we are ready. 
 
Blessing of Fruit at the feast of the Meeting of the Lord
The tradition of blessing the fruits of the harvest comes from Old Testament times, when the first fruits were brought to the temple to be blessed by God.  Blessing of the Fruit in the Orthodox calendar traditionally happens at the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord, in August.  In the northern hemisphere this is harvest time,  but for us in the southern hemisphere the harvest begins in February, so we bless fruit at the Meeting of the Lord, although it is not connected to the feast. We have been blessing fruit on this day in the Southern Hemisphere for many decades.  In fact, we in the Southern Hemisphere bless fruit twice a year, once on the traditional date of Transfiguration, and also at this feast.  
 
 

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