The narratives of the history of our salvation are embedded in the many stories of God’s chosen people. The history of salvation is enfleshed into the stories of individuals, families, and communities that God had chosen to witness and testify to His promised covenant. A critical look (baliktanaw) at the narratives of the covenant in the Old Testament would show that stories of individuals and families like Moses and Sarah, Abraham, Isaac, and others point to God’s faithfulness to His covenant.
Hence, devout and faithful old people like Simeon and Anna held on to the covenant up to their old age. They never lost hope that one day, they would see and touch the personification of the promised covenant -the Messiah. While their contemporaries forgot about the promised covenant, and while others were expecting the promised Messiah to arrive as a mighty conqueror, a powerful king surrounded by gallant armies or as described in the first reading: “And who can stand when he appears? For he is like the refiner’s fire, or like the fuller’s lye. He will sit refining and purifying silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi”, Simeon and Anna, in their old age, recognized the Messiah in an innocent child, held lovingly by his young mother and accompanied by his adopted father.
Other people in the temple -high priests, rabbis, Levites- did not recognize the Messiah because they were so busy with their own business and affairs. Simeon and Anna, who happened to be at the temple when it was time for the child Jesus to be presented, recognized the promised Messiah because they were so alert and attentive to the prompting of the Holy Spirit: “Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. This man was righteous and devout, awaiting the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Christ of the Lord. He came in the Spirit into the temple… There was also a prophetess, Anna…She never left the temple, but worshiped night and day with fasting and prayer.” Simeon and Anna grew in wisdom by being devout and faithful servants of the Temple and being alert to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. Like Simeon and Anna, if we are faithful and devout, and we keep our hope and our eyes open, we can see signs that God is with us, and we can see God in other people, including people who are not like us. After all, we all have the ‘image and likeness’ of God within us.
While Joseph and Mary were simply thinking of fulfilling their religious obligations according to the law, God, through His Holy Spirit, intervened again through Simeon and Anna to remind Mary and Joseph that the child they were holding and presenting to the temple was the very person of the promised covenant. In a sense, Mary and Joseph were surprised as things unfolded. They were not expecting such a drama to happen: “The child’s father and mother were amazed at what was said about him.” But then, God chose real human beings to incarnate His covenant with His people. Let us not forget that when the child was born, it was the poor shepherds who first recognized him as the promised Messiah. Now in the Presentation, it is the old people Simeon and Anna who recognize the child as the promised Messiah. For years, the chosen people had been waiting for the Messiah, but they failed to recognize Him when He finally came as a child, as an innocent baby born in an inhuman condition, surrounded by shepherds and their animals in a cold, dark, and lonely insignificant corner in Bethlehem, exposed to dangerous elements, and vulnerable to any untoward eventualities.
The Wisdom of Mary grew in her Heart
In the case of the young mother Mary, when she was told that “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”, all she could do is to treasure up all these things and pondered them in her heart. It must have been extremely painful and unbearable for Mary to be told, on the day she presented her son to the temple, that her Son would suffer and die and her soul would be pierced, but all she could do, at her very young age, is to repeat her own promised when God asked her consent through the Angel Gabriel in the Annunciation: “I am the handmaid of the Lord, be it done to me according to your words.” She could not have grasped the full extent of her declaration, but through the words of Simeon, it is now becoming more and more clear to her. All she could do is to participate in God’s plan of salvation. Through her, God’s plan of salvation reaches out to the Gentiles (to the nations) as was proclaimed by Simeon, “for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you prepared in the sight of all the peoples: a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel” (Luke 2:30-32). This proclamation of God’s salvation to the Gentiles (especially the Palestinians of today) was proclaimed by Mary during her visit to her cousin Elizabeth (the Visitation) when she pronounced her Magnificat: “His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation” (Luke 1:50). Mary’s role in the plan of salvation was concretely played in her role as a simple young mother who was hurt, suffered, and broken but remained steadfast in her faith.
Context Matters
In our Christian faith today, we tend to consider and present Mary as an earthly queen adorned with beautiful dresses, and expensive pieces of jewelry, well-protected and shielded from doing ordinary chores and hard work; and perhaps, immune to and exempt from pains, sufferings, and heartaches. This tendency is evident in the way we celebrate Marian devotions. This tendency makes us forget and set aside the very human nature and character of Mary being the mother of a child in a society that was ruled by tyrants, despots, and oppressors. This tendency is even compounded by our too much attention to compartmentalized theologies at the expense of ‘the story’ of Jesus and Mary that gathered the first believers. “The story exists first, then people are caught by it, savor it, reflect on it, retell it, preserve it, and pass it on (tradition). When many people are caught by, believe in, and celebrate the same story, we have a church” (Bausch, 1984).
The context in which Mary and her child grew up is not that different from ours. Hence, it is incumbent upon us to reflect, through the lenses of our very own real life and faith experiences, on the struggles of Mary as a mother to a child.
God must be a Mother
Every time I see mothers, I see God. God must be a mother. When She gave birth to the universe (creation) as we know it today, She included love as well. And She made sure that love finds a host: the heart of a mother. Then love gave birth to life; then life and love grew together to form the spirit and character of a mother. Mother is life. Mother is Love. God is Life, God is love. God must be a Mother.
Two weeks ago, my parents and relatives stayed with me for several days. While they were working in the garden, I heard my mother telling her story about how she felt when I was seriously sick: “Every time I attend gatherings, other mothers usually asked me how I was feeling knowing that my son is very sick. I pretend to be OK, but every now and then, I go to the comfort room, and there I cry. And I whisper a prayer to God that whatever His plan for my son, I offer Him to that plan. But I strongly negotiated with God to do everything to heal my son.” When I heard this, it was my turn to silently sob. And with my religious training, it made me ponder and I felt it, that the feeling and silent suffering of my mother were perhaps what Mary felt when she was told: “Behold, this child is destined… to be a sign that will be contradicted -and you yourself a sword will pierce” (Luke 2: 34-35).
This reflection on God as a mother was developed from my very own experience with my mother. I was diagnosed with End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD), otherwise known as Kidney Failure, in 2009 upon my arrival from Africa. I was immediately put on dialysis (3 times a week) for nine months before I had my kidney transplant operation in 2010 thanks to the generosity of my brother Roldan “Balawag” Dalimag. I regained my strength and went back to work. However, it did not last long. I used it (transplanted kidney) for seven years before I had a rare bacterial infection that affected and infected my kidneys in 2016. The combination of the bacterial infection and kidney failure devastated my spirit and my will to live. However, the steady presence, love, and support of my parents throughout this difficult journey kept me afloat and fighting. There was a time when both my mother and father were at my side when I was in my worst health condition. Every time an excruciating pain attacks, they have two different approaches on how to comfort me. My father is the ‘believer’ who prays over me every time I am in pain. He used to pray the Lord’s Prayer on my sickbed at night. My mother on the other hand is the ‘traditionalist’ who believes in healing rituals. She performs the “sapkuy”, the ‘hilot’ and other traditional ways of alleviating pain. She insisted on performing traditional healing rituals to make the bad spirits stay away from me.
On September 26, 2021, I had my 2nd Kidney Transplant thanks to my brother Ramil Dalimag at the Cordillera Hospital of the Divine Grace (CHDG) in La Trinidad, Benguet. Since then, I regained my strength and am back to work as a missionary of the CICM. And the love and the ‘silent’ sufferings of my parents, especially my mother, are part of my story. I survived the worst. The love of parents, especially of a mother is not only life-giving, it is also life-saving and encouraging.
Indeed, God’s LOVE and MERCY are incarnated in our very own stories and experiences. There is not much of a need to break our heads trying to understand difficult and sometimes confusing theologies about God’s love and mercy. We only need to go back to our very own stories and experiences of love, mercy, hope and faith, then, perhaps, and only then, that we can grasp the presence of God in our lives.
Enfleshed Stories
It is often the real human stories of pain, suffering, vulnerabilities, and of the poor and the marginalized like the migrants, indigenous peoples, the refugees, and the displaced that make us resonate -and feel profoundly (“Now, Master, you may let your servant go in peace, according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you prepared in the sight of all the peoples”) with the human stories of Jesus, and the God’s chosen people. It is often the stories of the poor that make us see the presence of God in this divided world. After all, Joseph and Mary identified themselves with the poor when they offered two turtle doves or two young pigeons, the offering of the poor (“But if he is poor and cannot afford it, then he shall… two turtledoves or two young pigeons, such as he is able to afford: one shall be a sin offering and the other a burnt offering.”), when they presented the child to the temple: “When the days were completed for their purification according to the law of Moses, Mary and Joseph took Jesus up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, just as it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that opens the womb shall be consecrated to the Lord, and to offer the sacrifice of a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.” Although they were poor, they were devout Jews and they put Yahweh at the center of their lives. They observed and respected the prescribed rituals of their culture (circumcision of the child, purification of the mother, and the presentation of the firstborn son). Nowadays, people who practice their traditional and cultural rituals, like the indigenous peoples, are judged as uncivilized and backward people when they perform their cultural rituals. In the history of salvation, God did not tell his people to abandon their rituals. On the contrary, He instructed His people to perform rituals to strengthen the Covenant. Rituals are very important in expressing our faith.
It is often the stories of suffering that open our souls, spirits, and hearts to the presence of God. God must be felt in our lives. Even the “Jesus Story” is full of pain and suffering: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me.” Mary’s soul was, as predicted by Simeon, pierced when she saw her Son hanging on the log. It is often the stories of darkness and brokenness that authentic love grows because at the core of a dark experience is where true love is tested. It is at the darkest moment of our lives that true love grows. And it was out of the pierced soul of Mary that the “thoughts of many hearts may be revealed”. Richard Rohr once said “We really do not open up to ourselves, to one another, and to God until someone shares his/her pain or grief. So, we have out of rejection, grief, and suffering, the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. Once a person gets honest, humble, and real, then everybody else can get humble, honest, and real. If one person can reveal the sword in his/her heart in the right way and right context, then and probably only then, are the thoughts of many other hearts open up and reveal.”
May the model of all mothers -Mama Mary, who has pondered all that has happened to her Son in her heart- intercede for us and all mothers, especially those in a difficult situation. May her love infect us all. I always believe that love is immortalized in a mother’s heart.
Gospel reflection of Bro. Jonel Dalimag, CICM, January 2, 2025
Balik-Tanaw is a group blog of the Promotion of Church People’s Response (PCPR). The Lectionary Gospel reflection is an invitation for meditation, contemplation, and action.
