Conforming (phase 2), The "Hidden Life" and the Value System of Jesus Christ (step 10), session 1

First, some introduction to this step from the manual for this retreat. This step is to call into mind the two standards which compete for our attention:

The meditation puts in front of us the opposing value systems represented by Satan and the world on one side and that of Jesus on the other side in order to reject the first and embrace the latter. - Two Standards: Conflicting Value Systems Defining Our Way

I find myself so absorbed by my current stressors, and in lamenting what I think I will never get from life, that I am often failing to receive Christ in the ways that he continues to come to me.

I realize how terribly behind the calendar I now am, as these next couple sessions clearly fit with the about-to-be concluded Christmas season. But the steps ahead are longer again, so perhaps by simply persevering I will be back on track by Lent. The thing is, God is timeless, so it is sometimes good to consider things out of season, and one may reflect on the mysteries of salvation associated with Christmas and Easter - and the connections between them - throughout the year.

Lk 2:22-29- The Presentation of Jesus in the Temple

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. - Lk 2, 22

I think it is a testimony to their humility, and a wonderful example and reminder for us, that Jesus' exceptional conception and birth did not leave Mary and Joseph with a sense that they could turn away from the paths which God had ordained for his followers. It is foolish to use the word "required" with respect to God, but I think I have reflected in the past on how Jesus' fulfillment of the law might be facilitated by his compliance with it.

"Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word . . . "  - Lk 2, 29

I pray a sentiment like this often, of late, though not enough in the spirit which the Church invokes by including the Canticle of Simeon in Compline each night, begging the Lord for a peaceful night's rest. Unlike Simeon, I know that neither my labor nor my joy is yet complete, and I selfishly want my unfulfillment to be at an end. I must trust in God to bring each to completion, and stop rebelling against my circumstances, trusting that God is indeed greater than my troubles and that he has not abandoned me or cast me out of his love.

In my uninformed opinion, this is a strange place for this session to end (Lk 2, 22-29). We don't continue with this passage in the next session. I hope that perhaps we'll revisit the remainder of this canticle around the feast of the Presentation of the Lord.