Antiphon
O Adonai

O Adonai, and leader of the House of Israel,
who appeared to Moses in the fire of the burning bush
and gave him the law on Sinai:
Come and redeem us with an outstretched arm.
(cf Exodus 3.2, 24.12)

Simeon
Isaiah 53:10
by Luci Shaw

Expectant, though never knowing quite
what he was watching for, the old man
had waited out the years of a long life
to be in the right place,
at the right time.

How many generations of crying babies
brought by new parents into the holy precincts
for dedication? How many innocent doves
wrung by the neck for their blood,
and burned on the altar? Yet, when they
came with their child and their pigeons,
and when the man Simeon, seized by Spirit,
took the infant in his arms, his eyes
looked into the eyes of God; there was
that flash of absolute knowing.

So, as the Law decreed, he gave the child
back to the Master of the Universe, singing
for joy (salvation now had come),
and grief (a sword was in his song).

Here was the fulfillment
of Simeon's expectation.
Here in the Presentation, he saw the
commencement of the Offering.

Readings

Jeremiah 23.5-8 | Psalm 72.15-21 | Matthew 1.18-24 |

Prayer

God of all those who yearn for a glimmer of assurance on the long journey home to you, come! Come with a vast storehouse of renewed dreams, hopes, and peacefulness. May we be alert at all times ready for the coming of the Lord.
—Anglican-Roman Catholic Commission of Aotearoa New Zealand.

United States Air Force Concert Band 2013 Christmas Flash Mob at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, Washington DC.