29 December 2026 · Latin Rite
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“Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.” Luke 2:29–32
Old Simeon, “righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel”, had been promised by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before seeing the Lord's Messiah. Guided by the Spirit he comes into the Temple just as Mary and Joseph bring in the child. He takes Jesus in his arms and sings the Nunc Dimittis, which the Church prays every night at Compline: now I can die in peace, for I have seen your salvation.
Simeon's song is universal: the child is “a light for revelation to the Gentiles” as well as the glory of Israel. But he also speaks of contradiction: the child will be “a sign that will be opposed”, and a sword will pierce Mary's soul. The first reading draws the practical lesson: “whoever says, ‘I abide in him,’ ought to walk just as he walked”; whoever loves a brother or sister lives in the light. St Thomas Becket, archbishop of Canterbury, killed in his cathedral on this day in 1170, gave his life defending the freedom of the Church.
Theme: “My eyes have seen your salvation.”
Simeon, led by the Spirit, welcomes the light of the nations and foretells the sword.
“See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight—indeed, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts.” Malachi 3:1
“Guided by the Spirit, Simeon came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him what was customary under the law, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying,” Luke 2:27–28
Apply: Visit the Blessed Sacrament this week.
“he says, “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the survivors of Israel; I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”” Isaiah 49:6
“Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.” Luke 2:29–32
Apply: Pray for those who do not yet know Christ.
“even to your old age I am he, even when you turn gray I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save.” Isaiah 46:4
“Then Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, “This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed—and a sword will pierce your own soul too.”” Luke 2:34–35
Apply: Visit an elderly person this week.
The waiting of Israel is fulfilled in Simeon's arms.
Let us walk in the light.
Take-home resolution: Pray the Nunc Dimittis each night this week.
Dear friends, on this fifth day of the Christmas Octave St John writes: by this we may be sure that we know him, if we obey his commandments. Whoever says, I abide in him, ought to walk just as he walked (1 John 2:3, 6). Knowing Christ is not only an idea; it is a way of walking.
John continues: whoever says, I am in the light, while hating a brother or sister, is still in the darkness. Whoever loves a brother or sister lives in the light (1 John 2:9–10). Christmas light is tested by love.
In the Gospel Mary and Joseph bring the infant Jesus to the Temple. There the old man Simeon, righteous and devout, who had been waiting for the consolation of Israel, takes the child in his arms and praises God: Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, for my eyes have seen your salvation, a light for revelation to the Gentiles (Luke 2:25–32).
Simeon waited his whole life, and his waiting was fulfilled in holding a baby. The Church prays his song every night at Compline, before sleep. It is the prayer of one who is at peace because he has seen Christ.
But Simeon also tells Mary: this child is destined for the falling and the rising of many, and a sword will pierce your own soul too (Luke 2:34–35). The light of Christmas already points to the Cross. Love costs.
Let us ask for Simeon's patience and peace. Let us walk as Jesus walked, loving our brothers and sisters, so that we truly live in the light. And tonight, before sleep, let us pray: now, Lord, let your servant go in peace. Amen.
Children, old Simeon held baby Jesus and was so happy! We hold Jesus in our hearts when we receive Him with love.
Lord, now let your servant go in peace; your word has been fulfilled. My eyes have seen the salvation you prepared for all peoples. Let me walk in your light and love my brothers and sisters. Amen.
Both readings today speak of light that has already begun to shine. John says that “the true light is already shining”, and tests the claim by a simple question: do you love your brother or sister? Simeon holds the child and calls him “a light for revelation to the Gentiles”. The light of Christmas is real, and it asks to be lived.
Setting.
John continues to test the claims of those who say that they know God. Knowing God, for him, cannot be separated from obeying him and from loving others. He gives three tests: keeping the commandments, walking as Jesus walked, and love of one's brother or sister.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“whoever says, “I abide in him,” ought to walk just as he walked.” (2:6)
The test is plain. On the fifth day of Christmas it asks what we have seen at the crib: humility, poverty and self-gift are the way he walked.
“because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining.” (2:8)
The world still has darkness in it, but the change has begun, as with the first light before sunrise.
“Whoever loves a brother or sister lives in the light, and in such a person there is no cause for stumbling.” (2:10)
The Greek says “brother”. The NRSV rightly makes clear that this takes in everyone in the community, men and women alike.
How the Church reads it.
St Augustine, in his homilies on this letter, says that love alone distinguishes the children of God from the children of the devil (in substance, Homilies on the First Letter of John 5). The Catechism says that the law of the People of God is the new commandment to love as Christ loved us (CCC 782).
Setting.
This is the first part of the scene in the Temple, read in full on the feast of the Holy Family. Today the attention falls on Simeon. Luke tells us nothing about his office and does not say that he was old, although v. 29 suggests it. Three times Luke mentions the Holy Spirit in connection with him (vv. 25, 26, 27), and the Spirit, who led the prophets, is at work again in Israel.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah.” (2:26)
A whole life was shaped by this one promise, and it was kept quietly, one day after another.
“Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word;” (2:29)
The Church prays this song every night at Night Prayer. It is the prayer of someone who can lay the day down, because God has kept his word.
“for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.” (2:30–32)
The words echo Isaiah 42:6, 49:6 and 52:10. Christ is light for the nations, and he remains the glory of Israel. Neither takes the place of the other.
“This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed” (2:34)
Compare Isaiah 8:14 and 28:16, the stone on which some stumble and others build. This is a word about every human heart, spoken in Israel first because the Gospel comes to Israel first.
How the Church reads it.
Vatican II opens its great Constitution on the Church with the same title of Christ: “Christ is the Light of nations” (Lumen Gentium 1). The Catechism notes that with Simeon and Anna all Israel awaits its encounter with the Savior (CCC 529). Origen tells his hearers that if they want to hold Jesus in their arms, they must let the Spirit lead them, as Simeon did, into God's temple (in substance, Homilies on Luke 15).
Does “the falling and the rising of many in Israel” mean that God has rejected the Jewish people?
No. The Church firmly rejects that view (Nostra Aetate 4; CCC 839). Simeon, Anna, Mary, Joseph and the first disciples are all from Israel, and the same song calls the child Israel's glory. The words are about the decision that Christ asks of every person, and they apply no less to Christians.
Today the Roman calendar allows an optional memorial of St Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, who was killed in his cathedral on 29 December 1170 after a long dispute with King Henry II over the rights of the Church. Like Simeon's child, he became a sign that was opposed. He is remembered in the Octave of Christmas, near St Stephen and the Innocents.