As the Mangers come down this weekend with the Feast of the Lord’s Presentation, we are called to embrace the Child of the Manger. Both Simeon and Anna in the Gospel recognized the identity of the Child immediately. He was the reason they spent their lives in the Temple. It is now time for all of us to recognize the Child and listen to His message. He calls us to forgive, to love, and to be united. He desires us to live the faith with joy and enthusiasm. The devil will try to sow seeds of despair, uncertainty, and confusion. He will try to distract us. Do not let him prevail. When God created the world, He put order into the chaos. The devil seeks to put chaos back into the order. Reflect today on the words of Fr. Marie-Dominique: “The devil’s tactic is to purpose to us what is ’reasonable’. Yes, he is the prince of lukewarmness, the king of compromise. His aim is not to make us fall into a specific errors but, on the contrary, to leave us in vague uncertainty: because it is impossible to stake one’s life on vague ideas and, consequently, to become a saint in those circumstances.”
