Forty days had gone by since the night Jesus was born in Bethlehem. On a clear morning, Mary and Joseph rose early, wrapped the child warmly, and set out on the road that climbs up to Jerusalem. They were going to do what the law of Moses asked of every family in Israel: to present the firstborn son to the Lord. The road was not long, but they walked slowly, because they were carrying a baby.

The law asked for an offering too. Families who could afford it brought a lamb. Poor families brought two small birds, and that is what Mary and Joseph carried in a little straw basket.

The Temple in Jerusalem was enormous. It had wide courtyards, tall columns, and a steady murmur of people praying, buying, climbing the steps. Nobody stopped to look at the plain young couple with a baby in their arms. Nobody, except one very old man.

His name was Simeon. He was a good man who honoured God, and he had spent his whole life waiting for the consolation of Israel. The Holy Spirit rested on him, and had told him something beautiful: Simeon would not die before he had seen the Christ of the Lord. So he had grown old looking at faces, day after day, never tired of waiting.

That morning the Spirit led him into the Temple. When Mary and Joseph came in with the child, the old man crossed the courtyard without hurrying and stopped in front of them. Mary understood what his eyes were asking. Carefully, she laid her son in Simeon's arms.

Simeon was quiet for a moment, looking down at the sleeping face. Then he praised God and said:

Joseph and Mary marveled at the things the old man was saying about the child. That small baby, who could not yet speak a word, was the salvation God had made ready for every people on earth.

Then Simeon blessed them. Afterwards he looked at Mary and spoke softly, to her alone, a word that was true and hard at the same time: this child would be a sign that many would argue about, and a sword would pass through her own soul as well. Mary asked nothing. She kept it in her heart, the way she kept everything.

In the Temple that same day there was a woman named Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. Anna was a prophetess, and she was nearly eighty-four years old. She had been widowed very young, and ever since she had hardly left the Temple, serving God night and day with fasting and prayer.

Anna came up at that very hour. She saw the child in Simeon's arms and began to give thanks to God. Then she went out through the courtyard speaking of him to everyone who was waiting for the redemption in Jerusalem. Two old people, a man and a woman, were the first in that Temple to recognize what almost nobody else had noticed.

When they had done everything the law required, Mary and Joseph went down from Jerusalem and returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. There the child grew and grew strong, filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him.

And Simeon went home in peace, exactly as he had asked. He waited his whole life for that one morning, and the morning came.