When the time came
One of the lessons we learnt from our cumulative 500km walk through 2024 (listen to one of the previous podcasts) is the importance of living in daytight compartments. Each day brings its own possibilities and its own challenges. To make an epic walk one must take each day as it comes.
This is why the first words of this week’s Gospel Luke 2: 22-40 ‘When the time came’ resonated with me. We never know when the time will come, but when it does, on that day we have to be ready.
This week’s Gospel is filled with references about ‘when the time came’. Simeon was waiting for many years to see ‘the Lord’s Christ’. The time came for Mary and Joseph to present the infant Jesus in the temple. The time came for Mary and Joseph to hear Simeon’s prophesy. The time came for Anna to witness the arrival of the ‘redemption’.
Each of these moments in the Gospel reminds us that God’s timing unfolds in ways we cannot always predict or control. Yet, like Simeon and Anna, we are called to live faithfully in anticipation, preparing our hearts each day for when that moment arrives.
Just as each step in a long journey contributes to the ultimate destination, each day lived with trust and purpose prepares us for the times when God’s will is revealed in our lives. The challenge is to remain present, attentive, and open—walking in faith, step by step, until the time comes.
I think of what it must have been like for Simeon. Each day he wakes up, gets ready and says quietly to himself ‘will it be today?’ Perhaps some days he felt a deep sense of hope, his heart stirred with the possibility that this would be the day he would see the Lord’s Christ. Other days, he may have battled doubt or weariness, wondering if the promise would ever be fulfilled.
Yet, he remained faithful, showing up in the temple, watching, waiting, trusting. And then, one day, the time came. The ordinary became extraordinary as he held the child in his arms, his long years of patient expectation rewarded in a single, sacred moment. Simeon’s story reminds us that faith is not just about waiting—it is about waiting well, with trust, perseverance and prayer, ready to recognize grace when it appears.
So it is in our lives. Each day we rise, go about our routines, and carry our hopes and prayers in our hearts. Some days are filled with joy and reassurance; other days feel like an endless waiting, marked by uncertainty or silence. Yet, like Simeon, we are called to remain faithful, to trust that God’s promises will unfold in His perfect time.
And when that time comes—whether in a quiet realization, an answered prayer, or an unexpected moment of grace—we will see that every step, every prayer, and every moment of waiting was preparing us for that encounter. The challenge is to live each day with openness, patience, and faith, ready to embrace God’s will when it is revealed.
St Augustine says ‘To wait on the Lord is an act of love, for He always comes in the fullness of time.’ And St. Benedict – ‘He who has learned to wait has learned to pray.’ And Pope Benedict XVI – ‘God’s delays are not His denials. He has a plan, and in His time, He will reveal it to you.’
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