[Simeon] took [Jesus] up in his arms and blessed God and said,
“Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace,
according to your word;
for my eyes have seen your salvation
that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and for glory to your people Israel.”
And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him. And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”—Lk 2:28-35, ESV
The above account in the Gospel of St. Luke happens during the presentation of Jesus in the temple shortly after His birth. Christ is obviously brought there by His Mother, Mary and His foster-father, Joseph. There in the temple, Christ is intercepted by a prophet who takes Jesus in His arms and prophesies at what Catholic devotion will later call the “First Sorrow of Mary,” namely, “the Prophesy of Simeon.”
Like all true prophesies, there is harsh news and good news in it. The good news is that Christ will exist as a “light for revelation to the Gentiles” (lumen ad revelationem gentium v. 32) and also as the “glory of your people Israel” (gloriam plebis tuae Israel v. 32.) The harsh news is that the life of her Son will be of such sorrow that Mary’s soul will be pierced through by a sword. But even this has a redemptive aspect, namely, that “the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.” (Greek: ἂν ἀποκαλυφθῶσιν ἐκ πολλῶν καρδιῶν διαλογισμοί, v. 35, literally unto the unveiling—using the Greek word apocalypse!—of the reasonings of many hearts—cardion!)
Between the good news and the bad news is the fact that Christ will be “for a sign which shall be contradicted” (Lk 2:34 DRB) precisely because, as Simeon says, “this child is set for the fall, and for the resurrection of many in Israel.” (Lk 2:34) What does that mean? It means that Jesus will be a stone upon which the humble will make a stepping-stone to heaven and the prideful will find a stumbling block to hell because of their arrogance. Such is the sign of a contradiction.
A friend told me that a priest at the Catholic Identity Conference described the modern world as a pasture or field and that 2020 was the electric fence that finally turned on in this field, knocking all “fence-riders” off of it to one side or another. I find this a very accurate description. To a much lesser extent than Christ Himself (but partly due to Christ, as He is the author of all of history) the year 2020 was also a sign of contradiction where everyone showed their true colors in matters of heresy, liturgy, the 2020 Presidential coup and the greatest trick every played on the world—the Scamdemic of a flu with a 99.92% survival rate that became a new pagan religion with the most harsh and judgmental rituals of any false religion to date. (Or true religion for that matter since Catholicism—except for priests at Mass—has never had such severe punishments for coloring outside the lines of her own rituals as the covid true-believers punish their own heretics like Dr. Malone MD.)
God shakes things out in His own way in history and always Mary is behind the scenes as the destroyer of all heresies. If God can’t count on His friends to reveal the truth in the modernist Church, His enemies have certainly overplay their hands to show what they are really made of. 2020 was not the beginning of that manifestation of modernists in the Deep Church or communists in the Deep State, but it was certainly a great milestone.
As we come up upon Epiphany 2022 (and epiphany also means “manifestation”) let us continue to beg God that Christ the Truth be the stumbling block to the arrogant ones who line up with the Deep Church and Deep State and that all the humble ones of the world may follow Mary—the destroyer of all heresies via her pierced heart—to Jesus Christ and His one Church, even if this be at the cost of the few faithful continuing to be “a sign of contradiction.” The wound in Mary’s heart continues to be the channel of graces even in this Church crisis for pagans to be baptized, Protestants to confess their sins and all the humble ones of the earth to have “their thoughts revealed” because of our Redeemer and Co-Redemptrix. We pray many souls be saved in the light of Mary’s pain and joy at the vision of her Son, His Life and His continued life in the Church on earth—crucified though it be right now.