Now Lord, let your servant go in peace;
Your word has been fulfilled.My eyes have seen the salvationYou have prepared in the sight of every people,A light to reveal you to the nations and theglory of your people, Israel.
One of my favorite passages from the Compline (Night Prayer) is Simeon’s Nunc Dimittis (Luke: 2:29-32). The Pope’s visit to the U.S. brought new meaning to this prayer. The world watched a Black U.S. President greet an Argentine Jesuit Pope on the White House lawn! What can one say but “Now, Lord, let you servant go in peace!”
The historical context of my generation makes the picture above almost unthinkable. Five short decades ago shadows darkened the newswires: a Friday afternoon in November 1963; a Sunday morning, February 21, 1965, and two terrible Thursdays: the first one the evening of April 4, 1968 and the second one on June 5, 1968.
And yet, even while enjoying this moment, I hear another voice, that of Ta-Nehisi Coates. Is this yet another dream of “the people who believe themselves to be white?” While basking in the sunshine of this picture, shadows still abound.
Then I hear Francis. Pray for him. Pray for us. Pray for me. Pray.