LUKE 2:36-40
There was a prophetess, Anna,
the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher.
She was advanced in years,
having lived seven years with her husband after her marriage,
and then as a widow, until she was eighty-four.
She never left the temple,
but worshiped night and day with fasting and prayer.
And coming forward at that very time,
she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child
to all who were awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem.
When they had fulfilled all the prescriptions
of the law of the Lord,
they returned to Galilee,
to their own town of Nazareth.
The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom;
and the favor of God was upon him.
The stories of Simeon and Anna are difficult to look at separately. Both of them played a role in proclaiming the Godship of the boy Jesus. Both were fixtures in the Temple. Neither of them was well know nor did they come from a lofty position in society. They were simply people of faith who happened to pop up in a specific moment in a very specific place where they could occupy a curious place in history. Why are they paired in the narrative? Balance. The best stories are about pairs of people sharing their experience. In the first two chapters of Luke, we have three such pairs. Joseph and Mary. Mary and Elizabeth and finally Simeon and Anna.
Just who was Anna? Scripture tells us she was an 84 year widow who all but lived at the temple. When we think about the vastness of Temple and throngs of people who would enter and leave the Temple every would likely not paid her any mind. She was old, a widow and a woman so she would have been up so low stature she did warrant any attention. How is it her story when paired with Simeon was so significant to be memorialized by the most often read book in human history.
During my years at the Cathedral, I came to know many women much like Anna. Many of them sat in the same seat at Mass day after day. Some of them sat separately keeping themselves apart from others while others sat in small groups with others similar to themselves. Unless you were looking for them, they tended to be invisible. When you saw them, it was usually only to recognize they were occupying a seat so you needed to keep looking for a space to sit. They were largely anonymous and kept a low profile.
As a reader and a eucharistic minister I had the opportunity to make eye contact with them and they with me. Over time I came to know many of them and as the weeks and months passed by they became less shy and more talkative. When I took the time to engage them I experienced a simple, deep and abiding faith that contrasted my own active, questioning search for understanding. When one of them passed into glory, it was often my privilege to serve at their funeral. I came to understand that prophecy is not as much as predicting the future as it is about proclaiming the truth.
Anna from the temple spoke to others about the child Jesus to those who were waiting for the good news. The Anna's from the Cathedral can also be found in almost any other parish as well. The faith they display in the risen Christ speaks to us with clarity if we chose to stop and listen. They bear testimony to the good new Anna promised.
Pray for our Anna's. They deserve our support.
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