A reading from the first letter of saint John (2:12-17)
I am writing to you, children,
because your sins are forgiven through his name.
I am writing to you, parents,
because you have come to know the One who has existed since the beginning.
I am writing to you, young people,
because you have overcome the Evil One.
I have written to you, children,
because you have come to know the Father.
I have written to you, parents,
because you have come to know the One who has existed since the beginning.
I have written to you, young people,
because you are strong,
and God’s word remains in you,
and you have overcome the Evil One.
Do not love the world or what is in the world.
If anyone does love the world,
the love of the Father is not in such a person,
because everything there is in the world –
desire of the flesh, desire of the eyes,
pride in possessions –
is not from the Father
but is from the world,
and the world with its desires is passing away.
But whoever does the will of God
remains for ever.
In addressing the children, the parents, and the young, John has words for all. As children, those who believe have come to know the Father, and the forgiveness of sin. As parents, they have come to know the one who exists. As young people, they have the strength to embrace the word of God and to overcome evil. John’s letter is addressed to each one, and to everyone, with repeated words of support. He then speaks of the ‘world’ (kosmos) as opposed to God, and as ‘passing away’. Steadfastness is to be found in doing the ‘will’ (thelema) of God.
Psalm 96 (95) The psalm proclaims the kingship of God, who created the world and rules in fairness.
A reading from the holy gospel according to Luke (2:36-40)
There was a prophetess, too, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the Temple, worshipping night and day with fasting and prayer. She came up just at that moment and began to praise God; and to speak about the child to all who looked forward to the deliverance of Jerusalem.
When they had completed everything according to the Law of the Lord, they went back to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom, and God’s favour was on him.
Mary and Joseph also meet the prophetess Anna. She is eighty-four years old, and never leaves the temple, ‘worshipping night and day with fasting and prayer’. Like Simeon, she praises God for the gift of this child. She continues her prophetic role by speaking about him to all who looked forward to the ‘deliverance’ (lutrosis) of Jerusalem. The Messiah comes for the ‘consolation’ of Israel, the ‘deliverance’ of Jerusalem, and stands as a light for all nations. The return to Nazareth allows the evangelist to speak of the growth of Jesus, just as he had spoken of the growth of John (1:80).
What is special about the testimony of Anna?
The voice of the elderly is often a precious gift.