We should be so blessed to have ‘Annas’ in our parishes as spoken about in today’s Gospel. She is a strong, silent, faithful, faith filled, woman obedient to God our Heavenly Father. She held no official title yet helped ensure that all needed to be done was done with integrity. She may have not been seen, but was a silent figure in the background, whose prayers and intercessions offered life.
When the time came, she praised God and spoke of the child Jesus to all who had hope of deliverance. She witnessed and testified to the Lord her God!
She is example for us, of one who did not love the world; but loved only God and was obedient to His Will.
Merry Christmas!
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First reading
1 John 2:12-17
Observance of the will of God
I am writing to you, my own children,
whose sins have already been forgiven through his name;
I am writing to you, fathers,
who have come to know the one
who has existed since the beginning;
I am writing to you, young men,
who have already overcome the Evil One;
I have written to you, children,
because you already know the Father;
I have written to you, fathers,
because you have come to know the one
who has existed since the beginning;
I have written to you, young men,
because you are strong and God’s word has made its home in you,
and you have overcome the Evil One.
You must not love this passing world
or anything that is in the world.
The love of the Father cannot be
in any man who loves the world,
because nothing the world has to offer
– the sensual body,
the lustful eye,
pride in possessions –
could ever come from the Father
but only from the world;
and the world, with all it craves for, is coming to an end;
but anyone who does the will of God remains for ever.
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Gospel
Luke 2:36-40
Anna speaks of the child to all who looked forward to the deliverance of Jerusalem
There was a prophetess, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was well on in years. Her days of girlhood over, she had been married for seven years before becoming a widow. She was now eighty-four years old and never left the Temple, serving God night and day with fasting and prayer. She came by just at that moment and began to praise God; and she spoke of the child to all who looked forward to the deliverance of Jerusalem.
When they had done everything the Law of the Lord required, they went back to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. Meanwhile the child grew to maturity, and he was filled with wisdom; and God’s favour was with him.
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