We do not focus on the things of this world, but on the One who has existed from the beginning. It is through Him alone that we can live free from the constraints of the world, from sin and temptation. We are liberated to fully live in His love. There is no one like Him. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. All goodness flows through Him.
Because we have tasted and seen that the Lord is good, we shall proclaim from the highest mountaintops to the depths of the earth that He is the Lord of Lords, the King of Kings, and that salvation comes solely through Him. Just as we must fast and pray to know the will of God and to act upon it, we must also proclaim that the Lord, our Lord Jesus, in His love, has come to save us all. Therefore, we should rejoice with joy in our hearts.
Let our hearts be molded after that of Anna in today’s reading. She served the Lord faithfully all her years and still proclaimed the joy of the Gospel to all who would listen. Amen.
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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; l 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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