Christmas Octave, Wednesday – 30th December 2020 — Gospel: Lk 2,36-40
Attentive and Alert Grandmother
Before the parents of Jesus left the temple there comes the Prophetess Anna and she begins to praise God and proclaim the glory of God. She is a woman who was alert, attentive and well prepared for the Messiah when He visited her. Many people in Israel looked forward to the coming of Jesus, but what characterized Anna was something different. She was living in this world as if she is the citizen of heaven and with the vivid hope of welcoming the Messiah before she died. Her encounter with Jesus was the ‘peak experience’ of her life – an experience that gave hope to her fading life and orientation to all other experiences. Therefore inspired by the Holy Spirit she thanks God on behalf of all like a joyful grandmother. She, with the encounter of the Saviour, proclaims for the whole of humanity His greatness. She was filled with gratitude and lots of love because she recognized baby Jesus as the Prince of Love and reaffirmed him as redeemer for those in suffering.
