Wednesday,
December 30, 2015
6th Day in the Octave of Christmas 1st Reading: 1 Jn 2:12–17 Gospel: Lk2:36–40
There was a prophetess named Anna, daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. After leaving her father’s home, she had been seven years with her husband, and since then she had been continually about the Temple, serving God as a widow night and day in fasting and prayer. She was now eighty-four. Coming up at that time, she gave praise to God and spoke of the child to all who looked forward to the deliverance of Jerusalem.When the parents had fulfilled all that was required by the law of the Lord, they returned to their town, Nazareth in Galilee. There the child grew in stature and strength and was filled with wisdom: the grace of God was upon him.
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the
Assimilated Life Experience)
We Filipinos are fond of combining words. “Matanda” (old) might be short for “matapus man, handa!” Old age is precisely being ready for the end of life. On the other hand, “bata” (young) might also be short for “bagong-tao” (new person). Youth is about newness of life, old age about preparation for the next life.
Today’s Gospel reading narrates the encounter between “bata” (Jesus) and “matanda” (Anna). Anna was true to her being “matanda” (matapus man, handa!) by living as an anawim. Anawim is Hebrew for “the poor ones” who remain faithful to God in times of difficulty. As used in the Old Testament it had no reference to social and economic status but to the spirituality of those who remained humble while waiting for the fulfillment of God’s promise.Anna was the remnant of a people who kept that expectation alive by following the precepts of Yahweh and serving Him in lowliness. She prepared for it through fasting and prayer. The Holy Spirit’s power at work in her was evident in her capacity to recognize the infant as Messiah.
Jesus on the other hand came as “bata (bagong tao) to bring newness of life to humanity. The newness consisted in the fulfillment of Scriptures and in the new Commandment. He lived privately for 30 years and worked in public for only three years. The proportion tells us that he spent more time experiencing the ordinariness of human life and injecting it with newness. With this, the ordinariness of life can turn us into saints if we do our ordinary duties extraordinarily well.
With Anna’s fading away after her encounter with Jesus at the Temple, the Old Testament times also came to pass. We now live in the New Covenant governed by the law of love. When Christ returns in glory may he find us prepared as Anna was by practicing the commandment of love.-Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM. Email:dan.delosangeles@gmail.com.
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