REFLECTIONS TODAY I had the chance to meet my two grandmothers from my father’s side and my mother’s. While I did not live with them, I somehow came to know them during those special occasions of being with them. What struck me in both of them was their sense of wisdom, of having learned so much from their experiences. Thus, I always found it interesting and enriching to listen to what they had gone through. At the same time, they both exuded an air of calm and security: that, despite what they had not achieved, or the mistakes they had made in life, they were happy to have raised their families in righteousness. I imagine that the prophetess Anna is like this: holy, righteous, wise, anchored in God whom she is serving. Being attuned to God and the history of her own people, she nurtures the same expectation of the definitive redemption that God will bring especially to his people, Israel. Are we able to keep our lamps burning in hope of God’s saving intervention even if around us there seems to be only darkness?

Gospel • LUKE 2:36-40

There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived seven years with her husband after her marriage, and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple, but worshiped night and day with fasting and prayer. And coming forward at that very time, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem. When they had fulfilled all the prescriptions of the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him. SOURCE: “366 Days with the Lord 2020,” ST. PAULS, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 632-895-9701; Fax 632-895-7328; E-mail: [email protected]; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.