The Child Jesus Grew In Wisdom And God’s Favour
Introduction
To thank God for the liberation he brings us in and through his Son, Jesus, is the core of every Eucharistic celebration. There we say: “Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.” With the prophetess Anna, let us express our thanks for our liberation to the Lord, our God, and praise him wholeheartedly.
Too easily, as St John says, we lose our heart to the world; we follow its ways of thinking and acting. Let us ask the Lord to forgive us.
1 Reading: 1 John 2:12-17
I am writing to you, children, because your sins have been forgiven for his name’s sake. I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have conquered the Evil One. I write to you, children, because you know the Father. I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong and the word of God remains in you, and you have conquered the Evil One. Do not love the world or the things of the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, sensual lust, enticement for the eyes, and a pretentious life, is not from the Father but is from the world. Yet the world and its enticement are passing away. But whoever does the will of God remains forever.
Responsorial Psalm 96:7-8A, 8B-9, 10
R. (11a) Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice!
Give to the LORD, you families of nations,
give to the LORD glory and praise;
give to the LORD the glory due his name! R.
Bring gifts, and enter his courts;
worship the LORD in holy attire.
Tremble before him, all the earth. R.
Say among the nations: The LORD is king.
He has made the world firm, not to be moved;
he governs the peoples with equity. R.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
A holy day has dawned upon us.
Come, you nations, and adore the Lord.
Today a great light has come upon the earth.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel: Luke 2:36-40
There was 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 favour of God was upon him.
Commentary
Growth comes in different forms. Returning with his parents to Nazareth, Jesus grows in stature, in intelligence, and, above all, in faith. Anna, too, experienced growth in her life. In the presentation account, she appears in the temple together with Simeon. Widowed after seven years of marriage, she grew into her eighty-four years by a life of faithful prayer and fasting. It was a steady, sustained growth, culminating in her encounter with Jesus the Messiah.
The letter of John today looks at Spirit growth in fathers and sons. The father, as the elder, has been gifted with a faith experience of Christ, hidden from the ages and now revealed: God’s son in the flesh. This is the cornerstone that, once accepted, leads to a growth in faith and love. John then addresses the sons, or children, whose lives have been involved in the struggle, conquering evil not with a single blow but by facing the daily challenge.
The elderly and the young face a common crossroad: one fork leads to growth and the fullness of God; the other, to chaos and destruction. John summarizes the choices. One may follow the enticements of a world that is passing away; it offers affluence, entrapment, sexual license, and corrupting forces. But it is inevitably misleading. Yet, put quite simply, true growth lies in taking the other fork, the route of Jesus and Anna, that of doing God’s will.
We face choices every day of life. It may appear gratifying to choose the wrong path. But the right choice leads to a clearer vision, one that grows within us. It is the way of God. As Paul says, “When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child…; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways” (1 Cor 13:11).
Blessing
Old people, Anna as well as Simeon, women as well as men, often see with eyes the mysteries of God with a perspicacity that puts to shame theologians and holders of degrees. That is what they learn through prayer and reflection. May God bless these wise people, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen!