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30 December 2019

Anna, the prophetess?

In the gospel reading of the day, we read of Anna, the prophetess.  She is there in the temple when the child Jesus is brought in for the first time and together with Simeon, she cherishes this rare meeting in the temple. 

She is described as a prophetess.  But there is nothing said of what exactly did she prophesy.  But the passage speaks of her spending years in the temple.  Visiting the temple everyday, and spending time in prayer and fasting.  Am sure her gift of prophecy was actually a well nurtured skill of observation and reflection.  She must have spent years watching people come into the temple, all sorts of them.  And over the years, developed a keen sense of 'seeing through' people as they came in.  You patiently spend time and energy observing people and reflecting on your experience, you naturally gain an insight into humanity.  And I guess, it is this same nurtured skill that helped her perceive the divinity of Jesus when he was brought into the temple, even though he was just an infant!  I guess it would have been the spiritual aura of Mary and Joseph, that first caught the eye of Anna, which subsequently led her to sense the divinity bundled in Mary's arms.  

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