In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Christ, our King.
Thy Kingdom come!
Preparatory prayer (to put me in the presence of God)
Lord, give me the grace to see you more closely in my life; forgive me when I have ignored you and help me to communicate my experience of you to others.
Gospel of the day (to guide your meditation)
From the Holy Gospel according to Luke 2:36-40
At that time there was a prophetess, Anna, daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was a very old woman. When she was young, she had been married seven years and was now eighty-four years old. She did not depart from the temple day or night, serving God with fasting and prayer. (When Joseph and Mary entered the temple for the presentation of the child). Anna approached, giving thanks to God and speaking of the child to all those who awaited the deliverance of Jerusalem. Once Joseph and Mary had fulfilled all that the law of the Lord prescribed, they returned to Galilee, to their town of Nazareth. The child was growing and becoming strong, he was filled with wisdom and the grace of God was with him.
Word of the Lord
Meditate on what God tells you in the Gospel
I like to imagine that the prophetess Anna is like the little old ladies who go to church every day, attend mass, pray the rosary, novenas, etc., and she is also an example for me to follow because she goes out to meet this young family that arrives at the church. Moved by the Spirit, she knows that she can communicate something to them; she rejoices because she is able to see beyond external appearances and recognize who Jesus is for her and thus share him with others.
For God there are no coincidences because He knows our lives like the back of His hand. This encounter between Anne and the Holy Family had to happen so that she and the family of Jesus could see how He was acting in the life of each one; and by sharing what they had in their hearts, they could see how God's hand was guiding them.
Anne, for her part, had learned many things in her life; she had had many encounters that were preparing her for the encounter with the Child. And Joseph and Mary were learning something new every day that helped them to raise the Son of God because, surely, it was not at all easy to do so since, without knowing it yet, they had to prepare Him for the mission He had in which He would preach a new Kingdom of love, a merciful Father who sees all, a call to personal holiness. This, to a certain extent, he learned during his time in Nazareth where the Father placed Joseph and Mary as his companions.
«God is enough, the rest passes away»; it is praise that springs forth in spite of everything, as the prophetess Anna shows. She was a very old woman, who had lived many years as a widow, but she was not a gloomy, nostalgic or closed in on herself; on the contrary, she comes, praises God and speaks only of him. I like to consider that this woman “murmured well”, and against the evil of murmuring, this would be a good patroness to convert us, because she went around saying only: “It's that one! It's that child! Go and see him!”. I like to see her like that, like a woman of the neighborhood».
(Homily of H.H. Francis, February 2, 2019).
Dialogue with Christ
This is the most important part of your prayer, prepare yourself to talk with much love with the One who loves you.
Purpose
Propose a personal one. The one that involves the most love in response to the Beloved... or, if you believe that this is what God is asking of you, live what is suggested below.
Talking or spending time with a person of legal age.
Farewell
Christ, our King!
Thy Kingdom come!
Most prudent Virgin, Mary, Mother of the Church.
Pray for us.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
