The silence of Anna (Lc 2.36-38)

Luke is the only evangelist who recounts the "circumcision" of Jesus on the eighth day, like every Jewish child. Mary and Joseph, as good observers, "when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they took the child to Jerusalem to offer him to the Lord" and in the Temple they meet an elderly couple: Anna, "a prophetess" and Simeon, “A righteous and God-fearing man”, a true sage, who “awaited the consolation of Israel”. Simeon takes the Child in his arms and raises him towards heaven while he bursts into a song of joy and gratitude to God because "my eyes have seen your salvation prepared by you for all peoples"; he has met the One who was worth living for, he has met the Expected One.

Anna, "who arrived at that moment, began to praise God", enters directly on the scene, sees, understands the situation and does what is proper to her role: praising God. Woman "very advanced in age" and widow, would have been convenient for her to remain silent, without entering the sacred space with a public role. But Anna listens to the Lord and not to the conveniences. She therefore speaks and announces, preaching to everyone the bursting of redemption, the greatness of the Little that she has recognized even without knowing him. Luca introduces this woman in close connection with Simeone, both witnesses of Hope. Anna, however, unlike Simeon, is presented with many details: she is the daughter of Fanuel, a name that recalls Penuel, "face of God"; she belongs to the tribe of Asher, son of the matriarch Leah and she has lived in the Temple since the death of her husband, when she chose to live in full service of the Lord. She is her stable abode not only from a logistical point of view, but as a spiritual dimension. She made divine praise the meaning and raison d'être of her own existence, living in fasting, prayer and liturgical service: unconditional dedication to the presence of the Lord.

What does being a prophetess for Anna consist of? First of all in being a loving presence and a silent witness, that is, the eloquence of the whole person. There is a prophetic saying that cannot be communicated in words. Anna, the prophetess of the New Testament, "praised God and spoke of the child to all who awaited the redemption of Jerusalem". Therefore, by no means a "dumb woman", but a prophetess who speaks of him to those who await liberation and salvation. She announces the future and her prophecy becomes the gospel: good news for everyone, good news of salvation. In this sense, Anna is a prophecy that she continues to question.

Anna Maria Del Prete

NP Gennaio 2022