Recognizing Anna, the Prophet

 

                                           Presentation in the Temple -- John August Swanson 

There was also a prophet, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, having lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped there with fasting and prayer night and day.

 At that moment she came, and began to praise God and to speak about the child to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem. When they had finished everything required by 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.

Luke 2:37-40 NRSVue

In all my years in Christian ministry I never once pondered the liturgical scripture readings for February 2nd, related to the festival recognized as The Presentation of the Lord by some Christians. February 2nd is Groundhog Day, a celebration which seems to have grown over the years even though there have been awkward moments when some of the rodents inconveniently expired. It was Candlemas Day for folk we knew in outport Newfoundland, a time for the dedication of candles to be used in worship through the year.  More importantly, we were all about the candles on the birthday cake for our older daughter, Jocelyn, born on this day. But why would there need to be a special day to recognize the infant Jesus being taken to the temple of Jerusalem, a story that only Luke includes in a gospel? 

 Presentation of Christ in Canterbury Cathedral, stained glass window

Then a group of us studied Susan Hylen's thought-provoking book Finding Phoebe: What New Testament Women Were Really Like. In a later chapter on Prayer and Prophecy Hylen points out that Luke and Acts, both likely written by the same author, name women who were prophets. Hylen also spends time considering the role of widows in the early church. One of those prophets was an aged woman named Anna, also a prayerful widow, who recognized the child Jesus as the fulfillment of ancient prophecy. 

I doubt that I'll carry forward a personal recognition of Anna in years to come but it was good to make the connection in 2024. 

                                                            Bill Murray in Groundhog Day