Through Sacrifice
A Reflection on Luke 2:36-40
Anna the prophetess had been waiting in the Temple for decades. Day after
day, night after night, she prayed and fasted, watching countless families
bring their children to be presented to the Lord. How many babies had she seen
carried through the Temple? Hundreds, perhaps thousands. Yet when Mary and
Joseph arrived with the infant Jesus, something stirred in her spirit that had
never stirred before. After eighty-four years of faithful waiting, after a
lifetime of wondering if she would see the consolation of Israel, the moment
arrived. And Anna did what she had been preparing to do all along: she gave
thanks to God and began to speak about this child to everyone who was waiting
for the redemption of Jerusalem.
What strikes us most about Anna is not just her recognition of Jesus, but
what she did immediately afterward. She didn't keep this encounter to herself,
treasuring it as a private spiritual experience. She became an evangelist, a
witness, a messenger of good news. This elderly widow, who could have been
invisible in her society, became one of the first voices to proclaim the coming
of the Messiah. Her long years of prayer had not made her passive or withdrawn
from the world. Instead, they had prepared her to see what others missed and to
speak boldly about what she had seen. The patience of her waiting transformed
into the urgency of her proclamation.
The Gospel then tells us something beautiful and mysterious: "The
child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom, and the favor of God was upon
him." Jesus, the eternal Son of God, truly grew as we grow. He learned as
we learn. He experienced childhood, with all its wonder and gradual unfolding. Jesus
spent years in Nazareth, growing in a way that was genuinely human, genuinely
developmental, genuinely patient. This is the great mystery of the Incarnation:
God did not merely appear as a man, but became one, embracing every stage of
human life and sanctifying it by his presence. Yet even as we contemplate this
child growing in grace, we cannot help but see the shadow of the cross already
falling across his path. The Sorrowful Mysteries that we pray in the Rosary
remind us that this child, presented in the Temple and proclaimed by Anna, was
growing toward Gethsemane, toward the scourging, toward the crown of thorns,
toward carrying the cross, toward Calvary itself. Every moment of his ordinary
growth was a step closer to his extraordinary sacrifice. The favor of God upon
him was not protection from suffering but preparation for it.
As we reflect on Anna's witness and Jesus's childhood in light of the
Sorrowful Mysteries, we might ask ourselves: What have I been faithfully
waiting for in my spiritual life, perhaps for years, that God may be preparing
to fulfill in ways I don't expect? When God reveals himself to us, do we, like
Anna, immediately share what we've experienced even when others might not
understand? How does knowing that Jesus grew toward his passion and death
change the way I view my own suffering and the challenges I face? Can I see
that every moment of ordinary growth in my life, like Christ's growth in
Nazareth, might be preparing me for the crosses I'm called to carry? And like
Anna, who recognized the infant Savior in the Temple, can I recognize Christ's
redemptive presence not only in joyful moments but also in the sorrowful ones?
©2025 James Dacey, Jr., OFS
