無言的女先知（路2:36-40）
在猶太人的社會中，寡婦的確是「窮人中之窮人」，因為她們的命運，完全掌握在別人手中。除了天主之外，沒有任何人可以救贖她了！例如納因城的寡婦（路7:11-16）。基督信仰特別表揚寡婦，因為她們把自己的命運，完全托付在天主手中，是基督徒的榜樣。不要忘記，聖母瑪利亞也是一個寡婦（谷6:3）！
我們有沒有學習亞納的榜樣呢？她是一位女先知（2:36），卻並不多言。她等了63年，纔向希望得到解放的人，講論天主派來的解放者！倘若是我們，眼見不公義的對待時，我們會有甚麼反應呢？是明哲保身，敢怒而不敢言？還是繼續「齋戒祈禱，晝夜事奉天主呢」（2:37）？抑或是譴責制度暴力呢？當然，每個人的「塔冷通」不一樣，每位基督徒成聖之路也不一樣。但始終，忍耐是一種我們必需修養的美德！
假設亞納在聖殿看見嬰孩耶穌時是84歲（路2:37）。又假設亞納14歲出閣，21歲便開始守寡。她在聖殿看見嬰孩耶穌時，已守寡63年了，即是說，她在公元前63年開始守寡！ 公元前63年，羅馬帝國結束了猶太人100多年的獨立，開始對猶太省進行殖民統治。並以大黑落德作為傀儡，替羅馬帝國作緩衝！大黑落德為了討好猶太人，花了46年時間擴建聖殿（若2:20）！猶太的命運，完全操縱在別人手中，有如寡婦。亞納便見證了猶太如何由一個獨立的國家，變成羅馬帝國的一片殖民地，見證了大黑落德的政治手段，並親眼看到誕生了的救主，看到天主開始救贖解放的工程。多年來，亞納好像聖母瑪利亞一樣，把一切默存在心中，反覆思量（路2:19；51）！且看，連聖史路加也沒有把她「向一切希望耶路撒冷得救贖的人，講論這孩子」（2:38）的話，記錄下來！
天父啊！請幫助我們修煉忍耐之德，堅持到底。亞孟。
圖片鳴謝：http://www.freebibleimages.org/illustrations/gnpi-010-simeon-anna/
生命恩泉
"Prophet Series #1"
A Speechless Prophetess (Luke 2:26-40)
In the Jewish society, widows are "the poorest of the poor" because their fate was totally controlled by the others. Other than God, nobody was able to redeem them! The widow of Nain (Luke 7:11-16) was just one such example. Christianity commends widows because they entrust the lives totally in God's hand. They are exemplars for Christians. Don't forget, the BVM is also a widow (Mark 6:3)!
Anna the widow we read of today was even the symbol of all the Jewish people!
Have we learnt from the example of Anna? She was a prophetess (2:36) and yet spoke little. She had waited for 63 years before she spoke about the liberator to those who looked for liberation! What do we do in face of unfair treatments? Do we keep quiet to protect ourselves? Or do we continue to "worship night and day with fasting and prayer" (2:37)? Or do we condemn institutional violence? Of course, our talents are different. The path to sanctification of each Christian is different. At the end of the day, patience is a virtue all of us must build up!
Suppose Anna was 84 when she saw infant Jesus in the Temple (Luke 2:37). Further assume that she was given to marriage at 14. She became a widow at 21! By the time she met infant Jesus, she had been a widow for 63 years. That is to say, she became a widow in 63 B.C. when the Romans ended a century of Jewish independence and began her colonial rule, setting up Herod the Great as a puppet, a buffer zone for the Roman Empire! Herod the Great spent 46 years to expand the Temple in order to please the Jews (John 2:20)! Like widows, the fate of Jewish people was totally controlled by others. Anna witnessed how Judah changed from an independent country to a colony, witnessed the political manoeuvres of Herod the Great and saw with her own eyes the birth of the Saviour, the beginning of God's redemption project. For many years, like the BVM, Anna "kept all these things, reflecting in her heart" (Luke 2:19; 51)! Look, even St. Luke fails to put into writing what she "spoke about the child to all who were awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem" (2:38)!
Heavenly Father! Help us build up the virtue of patience and persevere till the end. Amen.
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