The associated reading for this reflection can be found in your Every Sacred Sunday Mass journal or online here.
I flinched a little bit at the opening lines of today’s readings. Now in our thirties, thinking life is supposed to be more stable, my husband and I are facing family estrangement and navigating exactly what it means to honor thy mother and father.
And then the Psalm, admiring a wife who is like a fruitful vine, and children around your table; the optional Second Reading where Abraham is gifted with descendants that number the stars. All while my husband and I are childless.
But… did you notice the theme? The undercurrent of all the readings is trust in the Lord.
When Abraham was “put to the test,” he put God first.
Despite his age, Simeon knew he would not die before he saw the Christ.
Even though her heart would be pierced, Mary said, Thy will be done.
And then there’s Anna. Did you notice her? She worshipped “night and day” and never left the temple. A widow most of her life, she was briefly married. There is no mention of children or other family. Yet she was so important that her name was memorialized in Scripture.
Anna reminds me of my grandmother. She became a widow before my parents even met and spent much of her life on her own. When she was 85, “advanced in years,” she became Catholic. Though she technically did leave the “temple,” my grandma spent the last half decade of her life going to daily Mass. She wasn’t versed in theology, she couldn’t explain the Trinity, but she believed that Christ is present in the Eucharist and wanted to participate completely in that Truth.
My grandma died on Christmas Eve in 2014. For her funeral, we chose the carol “O Come All Ye Faithful” as the opening hymn. And we chose today’s Gospel as the reading because of Anna. Her funeral was nine years ago today.
It’s easy to feel forgotten this Christmas season. We see the ideal of the Holy Family and sometimes it feels like it can’t happen to us. We carry pain that no one sees — strained relationships, dreams of children — and it’s easy to feel separate from our community.
But we aren’t alone. God sees us. We are all called to Trust, even when it is painful, even when life doesn’t make sense. Trust in the Lord.
Let us pray with the words of that beautiful Christmas carol, which really are perfect for our entry into heaven:
O come, all ye faithful,
Joyful and triumphant,
O come ye to Bethlehem.
Come and behold him,
Born the King of Angels.
O come let us adore him, Christ the Lord.
Marissa Rankin is a classical singer in Nashville, Tennessee. She and her husband live with their rescue pup, Ewok, and share their home with foster dogs. She is the creator and founder of Covenant Co., a series of resources for engaged and married Catholics, where she aspires to help Catholic couples and remind the Church that marriage is a vocation, too!