Testimony.

Everyday life brings us to situations where we have to speak out, comfort, and warn about something or someone. We cannot imagine our life without, among other things, witnessing. But we know that seeing is not the same for everything and everyone. It has its criteria.

Among the most serious is the life of the one giving testimony. Luke in the Gospel says: “Now there was living at that time Anna the prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was already advanced in years. She lived with her husband seven years from her virginity, then as a widow until her eighty-fourth year. She did not leave the temple; she served God day and night with fasting and prayers. At that very moment, she also came, praising God and speaking of Him to all who were awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem” (Lk 2:36-39). The second witness, Anna, is before our eyes to testify that Jesus is the awaited Redeemer. Her testimony does not take away from her old age, her condition of being a widow, quite the contrary. Her life is full of value before God and before the nation who knew her from her work in the temple. Reading carefully, one wonders: What were the words of her prophecy? We know the prophetic words of Simeon. Why don’t we know her forecast? What fact makes us think that the report of Hannah had a different role in this event? Indeed, Luke wants to point to the pattern of the Christian widow. We know that the chosen people in the majority did not accept Jesus as the Messiah. Especially not the teachers and leaders, the Pharisees and scribes. But Jesus was born by tax collectors, sinners, simple people, especially women. Anna’s position in Israel was not enviable. A woman without a husband, without offspring, and yet she gave her life value, meaning, as we see from the words, “She did not leave the temple; she served God day and night with fasting and prayers.” (2,37). She prays not for herself but her nation, for its salvation, for the early coming of the Redeemer.

It has happened to me more than once that I have heard the snide remark that our faith is the faith of women and older adults. It is not entirely true. After all, I see young people in the Church; I see men too. Why not more is a matter for another debate. But what this is saying to us is that such a state of affairs must not lead us to small-mindedness, to inferiority. Whoever penetrates this issue and understands it correctly will not be surprised by the following words. We shall one day know the value of the prayers of the aged and the sick, whom many despise. We shall know what value they have had before God, what they have preserved us from, how many graces and blessings they have bestowed upon us. Often that grandmother, grandfather, whom we underestimated, who had no kind word for them, no smile, whose hands trembled, and for whom we had only an expression of irony, “go pray, go to church,” they have begotten for us the necessary graces.

Let us not look at the problem of old age and illness as a burden on society, on the family. On the contrary, many believers typically realize this only in old age: he must thank God for all he neglected in his youth when he was healthy or lazy… We usually see tears, according to older adults. These are tears of the pain of the body and the pain of the soul. They rightly mourn their sins. They realize what sin is, what an insult to God it is. So often, they have committed it, perhaps not even repenting, not forgiving… Grandchildren, granddaughters, take notice of your grandparents! They often pray for you too. Yes, they want to give you something precious and beautiful. But you do not accept them. You do not know how to appreciate their love. Old and sick brothers and sisters should also read this Gospel more so that they may realize that old age is not just a pursuit so that they may leave as much as possible to their children and grandchildren. It is a sad sight to see a grandmother, a grandfather, who is throaty, chasing after mammon, which anyway distances their children from God when they cannot appreciate their efforts. Old and sick brothers and sisters, enjoy your old age, peace, and rest! Rest, use the time to forgive, thank and glorify the Lord God! Your time is more fulfilling than that of the young. You will stand before God, before whom you will bear witness to your life. What kind of testimony will it be without God when indifference, disinterest in God, prevail?

To you, who regularly come to the temple in season and not current, who make such great sacrifices, I want to thank you for your example, for the power of your witness, and your relationship to our faith, to Jesus. I want to wish you much more strength, graces, and, above all, what you desire most of all, namely, a peaceful departure before Jesus Christ, the Judge of the living and the dead.

Yes, the Church cannot imagine its activity without the witness of the young, but also of you – the previously born. Let us realize that the Church also needs the witness of you men, fathers, brothers, dear young friends. This is a severe challenge for us at the end of this year.