To Break Out in an Anthem of Praise
I drop the girls at dance, and I tell myself that this time I’m just going to go directly home, without stopping to see him. But my car seems as if it has a mind of its own. Before I scarcely know it, I am turning onto St. Theresa Lane. I park in a familiar spot and slip into the dark, quiet church, inhaling deeply to let the lingering scent of incense fill my nose. I am here.
Here is where I like best to spend hours. Here is where I understand Anna, all those years ago. Long beyond the young family years, her husband gone, she was home in the temple. I get my stolen moments away from a very active life; Anna lived every day in prayer and fasting. I sit and gaze at Jesus in the monstrance. He gazes back at me. For Anna, that experience was very different.
Anna prays all day, every day. She allows herself to be infused with God in his holy place. So when baby Jesus arrives at the temple, she recognizes him right away and she is moved by the presence of the long-awaited Savior. She breaks into an anthem of praise, and she talks about Jesus to the people who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.
I think about Anna as I glance at my watch. I really need to get dinner going at home. I want to stay in the quiet cool of that beautiful church—temple grown so dear. I wish I could take this with me. I want to take the wholehearted devotion I feel here in the temple and live a life wholeheartedly alive for God. I want to find my own way to break out in an anthem of praise.
In St. John’s letter, he encourages all of us—young and old—who live after the death and resurrection of Jesus to live a life for Christ. He tells us that we are forgiven. He reminds us that we do truly know Christ. He tells us we are strong because the Word of God abides in us (and it does; look how well you’ve studied it this season). He encourages us to continue in a life that is dedicated to the Lord and to use his truth and power to avoid error and to defeat the temptation to sin. It’s a very direct list of the ways we pursue holiness even outside the walls of the temple.
I have days when I wish that I could just sit in the beautiful building on St. Theresa Lane and worship all day long. What I understand is that, while I can’t stay in the temple all day, I am called to live as wholeheartedly for God as Anna did. Even though we are in the world, a life of continuous prayer is a life for all of us.
Further, we can tell people about the Good News just like Anna did. We can be the encourager, the modern-day prophetess for Jesus. When we know that we are forgiven and we truly get to know him the way that John describes, we recognize in other people the need for Christ. And when we see that nothing else will meet that need, we can share the gospel, whether it’s by words, or deeds, or even breaking into an anthem of praise.
Elizabeth Foss
Take a few moments in this holy space between great feasts to sit quietly before the tabernacle and adore. You won’t regret a moment of that time.