Gospel (Lk 2,36-38) - At that time, there was also a prophetess, Anna, daughter of Phanuèle, of the tribe of Asher. She was very advanced in age, she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, she had then become a widow and was now eighty-four years old. She never left the temple, serving God night and day with fasting and prayer. Arriving at that moment, she also began to praise God and spoke about the child to those waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.

The commentary on the Gospel by Monsignor Vincenzo Paglia

It is an episode reported by all the synoptics. And this already indicates its importance for the life of the first Christian community. Jesus is still speaking to the crowd and then his mother and his brothers arrive and try to meet him. The crowd is so large that it prevents Jesus' family from getting closer. The evangelist notes that they are "outside", that is, they are not among those who are listening to him. It is not just a spatial notation. The evangelist underlines that faith does not come through blood ties, but through listening to the Word of God. To those who tell him that "outside" there are his mother and brothers waiting for him, Jesus replies that his mother and her relatives are those who listen to him, those who are "inside" listening to the preaching of the Gospel. Jesus wants to clearly indicate that his true family is the one made up of his disciples, of those who trust in him, of the poor who entrust themselves to him. The Word of God refines "natural" relationships and creates new ones through the work of the Spirit poured into hearts. From listening to the Word of God a new family is born, much larger and stronger than the so-called natural one. The bonds of brotherhood that Jesus came to create are not based on ourselves and our worldly belongings but on listening to the Word of God. The Christian community brought together by the Gospel is a blessing for the whole society and particularly for the lonely, the poor, the abandoned, the afflicted, the persecuted. For the latter, the community of disciples is often the only family that welcomes and looks after them.