Nothing is known about Simeon and Anna before or after their appearance in Luke's Gospel. They are both aged persons with a widsom that comes only through years and years of living. They are among those who appear briefly in the unfolding of God's plan, and whose names are inscribed in our memories because they are heralds of good news ... like the angels who sang to the shepherds.
Anna will leave the scene without a word of hers recorded in the Gospel. All we're told about her is that she "gave thanks to God" and passed along the good news to others.
Giving thanks to God is the best thing we known how to do. We don't have answers to all of life's questions. We don't know all the how's and the why's of God's great plan. What we do know is that this child, who became a grown man, who died on the cross, who went through death to the other side, will bring about the redemption of all creation.
Anna died before all of this worked out. Probably we will too.
In a world that tends these days toward pessimism, we would do well to imitate the confident hope of this kind old woman named Anna.
- Little Blue Book, Diocese of Saginaw