At his weekly public audience on March 30, Pope Francis said that “we need an old age gifted with lively spiritual senses.”

Continuing his talks on old age, the Pope pointed to the Bible story of Simeon and Anna, who bore witness to the arrival of the Messiah. They could recognize the Christ child, he said, because “the fidelity of waiting sharpens the senses.”

The Pope also remarked that Simeon and Anna accepted their role as witnesses to the Savior rather than as central actors themselves. “They accept not to be protagonists,” he said, “but only witnesses.”