July 27, 2008 Seventeenth Sunday of Ordinary Time

DILOGUE - & FEAST ABUNDANTLY on CATHOLIC THEOLOGY & SCRITURE

Feast of Saints Joachim & Anne

(July 26^th ), - Parents of Our Blessed Mother and Patron of Grandparents

“Details for Saints Joachim and Anne are found only in apocryphal literature, such as the Protoevangelium of Saint James, which dates back to approximately 165 C.E. It states that Mary’s birth was miraculous because her parents were sterile, and that an angel predicted her birth to Joachim after he had fasted for forty days in the desert.” (from Saints of the Roman Calendar, Enzo Lodi, Alba House New York, 1992)

Saints Joachim and Anne are the grandparents of Jesus. The Church in the Office of Readings for the day reminds us that the holy couple is blessed because they raised their child Mary to be a faithful and beloved daughter of God by the witness and the example of their own devout and faith-filled lives. As parents of Mary, they prepared her to embrace a life of virtue and openness to God’s will at all times, thus preparing Mary to be even open to say “yes” to God’s bewildering and incomprehensible invitation to be the Mother of His only begotten Son.

As Jesus’ grandparents, they would have played an instrumental part in supporting Mary and Joseph in raising Jesus in the household of Nazareth. Jesus in His humanity would have learned the faith, learned to read the Holy Scriptures, recite the Psalms and practice the Law of God from His parents and His grandparents.

In our world today, we struggle with a gap between the generations, where parents and grandparents are often not sufficiently involved in raising the children and grandchildren entrusted to their care by God. We are always called upon as parents and grandparents to model and bear witness to the faith in our words, attitudes, core values and faith practices, handing down God’s will and ways to our young with the power of God Himself to assist us. May God bless our efforts.