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Memorial of Saints Joachim & Anne, parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Jeremiah 2:1-3, 7-8, 12-13
Psalm 36:6-7AB, 8-9, 10-11
Matthew 13:10-17
S
UMMARY
In today˅s Gospel, Jesus makes it clear that the disciples understand the mes-
sage of his teachings. Unlike the Gospel of Mark where the disciples do not
seem to ˈget itˉ, in Matthew, the disciples truly comprehend the lessons of the
parables. Jesus is the teacher, and the disciples are the students or scribes.
They, in turn, became the teachers and the tradition was passed downˁ
generation to generationˁto our day.
R
EFLECTION
The theme of sharing faithˁfrom Jesus, to his disciples, to each of usˁone
generation to the next, is indeed a fitting theme for the Memorial of Sts. Joachim
and Anne. While they are not referenced in the Gospels, these parents of Mary
and grandparents of Jesus, must have been ˈfountains of lifeˉ for both genera-
tions.
Today, you can pay homage to Sts. Joachim and Anne at the Church of St. Anne
in Jerusalem. Built adjacent to the healing pools of
Bethesda (recall the Gospel of John and his telling
of Jesus˅ healing of the man who had been sick for
thirty-eight years), is a church which was con-
structed by Crusaders to commemorate the reputed
home of Anne and Joachim. When I visited this
church, I had to wonder if Jesus passed Bethesda
because he was on his way to say hello to his
grandparents!
Regardless, we must
sing a song of praise
for grandparents on this feast day.
Like Jesus, many of us recall the blessing and example of our loving grandpar-
ents. Through grandparents, the faith is very frequently passed from one gen-
eration to the next. I say
ˈsing a song of praiseˉ
because the acoustics in the