Friday the 16th week of Ordinary Time, Feast of St. Anne and St. Joachim, July 26, 2024
Jer 3:14-17; (Ps) Jer 31:10-13; Mt 13:18-23
Today we celebrate the lives of St. Anne and St. Joachim, Mary’s parents. Not much is known about them except what we find in the Protoevangelium of James, which means the precursor to the Gospel, and is often called, “The birth of Mary, the Holy Mother of God, and the Very Glorious Mother of Jesus Christ.” What I was able to find was that Joachim and Anne married at a very young age and were barren for a very long time. After Joachim fasted for 40 days, Anne received a visit from an angel, the angel told her she would conceive. The angel also told her that the fruit of her womb, “shall be blessed by all the world.” It is also widely accepted that Joachim died shortly after the presentation of Jesus in the temple. Other than a long history of both being venerated by the Church very early on, not much is known about their lives. St. Anne’s feast day was added to the calendar in 1481 and St. Joachim’s sometime in the 16th century.
Our readings continue the theme of the good shepherd and allowing God to be in our midst. The call to return to the master, as outlaid in the book of Jerimiah, takes place after Jerusalem has been destroyed and the Ark of the Covenant has disappeared. There is a call for a new Jerusalem to come where all will come and honor the Lord’s name. How fitting it is to hear these words on the feats of St. Joachim and St. Anne. Once barren, they are the forbearers of the new ark that will be coming. Our readings continue on with the psalm giving us strength that the Lord will guard us as a shepherd guards his flock. And now in the Gospel, we have Jesus telling us that unless we sow the seed in fertile ground, it will wither and die.
The Eucharistic Congress concluded last Sunday and one of the messages that came out from there was also one of hope. One that the Lord is truly alive in our midst and is present in the bread and wine that is consecrated on the altar during every Mass.
We housed a couple who we heading home after the Congress and I asked them, “What was the most special moment for you from the Congress?” Their answer was the Eucharistic processions and times of Adoration, because that is when Jesus was real and present to them. It is really all they could talk about. What an honor, to be with 50,000+ Catholics from around the world worshiping Jesus together.
While we may not have gone to the Congress, we do have Jesus real and present here with us, in the Tabernacle. Every Thursday we have the opportunity to spend time with Him during our own Eucharistic Adoration. Take the time to come and be with Him. He is here waiting for you.
Thank you, Saints Anne and Joachim, for listening to God’s call and answering. Please pray for us as we, too, strive to answer God’s call for us.
Saint James Catholic Church 