Homily for Thursday, 26 July 2018– Memorial of Sts. Anne and Joachim, Parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Thursday of the 16th Week in Ordinary Time

Readings of the day: Sirach 44:1, 8, 10-15; Psalm 132:11, 13-14, 17-18; Matthew 13:16-17

When Jesus blesses his disciples, “Truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it,” to what is Jesus referring that these righteous ancestors of his disciples did not see or hear?

We might suppose that Jesus is speaking of his own presence in the world, the remarkable event of God taking on human flesh and physically living among us, which his disciples’ ancestors would not have had the chance to experience. But our Gospel does not give us any more detail as to what Jesus’ disciples were blessed to see and hear that their ancestors were not.

On this note, I wonder what the lived experience of Sts. Anne and Joachim, the parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary, was. Would they have figured out that God had chosen their daughter Mary for a unique purpose, to bear, raise, and accompany the Son of God as his first disciple, from cradle to cross to heaven? Did Anne and Joachim ever comprehend that, for this purpose of being the Mother of God, Mary had been protected from the moment of her conception from original sin? What would their response have been when Mary became pregnant with Jesus, supposedly by the Holy Spirit? Were Joachim and Anne present at Jesus’ birth? How well, if at all, did Jesus know his maternal grandparents?

Many books, and movies, and even gospel accounts outside the Bible have speculated on answers to these questions, but the Biblical Gospels are silent about Sts. Joachim and Anne.

Still, I think of Sts. Joachim and Anne, Jesus’ grandparents, through my experience of my grandparents. I am fortunate to have known three of my four grandparents, one of whom, my dad’s mom, is still living. I remember my grandfather’s— Mom’s dad’s— sense of humour, his pride in being able to be of service even in little ways, his collection of tales and sayings from the army and as-impressive collection of historical books, photos, and Alaska Highway memorabilia! Grandma (on Mom’s side) and I would switch back and forth between French and English as we conversed and read the little newspaper from Grandma’s hometown together. She also made the most exquisite jams from whatever berries we picked from her yard.

My mother’s parents lived a simple life and loved each other profoundly to the end. Dad’s mom, at 92 years old, shows a remarkable ability to adapt to a rapidly-changing world, from farm life growing up, to raising children with my grandfather, who was in the U.S. Air Force, back to the farm, and lately to delighting in her great grandchildren and mastering today’s technologies: “Hey, Google, turn my bedside light on,” or “Hey, Google, tell me about Sts. Joachim and Anne.”

As Louis Armstrong once sang, “I hear babies crying. I watch them grow. They’ll learn much more than I’ll ever know. And I think to myself: What a wonderful world.” I imagine Joachim and Anne looking upon their grandson, Jesus, in a similar way with great hope for him and for our world, despite its changes, its challenges, and its troubles. Their hope is reflected in Jesus’ blessing upon his disciples; upon us; upon future generations: “Blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear.” Ours is still a wonderful world.

Homily for Wednesday, 26 July 2017– Feast of Sts. Joachim and Anne

Wednesday of the 16th week in Ordinary Time

Readings of the day: Sirach 44:1, 8, 10-15; Psalm 132:11, 13-14, 17-18; Matthew 13:16-17

“Let us now sing the praises of our ancestors in their generations.” I am drawn to this opening verse of our first reading this morning, from the book of Sirach, first because it is the verse printed on the cover of the necrology of my religious order, the Basilians, that is, the listing of all my brother Basilians who have gone before us to God since the order was founded back in 1822.

But our Church also gives us this reading to mark the feast day today of Sts. Joachim and Anne, Jesus’ grandparents, the parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Our secular society celebrates a Grandparents’ Day on September 10 (I had to look this up). But might we consider today the Church’s Grandparents’ Day, a day to “sing the praises of our ancestors in their generations”; to “sing the praises” especially of Sts. Joachim and Anne? They are two important saints particularly for Canada. St. Joachim is the namesake of the first Catholic parish here in Edmonton. And St. Anne is a patron saint of the province of Quebec.

Above all, though, Sts. Joachim and Anne are grandparents; the grandparents of our Lord. And could we not hear in Jesus’ words today in Matthew’s Gospel a blessing especially to grandparents; to “our ancestors in their generations” as Sirach says?

Jesus says “to his disciples, ‘Blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear.’” Jesus blesses his disciples, who have seen and heard something “many righteous people” have not had the chance to see and hear. Jesus’ disciples, we among them, have seen and heard; experienced some sign of the kingdom of heaven. Of course, Jesus’ disciples were seeing and hearing him live in front of them.

Sts. Joachim and Anne are not mentioned among these disciples of Jesus; indeed they are not named anywhere in the Bible. We know of them by name only from writings in Church tradition more recent than the Biblical Gospels. Yet might Sts. Joachim and Anne have been among the crowds, receiving this blessing from their grandson? Might they, rather, have been among the “many righteous people” who never got to see and hear what the disciples of Jesus later got to see and hear this side of heaven?

This is hard to say. But, if Sts. Joachim and Anne were not standing there on the day Jesus blessed his disciples, might we imagine them as having been able to hold Jesus when he was very young, or hearing Jesus’ first words, or experiencing his other milestones? I have known first-hand the joy of my own parents and grandparents in experiencing these “firsts” of their grandchildren and great grandchildren. Could we not imagine the same experiences as those of Sts. Joachim and Anne?

And if we are able to imagine prayerfully these experiences Sts. Joachim and Anne might have had with Jesus, might we be more easily able to celebrate today as a “Grandparents’ Day” in the Church? To all of us who are grandparents or great-grandparents; to our grandparents gone before us or who never knew their grandchildren: Today especially our Church prays for you and entrusts you to the intercession of Sts. Joachim and Anne, as we “sing the praises of our ancestors in their generations.”