Mass Readings and reflection on feast of Grandparents of Jesus - Joachim & Anne

Saint Joachim and Saint Anne, grandparents of Jesus – Memorial   26 July 2013
 

First reading from the Book of Wisdom of Jesus Ben Sirach (Ecclesiasticus 44:1.10-15). 

Now will I praise those godly men, our ancestors, each in his own time.

Yet these also were godly men whose virtues have not been forgotten;
Their wealth remains in their families, their heritage with their descendants;
Through God's covenant with them their family endures, their posterity, for their sake.
And for all time their progeny will endure, their glory will never be blotted out;
Their bodies are peacefully laid away, but their name lives on and on.
At gatherings their wisdom is retold, and the assembly proclaims their praise.
 
Psalm 132
 
The LORD swore to David
A firm promise from which he will not withdraw:
"Your own offspring
I will set upon your throne."
 
For the LORD has chosen Zion;
He prefers her for his dwelling.
"Zion is my resting place forever;
In her will I dwell, for I prefer her."
 
"In her will I make a horn to sprout forth for David;
I will place a lamp for my anointed.
His enemies I will clothe with shame,
But upon him my crown shall shine."
 
 
Gospel of St. Matthew 13:16-17. 

Jesus said to his disciples: "Blessed are your eyes, because they see, and your ears, because they hear.
Amen, I say to 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".

 

 Commentary of the day :

A very short Gospel today could command a very long commentary but due to pressure in other areas I will be brief. I think I have commented before on this feast of the grandparents of our Lord (we get their name and their story from an ancient Apocryphal document called ‘The Protoevangelium of St James’).

In many parishes this day is celebrated as "Grandparents' Day" because Joachim & Anne are the patron saints of grandparents. I certainly remember celebrating many Masses over the years and explaining to the incredulous grandparents the reason why we were honouring them on this particular day.

Jesus’ words today remind us that we were not witnesses to His life and actions so our faith is more valuable than those who had the privilege of doing so. They were blessed to have had the encounter they had with Him but we should learn from their testimony and trust their witness by the giving of their lives. Many wise people longed to see Jesus and did not have that privilege.

 Blessed Guerric of Igny (c.1080-1157), Cistercian abbot

 2nd sermon for the Annunciation ; SC 202 (trans. copyright Cistercian Fathers series)

Mary is the good, fruitbearing soil

Today “the Word was made flesh and began to dwell among us”... So today Wisdom began to build himself the house of our body in the Virgin's womb... Without the intervention of man he fashioned for himself from a virginal body the flesh of our redemption. From this day “the Lord of hosts is with us, the God of Jacob is our champion,” because today we are exalted in the Lord so that “glory may dwell in our land”.

Indeed today, Lord, you did “bless that earth” of yours, “blessed among women”. Today you did bestow the kindness of the Holy Spirit, so that “our earth might yield the blessed fruit of her womb” and, as the heavens dropped down dew from above a virginal womb, might bring forth a Saviour. Accursed is the earth on account of the Accursed one, bringing forth as it does, even when cultivated, thorns and thistles to the heirs of the curse. But now, blessed is the earth in the work of the Redeemer, for it brings to birth the remission of sins and the fruit of life to all and frees the sons of Adam from the doom with which their origin was cursed.

Indeed that earth is blessed which, wholly untouched, not dug nor sown, from heaven's dew alone brings forth a Saviour and provides mortal men with the Bread of angels and the Food of eternal life. So this earth which was not cultivated, seemed to be derelict but it was full of rich fruit; it seemed to be a lonely waste but it was a paradise of happiness. Truly the waste was a garden of God's delight.

( Biblical references : Jn 1,14; 1Co 1,24; Pr 9,1; Ps 46[45],8; Ps 85[84],10.2; Lk 1,28; Ps 85[84],13 & Lk 1,42; Is 45,8; Gn 3,17-18; Jn 8,44; Ps 78[77],25)