26 July 2019
Memorial of Saints Joachim and Anne, Parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Today, the Catholic Church celebrates the memorial of the parents of Mary, Anne and Joachim. The Bible never mentions their names and there is little historical evidence about them. The legend says that after years of childlessness, an angel appeared to Anne and tells her that she would have a child. Anne then promises to dedicate her child to God. A different legend describes how Joachim was inspired by the Patriarch Abraham, who received his son, Isaac, from God in his old age. Old Joachim went into the desert and fasted forty days and forty nights until an angel of the Lord came to him and assures him that his wife Anne shall conceive and bear a son. According to tradition, Anne gives birth to Mary in a cave near the Bethesda Pool where her grandson, Jesus, would one day perform miracles. Coptic tradition holds that Mary was born on Sunday, May 9, and that she stayed with her parents for the next two years, seven months and seven days. Then her parents presents their daughter to the temple (The Holy Land: In the Footsteps of Mary of Nazareth – Sister Danielle Peters).
My parents did not become Catholic until their fifties, and for some reason, they decided to pick Joachim and Anne as their baptismal names. Unlike Anne and Joachim, who promised to dedicate their child to God, my mother and my father strongly opposed me entering the religious life. When I told them that I planned to celebrate a mass of thanksgiving in my home parish after my ordination, my parents were trying hard to dissuade me not to do that. Nevertheless, recently, they asked me to celebrate a mass for them today, the feast of Joachim and Anne.
Try to remember a time when you were like Joachim and Anne, who were expecting to receive something and prayed mightily to God to give you what you wanted. Try to remember a time when you went away empty-handed, maybe feeling that God did not listen to your cry. Ask Jesus to help you to recall those memories and ask Jesus what the lesson was that you can continue to learn from those moments.