Memorial of Saints Joachim and Anne, Parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Lectionary: 398

But 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."

Jesus' grateful words about your eyes and ears fit this mid-summer feast of his grandparents, Joachim and Anne.  Canonical scripture tells us nothing about Mary's parents; their names appear in a second century narrative which the Church did not accept as canonical. But it's not unlikely that Jesus' maternal grandparents were named Joachim and Anne (or Hannah.) Not everything that is remembered by families and neighbors appears in print. Even "the first draft of history," the news, overlooks many details in their rush to publish. We can suppose that Joachim and Anne were blessed to see Mary's only son.
In the VA hospital, I often see the light go on in the eyes of patients when I ask about grandchildren. They might say, "Grandchildren are so much fun; I should have had them first." 

"I'll pray for you, Papaw." said one little three-year-old as the Veteran prepared for surgery. Another Veteran struggled and survived to see his granddaughter graduate from high school. Another gentleman watches and cares for the infants while his daughter and granddaughter are at work. A fourth has survived several years longer that his doctor's expectations because his son and daughter-in-law abandoned their children and left them with him. 

When I give Veterans a rosary they often remark that their grandmothers were very religious and prayed continually. They learned the Our Father and Hail Mary from their grandparents, sometimes during their summers at the farm. If the faith is passed from one century to the next, it's generations of grandparents, not parents, who make it happen. They "leapfrog" over their children -- sometimes despite their children -- to keep the Gospel alive.

Many years ago  an American historian of religion noted, "The children try to remember what their parents tried to forget." The duty of evangelizing the next generation often falls to the grandparents. Not the nuns, nor the priests, nor the catechists. The grandparents.

"This is a powerful summons to all of us." Pope Francis writes in his apostolic exhortation, Gaudete et Exultate, 

"You too need to see the entirety of your life as a mission. Try to do so by listening to God in prayer and recognizing the signs that he gives you. Always ask the Spirit what Jesus expects from you at every moment of your life and in every decision you must make, so as to discern its place in the mission you have received. Allow the Spirit to forge in you the personal mystery that can reflect Jesus Christ in today’s world.

Hopefully, every Christian's life is a gospel -- a story of life, death and resurrection. We experience tragedy, grief and resurgent hope. We face frustration, disappointment and renewed courage. The Spirit finds us in the valley of death, blows across our dried bones, and restores us to life.
"Can these bones live?" our grandchildren ask and -- fifty years later -- they realize our faith lives on in them. We owe it to our grandchildren to tell them the Gospels of our lives. They should know how the Lord carried us through hard times and shone in dark times. We too were young people, lost, bewildered and blind but the ageless, eternal God has never abandoned us. You can be certain that Jesus delighted to know the gospel of Joachim and Anne.