Fr Nate's Letter - July 28, 2024

A religious trivia question that I sometimes like to ask the young kids is: what are the names of Jesus’ grandparents? Sometimes my question is met with looks of shock and disbelief that Jesus actually had grandparents. One of the benefits that you and I have here at Queen of All Saints, which many places don’t have, is a very visible reminder of his grandparents. It’s interesting to hear different visitors ask about the two statues on either side of the grand mosaic of the Blessed Mother in the sanctuary. Here, we have a “family portrait” around the altar, as the image of Our Lady is flanked on either side by her parents, Jesus’ grandparents, Sts. Joachim and Anne.

Most of what we know about them comes to us from tradition and apocryphal works, such as the Protoevangelium of James, which is actually where we learn their names. Some say that Anne lived in Bethlehem and Joachim in Nazareth, and both made it their prayer to be blest with an upright and holy spouse. This may be where the tradition comes of asking for the intercession of St. Anne in this regard. Even now, you can pray for the person who might eventually be the spouse of your child or grandchild. 

Joachim and Anne were known to be very generous and devout, but after twenty years of marriage they were still without children, which was a heavy cross for them. At times they were even ridiculed. Some sources speak of the day when Joachim came to the Temple with his neighbors to pray, but the less-than -holy priest Isachar rebuked him, telling Joachim to
leave because God was punishing him. Joachim, hurt, went off to the wilderness for some days, throwing himself on the mercy of God. God heard Joachim’s prayers, and in God’s time and according to God’s plan, Anne and Joachim were blessed with the daughter we greet as our Blessed Mother and Queen, the beautiful flower that attracted the Lord to earth (as some of the Church fathers like to reflect).

We don’t know if Joachim and Anne lived to see the day of the Lord, or if they greeted it from afar. If they did see it, it’s easy to imagine they were probably doting grandparents, as so many grandparents are.

Because their feast was observed this past week, some years back, the Holy Father asked that this Sunday be observed as a day in which we remember our grandparents, and recall the love and responsibility we owe to those who have come before us. I think we would agree that today, more than ever, grandparents carry responsibilities that, in the past, they didn’t have to worry about, or at least as much as today. Certainly, when it comes to faith,
they might find themselves encouraging not just their children but also their grandchildren by
inviting them to believe in God and to live upright and moral lives. If you are such a grandparent, we salute you!

Even if the results of these efforts don’t always seem evident, I think about the image given in the Psalms that children are like “olive plants.” The one who plants an olive tree, even after so much sweat and labor, usually doesn’t see the fruit in their lifetime—but the future generations do. Still, the one who plants can never tire or ever give up on the plant, lest the plant fail.

As we honor Sts. Joachim and Anne, the Lord’s grandparents, we ask God to reward all our
grandparents, living and deceased. 

Wishing you all God’s blessings this week!
Keeping you in prayer! And say one for me!
- Fr. Nate