Daily Catholic Lectio
Sat, 26 July 2025
Saints Joachim and Anne, Parents of the BVM, Memorial
Sirach 44:1, 10-15. Matthew 13:16-17
Godly Ancestors!
Our Holy Mother Church calls certain books ‘apocryphal’ and does not accept them as the ‘canon’ of the Bible. They are ‘hidden’ or ‘unaccepted’ books. However, the Church celebrates certain feasts and adopts certain symbols from them. For example, Saint Joseph with a staff of lilies is an inspiration from the Apocrypha. Today’s memorial of Saints Joachim and Anne, Parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary, comes from the apocryphal writings.
1. Tradition and legends
According to the ‘Protoevangelium of James’ (2nd cent. CE), and ‘Gospel of the Nativity of Mary’ (3rd cent. CE), Anne (in Hebrew, ‘Hannah’ – gracious) was born in Bethlehem of Judea. She married Joachim (in Hebrew, ‘Yoakhim’ – established by God) of Nazareth. This devout couple were barren. On account of his barrenness, Joachim was removed from the Temple duty. He left for an isolated place and remained in prayer. Anne, in her bitterness about her barrenness, made a vow to God that she would offer the child that would be born of her. An angel appeared to them in vision and promised them a wondrous child. Rejoicing at the birth of their daughter, they named the child ‘Mary’ (in Hebrew, ‘Miriam’ – desire for a child). When Mary was three years old, as per her vow, Anne left Mary in the Temple.
This event reminds us of Hannah of the Old Testament, who offered Samuel to God after ‘asking him from God’ (cf. 1 Sam 1).
According to another legend, Joachim died after Mary was born. Being induced by the Holy Spirit, Anne remarries and becomes the grandmother of John and James (sons of Zebedee), Simon, Jude, and James, brother of Jesus.
In the Holy Quran, Mary’s parents are named ‘Anne and Imran’ (cf. Surah al Imran 3:36-37).
2. Pope Francis
Our Holy Father, Pope Francis, established in 2021 that Sunday, close to the memorial of Joachim and Anne, be celebrated as ‘World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly.’ On this day, we remember the ‘maternal’ grandparents of Jesus. It is unfortunate that we don’t remember his ‘paternal’ grandparents. (From then to now, the ‘paternal’ grandparents are hardly remembered in our families. There may be exceptions!)
3. Grandparents and the elderly
(a) According to Judaism, ‘seven’ (7) is one of the numbers of fullness. I think, this represents our existence. We need 7 people for our existence or rootedness. I became complete because of: ‘I, my mother, my father, my mother’s mother-father,’ and my father’s mother-father.’ I am, in fact, the sum total of all these seven people. It is necessary that I remember all these people who make of me.
(b) Our grandparents are with us for a while. The elderly people whom we see around are, in fact, the extensions of our grandparents.
(c) In his first message (2021) for the world day for grandparents and the elderly, our Holy Father Pope Francis said, “On the three pillars of grandparents we stand: dreams, memory, and prayer.” Our grandparents have a deep vision of life, knowledge of human persons, and depth of knowledge in their field of expertise, and they celebrate life in a profound manner. We see them in their second childhood of innocence and playfulness.
4. In light of the readings
The author of Ben Sirach begins his second part of the book of tribute to ancestors with these words: “Now will I praise those godly men, our ancestors … they were godly or merciful men.” We shall not polarise here. ‘Men’ is inclusive here. The author says that one’s greatness lies in his merciful living. We live our lives at two levels: from the mind and from the heart. Maybe till we reach 60 years, we live from the mind: comparison, competition, jealousy, fights, running about, accumulating wealth. Then, we begin to live from the heart – with silence, serenity, acceptance, and above all, mercy or comparison. Let us begin to live from the heart – today on!
In the gospel reading, Jesus describes the privilege that the disciples had, which was deprived of the ancestors: “Many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you saw but did not see it.” In fact, our grandparents see the world through us. And we see the world through them. Each generation has its own blessing. The disciples were able to see Jesus, but we are not able. We are one part of the loooooooong river of life. Let us celebrate the blessings of our generation, and our children.
On this day, let us remember and thank God for our grandparents; and let us be compassionate grandparents to our children and children’s children.
Fr. Yesu Karunanidhi
Archdiocese of Madurai
Missionary of Mercy
Yesu Karunanidhi 
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