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Gospel: Matthew 13: 18-23
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Hear the parable of the sower.
The seed sown on the path is the one who hears the word of the Kingdom
without understanding it,
and the Evil One comes and steals away
what was sown in his heart.
The seed sown on rocky ground
is the one who hears the word and receives it at once with joy.
But he has no root and lasts only for a time.
When some tribulation or persecution comes because of the word,
he immediately falls away.
The seed sown among thorns is the one who hears the word,
but then worldly anxiety and the lure of riches choke the word
and it bears no fruit.
But the seed sown on rich soil
is the one who hears the word and understands it,
who indeed bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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I received my first bible when I was thirteen.
“You’re a teenager now,” my Grammy said to me. “Half-way to being all grown up! It’s time for you to start reading the bible. Start with the Gospels: there’s Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John!”
It seemed like such a simple fact: there are four Gospels. My grandmother knew each of them by name. Back then, I doubt I could’ve even named one.
Three years went by, then I finally cracked open that book. A year later, I had read the bible from cover to cover…and it changed my life.
In the words of the prophet Jeremiah, “When I found your words, I devoured them. They became my happiness and the joy of my heart.”
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Today we celebrate the feast of Saints Anne and Joachim, the grandparents of Jesus.
Just as my Grammy planted a seed in my heart that would later change my life, I wonder what difference Jesus’ grandparents made to him.
What seeds of wisdom did they plant in his heart? What difference did they make throughout his early childhood? What memories of them did he later carry through life?
We don’t know.
But we do know this: God wanted the experience of having grandparents.
It’s part of the strange, mysterious, bigger mystery of the Incarnation, the truth that God became flesh and lived among us.
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Today, on this feast of Saints Anne and Joachim, we’re reminded to be grateful for the gift of grandparents, both living and deceased.
May their good works go with them, and many any seed they planted in faith – like my own Grammy gifting me with a bible – bear fruit in the lives of generations to come.
Saints Anne and Joachim, pray for us!
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Image credits: (1) Shutterstock, art-Siberia (2) Outreach Magazine (3) Saint Joseph’s Oratory of MountRoyal