Occasionally, I learn something that others learned when they were growing up. I suppose there are some things I may have learned as a boy that other folks did not learn, but I am not sure what those would be. It always seems to me other people learned things that I never learned. Most of the time, it is no big deal.
Today is a reminder of one of those things I never learned when I was growing up. If you follow the Benedictine lectionary, as I do, you will know that today is the feast day for St. Anna and St. Joachim. Now if you are saying to yourself, “who are they,” then you apparently were in the same not-knowing boat that I was in when I was a boy. I can assure you, little Quaker kids do not grow up knowing who Sts. Joachim and Anna (or Anne) were.
Since I do follow daily the Benedictine lectionary, it is clear to me that Benedictine monks know who the two saints are. I suspect many Roman Catholics grow up knowing who St. Anne and St. Joachim are. Probably, many Protestants do not know who they are. And surely, most people who seldom or never went to a Christian church do not have a clue who they are.
So enough of the suspense. According to some early Christian literature, St. Anne and Joachim are the parents of Jesus’ mother, Mary. Indeed, they are the Virgin Mary’s mother and father. We do not learn about this from any of the books in the New Testament. Not one of the four gospels tells this story. In fact you may recall that only two of the four gospels (Matthew and Luke) mention the parents of Jesus. Neither one mentions the parents of Mary, Jesus’ mother. So in effect, St. Anne and Joachim are the maternal grandparents of Jesus. Again, this is a little known fact that I did not learn growing up.
I am sure I learned about it when I was in graduate school. I am less confident I learned it in college. In graduate school I read some of the late second and third century Christian literature. None of this literature is as old as the New Testament material, but it is the next material written. Two or three of these documents mention the parents of Mary, mother of Jesus. So what difference does it make?
At one level, it makes absolutely no difference in my spirituality. At another level, I do find historical material interesting and, sometimes, edifying. St. Anne and Joachim fall into that category: interesting and edifying. Let me give you one tidbit to show why it is interesting to me.
First of all, I know that Anne (or Anna) is the English and Latin form of the Hebrew name, Hannah. If you know anything about the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament), you know that Hannah is the wife of Elkanah. Hannah could not bear children. But through her prayers to God, she was able to conceive and gave birth to Samuel, one of the most famous prophets and characters of the Old Testament. (I Samuel 1)
I pause to share this much biblical history, because it seems clear that those early Christian writers who were telling us the story of Mary’s parents had this story of Hannah in mind. It probably is not an accident that the Hebrew name, Hannah, comes across in Greek and Latin as Anna. Once you know this, Hannah and Anna sound alike! By now we can sit back and say, “So what!”
Doubtlessly, there are levels to the “so what!” In the first place, I would not pretend to tell you that Anna and Joachim were for sure Mary’s parents’ names. I am confident the real answer is, “we don’t know their names.” But it does not matter to me. The grandparents of Jesus came to be significant because Jesus became significant. Had he simply been crucified and buried…and forgotten…that would have been the end of a sorry little first century story.
But for people of the Christian faith, somehow God was amazingly present in him and through his ministry. He became famous and so did his parents. It would only be a matter of time before his grandparents did, too. The logic would go something like this: Mary must have been something for God to use her to give us Jesus. And if she were so special, surely her parents were somehow special in their own right.
Let me remind you that I find all this interesting and edifying. Whether it is interesting is probably a matter of spiritual taste. I find it edifying not in the sense that I am sure it is teaching me history. I admit that I rather doubt it as authentic history, but that’s ok.
For me it is a reminder that not one of us is self-made. I think this is true for Jesus, too. We may do amazing things. We might even be miracle workers. This is true for Jesus. Without Joseph and Mary I doubt that he would have made it. And without Joachim and Anna, Mary would never have been. For these two saints---Anna and Joachim---I give thanks this day.
And for all parents and grandparents this day I give thanks. Without us, our kids
---our real kids and our spiritual kids---would not make it. May it be our saint-day, too.
Ah, that it could be my saint-day, too, is another thing I did not learn growing up!
Today is a reminder of one of those things I never learned when I was growing up. If you follow the Benedictine lectionary, as I do, you will know that today is the feast day for St. Anna and St. Joachim. Now if you are saying to yourself, “who are they,” then you apparently were in the same not-knowing boat that I was in when I was a boy. I can assure you, little Quaker kids do not grow up knowing who Sts. Joachim and Anna (or Anne) were.
Since I do follow daily the Benedictine lectionary, it is clear to me that Benedictine monks know who the two saints are. I suspect many Roman Catholics grow up knowing who St. Anne and St. Joachim are. Probably, many Protestants do not know who they are. And surely, most people who seldom or never went to a Christian church do not have a clue who they are.
So enough of the suspense. According to some early Christian literature, St. Anne and Joachim are the parents of Jesus’ mother, Mary. Indeed, they are the Virgin Mary’s mother and father. We do not learn about this from any of the books in the New Testament. Not one of the four gospels tells this story. In fact you may recall that only two of the four gospels (Matthew and Luke) mention the parents of Jesus. Neither one mentions the parents of Mary, Jesus’ mother. So in effect, St. Anne and Joachim are the maternal grandparents of Jesus. Again, this is a little known fact that I did not learn growing up.
I am sure I learned about it when I was in graduate school. I am less confident I learned it in college. In graduate school I read some of the late second and third century Christian literature. None of this literature is as old as the New Testament material, but it is the next material written. Two or three of these documents mention the parents of Mary, mother of Jesus. So what difference does it make?
At one level, it makes absolutely no difference in my spirituality. At another level, I do find historical material interesting and, sometimes, edifying. St. Anne and Joachim fall into that category: interesting and edifying. Let me give you one tidbit to show why it is interesting to me.
First of all, I know that Anne (or Anna) is the English and Latin form of the Hebrew name, Hannah. If you know anything about the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament), you know that Hannah is the wife of Elkanah. Hannah could not bear children. But through her prayers to God, she was able to conceive and gave birth to Samuel, one of the most famous prophets and characters of the Old Testament. (I Samuel 1)
I pause to share this much biblical history, because it seems clear that those early Christian writers who were telling us the story of Mary’s parents had this story of Hannah in mind. It probably is not an accident that the Hebrew name, Hannah, comes across in Greek and Latin as Anna. Once you know this, Hannah and Anna sound alike! By now we can sit back and say, “So what!”
Doubtlessly, there are levels to the “so what!” In the first place, I would not pretend to tell you that Anna and Joachim were for sure Mary’s parents’ names. I am confident the real answer is, “we don’t know their names.” But it does not matter to me. The grandparents of Jesus came to be significant because Jesus became significant. Had he simply been crucified and buried…and forgotten…that would have been the end of a sorry little first century story.
But for people of the Christian faith, somehow God was amazingly present in him and through his ministry. He became famous and so did his parents. It would only be a matter of time before his grandparents did, too. The logic would go something like this: Mary must have been something for God to use her to give us Jesus. And if she were so special, surely her parents were somehow special in their own right.
Let me remind you that I find all this interesting and edifying. Whether it is interesting is probably a matter of spiritual taste. I find it edifying not in the sense that I am sure it is teaching me history. I admit that I rather doubt it as authentic history, but that’s ok.
For me it is a reminder that not one of us is self-made. I think this is true for Jesus, too. We may do amazing things. We might even be miracle workers. This is true for Jesus. Without Joseph and Mary I doubt that he would have made it. And without Joachim and Anna, Mary would never have been. For these two saints---Anna and Joachim---I give thanks this day.
And for all parents and grandparents this day I give thanks. Without us, our kids
---our real kids and our spiritual kids---would not make it. May it be our saint-day, too.
Ah, that it could be my saint-day, too, is another thing I did not learn growing up!
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