Sts. Joachim and Anne

 Sts. Joachim and Anne according to old traditions are considered to be the parents of Mary. However the gospel writers give no indications about this in their writings. The proto Gospel of James which is no way should be trusted names the parents of Mary as Anna or Hanna which means “grace” – and Joachim, which meant “Yahweh saves”. According to the legend, after long years of having no child, an angel of the Lord appeared to convey to Anne and Joachim that they would have a child, Anne promised that if this were to be true she would honour God by dedicating this child to Him.

      St. Anne is glorious among the other saints because of the simple fact that the Immaculate Conception was conceived in her womb. In other words, she became the mother who bore the mother of God. To this effort St. John Damascus says “For she who was to be born had to be a 1^st born daughter, since she would be the mother of the 1^st born of all creation; in whom all things are held together” St. Anne is the patronesses of Britanny in France which is a Land of sailors. The ancient shrines of St. Anne in Jerusalem and in Apt, France still exist today.   

         Sts. Joachim and Anne come across to us as perfect role models for Christian parents, this is clear to us by the fact that they brought Mary to the temple at the age of 3 to dedicate her to the service of God. They did this in fulfillment of Annes promise. Earlier 26^th of July was observed only as St. Anne’s day until in recent times when it has come to be observed as parents’ day. The striking fact is that both of them nurtured Mary, taught and brought her up to be a worthy Mother of God. It was their example of parenting that helped Mary bring up her own son, Jesus. They also put seeds of courage and strength which helped her to stand by the cross of her Son.

        This feast is of great significance in the sense that it gives 2 reminders; namely to parents and to children. Parents and grandparents are reminded of the goodness of Sts. Joachim and Anne and are expected to be like them. On the other hand children and the young are reminded of the responsibilities that their elders have. They are expected to respect them and put into practice what their elders tell them. 

Sexuality, a gift

 Anything that involves only one person or doesn’t give much importance to the other is a selfish act. We human beings are essentially social beings and hence live together with other human beings on this earth. We share our moments of togetherness with our families and friends, relatives and others. We show others that we care only when we begin to share.

The Sacrament of Matrimony is a sign of commitment. Whatever things are done outside of a commitment are invalid. Our sexuality is a gift given to us by God so that we may express our love to our own spouse and also procreate. When sexuality is used for pleasure or for self-gratification it becomes a selfish act which centers on only one person.

Our sexuality is a drive and gift from God. We need to cherish it and uphold its dignity. Our sexuality should help us to focus our energies on our partner and use it in the light of God’s will and plan for humankind.

Eyes

‘The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body…Mt 6:22 & 23

What Jesus says is quite true. I would also like to add to this by saying that ‘We become what we see.’ For example, the habits and culture that we have picked up from our parents. As Jesus has already mentioned, there is boon and bane to this lamp of the body.

On the positive note, becoming what we see by taking the good examples of others is of great good. Nowadays many people learn to do new and creative things by watching videos on the internet. However on the other hand children who movies depicting super heroes and villains in action, start imitating them and end up in an accident or in jail.

Our vision is of great value and we should use it prudently. Vision is not only what was explained in the above paragraph but also about the way we look at others, our attitude towards them and also our outlook to life.

Reason to Vision!

Petty Issues

I got up once, took a walk and then went to sleep again. This dream of mine was a little strange to me and I am sure this wont happen in reality. The scene was the football ground where an active game was going on. I was standing near the outside line and there was another companion of mine who was 1 year senior to me. He was marking me, suddenly he fell down as he began to run, it was because of my leg. He marched angrily towards me and pushed me on a pile of stones which some grass under it that was just some distance away from the out line.

Now I too began fiercefully angry and pushed him down. In the meantime all the players gathered in straight line at about 15ft from us to see what was happening. None of them did anything to make the situation better, however some of them were gossiping.

Our tussle continued, I had pushed him down, somewhere close to those pile of stones. The next thing he did was something I didn’t expect him to do. He picked up one huge sharp stone and threw it at my head, but being the hero in my own dream, I stopped it with my hand. There were absolutely no cuts on my hands.

He picked up another huge stone and did the same thing again and it happened in the same manner as it happened at the first time. This I started that it was a mistake on my part that he fell down on the ground. I told him that there was no need to get so wild. However he was still red and hence I just ran away towards my house.

People began praying the evening rosary together and I started my private rosary as I was climbing the stairs. I was feeling like I was in the wrong situation at the wrong time. Before entering the building I noticed that the light of my house in another building was on and hence I thought, maybe my mother would be there.

When I entered this house I saw that the light in the bathroom was on and hence I called to my mother. She responded by saying that she was there. I felt comforted thinking that she was there. I felt comforted thinking that I would tell about all that happened to my mother and feel relieved.