From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   Words of hope directed to God   
      
       Jesus gave hope where there seemed to be no human cause for it   
   because his hope was directed to God. He spoke words of hope to the   
   woman (Take heart, daughter!) to ignite the spark of faith in her   
   (your faith has made you well!). And he also gave divine hope to a   
   father who had just lost a beloved child. Matthew 9:18-26   
       It took considerable courage and risk for the ruler of a synagogue   
   to openly go to Jesus and to invite the scorn of his neighbors and   
   kin. Even the hired mourners laughed at him in scorn. Their grief was   
   devoid of any hope. Nonetheless, Jesus took the girl by the hand and   
   delivered her from the grasp of death. In both instances we see Jesus'   
   personal concern for the needs of others and his readiness to heal and   
   restore life.   
      
   ============   
      
   July 26th - Feast of SS Joachim and Anne, Parents of Our Blessed Mother   
      
    By tradition Joachim and Anne are considered to be the names of the   
   parents of Mary, although as they are not mentioned in the Scriptures,   
   some historians believe this to be legend. The apocryphal   
   Protoevangelium of James (written in the 2nd century) describes the   
   life of SS Anne and Joachim, as well as the circumstances of the   
   conception of the Blessed Virgin. While some disagree on whether these   
   facts are historically accurate, whatever their names or the facts of   
   their lives, the truth is that it was the parents of Mary who nurtured   
   her, taught her, and brought her up to be a worthy Mother of God. It   
   was their teaching that led her to respond to God's request with   
   faith, acclaiming her fiat: "Let it be done to me as you will." It was   
   their example of parenting that Mary must have followed as she brought   
   up her own son, Our Lord and Savior.   
      
   Both Joachim and Anne were from the royal lineage of David, and we are   
   led to believe that their lives were wholly occupied in prayer and   
   good works. Joachim (whose name means “Yahweh prepares”) was   
   recognized as a prominent and respected man in the community around   
   Galilee (they later moved to Jerusalem, where Mary was raised). We   
   know that they assiduously divided their income into 3 parts--one   
   third supporting the poor, one third supporting the temple, and one   
   third supporting the running of their household. Their marriage, per   
   Saint Ignatius, was one of perfect simplicity--a model of behavior for   
   all individuals in their approach to union with the Lord. The only   
   thing lacking, per Jewish custom, was a child.   
      
   According to the Protoevangelium of James, Anne (whose name means   
   “Grace”), wife of Joachim, was advanced in years and that her prayers   
   for a child had not been answered. Once as she prayed beneath a laurel   
   tree near her home in Galilee, an angel appeared and said to her,   
   "Anne, the Lord hath heard thy prayer and thou shalt conceive and   
   bring forth, and thy seed shall be spoken of in all the world." Anne   
   replied, "As the Lord my God liveth, if I beget either male or female,   
   I will bring it as a gift to the Lord my God; and it shall minister to   
   Him in holy things all the days of its life.” And thus Anne was to   
   become the mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary.   
      
   According to the Chelidonius, a Benedictine monk from the 15th   
   century: "Overjoyed Anne threw herself into the arms of her husband;   
   together they rejoiced about the honor that was to be granted them in   
   the form of a child. For they knew from the heavenly messenger that   
   the child would be a Queen, powerful on heaven and on earth.”   
      
   At length, when Anne was quite old, Mary was born, the fruit of grace   
   and nature, and a child more of God than of man. Conceived and born   
   without sin, Mary was unlike any other child, and it was her parents   
   that raised her to be faithful to God’s word and remain free of sin.   
   With the birth of Mary, Saint Anne began life anew, caring for her   
   with maternal and reverent tenderness, sanctified by the presence of   
   the immaculate child. True to her word, she vowed her daughter to the   
   Lord.   
      
   As a child, tradition tells us that Mary was taken to the temple,   
   where she was offered to God. Saints Joachim and Anne suffered great   
   sorrow, but at the same time, experienced great joy for fulfilling the   
   vows they had made to the Lord. As a young girl, Mary spent time in   
   service to the Temple, working and learning with other girls. It is   
   likely, however, that her parents taught her to read, and certainly   
   Joachim and Anne who taught her to love and follow God’s word and to   
   know and understand the Scriptures.   
      
   The lives of Saints Joachim and Anne remain shrouded in mystery, lost   
   to history. While we might not know the exact circumstances of their   
   lives, what we do know is left in the legacy of their daughter,   
   Mary--the woman entrusted by God the Father to become the Mother of   
   God. We can believe, therefore, that the parents who nurtured, taught,   
   and raised Mary filled her with the faith and love of God required for   
   such a monumental task. It was their teaching that led to her fiat. It   
   was their example of parenting that Mary must have followed as she   
   brought up her own son, Jesus. It was their faith that laid the   
   foundation of courage and strength that allowed her to stand by the   
   cross as her son was crucified and still believe.   
   by Jacob   
      
      
   Saint John Damascene wrote this of the holy grandparents of Jesus:   
      
    – “Joachim and Anne, how blessed a couple! All creation is indebted   
   to you. For at your hands the Creator was offered a gift excelling all   
   other gifts: a chaste mother, who alone was worthy of Him. Joachim and   
   Anne, how blessed and spotless a couple! You will be known by the   
   fruit you have borne, as the Lord says:  “By their fruits you will   
   know them.” The conduct of your life pleased God and was worthy of   
   your daughter. For by the chaste and holy life you led together, you   
   have fashioned a jewel of virginity: she who remained a virgin before,   
   during and after giving birth. She alone for all time would maintain   
   her virginity in mind and soul as well as in body. Joachim and Anne,   
   how chaste a couple! While leading a devout and holy life in your   
   human nature, you gave birth to a daughter nobler than the angels,   
   whose queen she now is.”   
   -- from a sermon by Saint John Damascene (675-749) – Doctor of the Church   
      
      
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   Mother Anne, be joyful;   
   sing, O mother holy,   
   Since thou art the parent   
   O God's Mother lowly.   
      
   Praise thy wondrous daughter;   
   Joachim, too raises   
   To the Virgin Mary   
   His paternal praises.   
      
   For in her our planet   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)