The Sunday Sermon Archive

Dear Friend,

Today we celebrate the feast of St. Joachim the father of the Blessed Virgin Mary and grandfather of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Pope Leo XIII raised this feast and that of St. Ann to its present status in 1879.

In today's Gospel we read the genealogy of Christ. It is very important that we never forget that Jesus Christ is truly human and that He truly was born here on earth in a very specific time in history. The celebration of today's feast emphasizes that Christ has a maternal grandfather. The second Person of the Blessed Trinity, Jesus Christ, the Son of God truly became man for our salvation. He is true God and true Man.

There should never be any doubt in our minds brought about by the evil doctrines of heretics and pagans in the world today. Christ is not a fairy tale, or just a convenient story to make people or children conform to a certain standard.

Christ has actual human ancestors just as we do. He is as human as we are, the only difference is that He is without sin and we are burdened with sin.

And as we emphasize Christ's humanity we must likewise not forget that He is divine. Christ is truly God, He is the second Person of the Blessed Trinity. He is God from all of eternity, but became Man in time (in the history of the world).

Those who were associated with Christ in time received tremendous graces here on earth and wonderful rewards in eternity. We begin with an examination of the virtues of Mary the mother of Christ and see the wondrous graces of virtue that adorned her soul. The simple words of the Angel ". . . full of grace" says it all. And as we see that virtues and vices are passed from one generation to the next, we can imply that the parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary were likewise very virtuous.

If Mary is blessed because she was chosen to be the mother of God, we likewise can say that St. Ann and St. Joachim were blessed to be the mother and father of Mary. So we can say blessed is St. Joachim who made the virtuous life of Mary possible and thus indirectly made the coming of Our Savior Jesus Christ possible.

We can each examine our own ancestry and see how God has blessed us each with parents who at the very least have cooperated with God in giving us our very existence. But, most of us can count many more blessings than this from our parents and should be eternally grateful to God for them. But, perhaps the more important point that we should consider is what we are giving to the next generation. Will the children of the next generation be able to thank us and God for the life, example, and virtues that He has given them through us? Or will they rise up and curse us for the evil that we have brought upon them?

We cannot save our children, just as our parents cannot save us. We must each of us do our own part in saving ourselves. Christ has redeemed us and therefore the price has been paid for our salvation but we must still do our part. Our parents cannot force us into Heaven nor can we force our own children into Heaven. But, we can show them the way and make it clear to them that only in loving and serving God will they ever find true happiness in this life or in the next.

Our duty now is to lead a virtuous life so that there is the example for them to follow. Our faith must be the real and true Faith that has been given us by God through the Catholic Church. Our faith must be alive with the grace of God. When we truly believe we live as we believe. The beauty and goodness of such a life is an inspiration and incentive for others to follow. If we find that our children do not live the way that they should, then we must begin to examine ourselves: what kind of example have we given them? What kind of example do we give them now? Do we live with faith and love of God? Do we pray to a living and all powerful God, or mumble words to the empty air?

We must live a life of love, humility, and obedience. "If you love Me, you will keep My words." In living this life as we ought we show our gratitude to God and our ancestors for the true Faith that has been given us, and we do our part in instilling the love of the true Faith and God into the hearts of the next generation. If the next generation is blessed through us we will likewise share in their glory just as St. Joachim now shares in the glory of his daughter the Mother of God.

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