Memorial of Saints Joachim and Anne, Parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary
July 26, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/072624.cfm

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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.
Matthew 13:23

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How appropriate, on this feast of Anne and Joachim, that the Gospel describes the abundant yield of love and fidelity. Those virtues in Anne and Joachim shaped the heart of Mary as the Vessel of God.

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:
We gratefully remember those in our own lives who helped shape us by their faith, guardianship, and generosity – parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, trusted mentors, generous friends.

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Poetry: The Splendor Falls – Alfred Lord Tennyson

The splendor falls on castle walls
And snowy summits old in story;
The long light shakes across the lakes,
And the wild cataract leaps in glory.
Blow, bugle, blow, set the wild echoes flying,
Blow, bugle; answer, echoes, dying, dying, dying.

O, hark, O, hear! how thin and clear,
And thinner, clearer, farther going!
O, sweet and far from cliff and scar
The horns of Elfland faintly blowing!
Blow, let us hear the purple glens replying,
Blow, bugles; answer, echoes, dying, dying, dying.

O love, they die in yon rich sky,
They faint on hill or field or river;
Our echoes roll from soul to soul,
And grow forever and forever.
Blow, bugle, blow, set the wild echoes flying,
And answer, echoes, answer, dying, dying, dying.

I found a reference to this poem in a lovely reflection by Franciscan Sister Kathleen Murphy which you may read here:

Reflection on Saints Anne & Joachim

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Music: Ancestors – by Sarah Pirtle

Chorus:
We are standing on the shoulders of the ones who came before us.
They are giving us their courage, and they say we are glad you’re in this world.

1. May the strength of the ancestors encircle you.
   May the strength of the ancestors encircle you.
   And may this strength stay with you your whole life through.
   May the strength of the ancestors encircle you.

We are standing on the shoulders of the ones who came before us.
They are giving us their courage, and they say we are glad you’re in this world.

Refrain:
May you have all your choices. May you have all your voices.
May your wisdom now be heard.
They say we are glad you’re in this world.

2. May the trust of the ancestors be healing you. (2x)
   And may this trust stay with you your whole life through.
   May the trust of the ancestors be healing you.

We are lifting up our vision to the ones who will come after.
We are sending them our courage, as they wait to come into this world.

Refrain:
May you have all your choices. May you have all your voices.
May your wisdom now be heard.
They say we are glad you’re in this world.