The Remnant of Israel - Joachim and Anne

Homily for the Memorial of Sts.. Joachimi and Anne

After the death of Solomon, his son, Rehoboam inherited the throne of his father. However, a rebellion split the kingdom into two – Israel or Ephraim to the north and Judah to the south. Only two of the 12 tribes aligned themselves against the rebellion. The rebels of the northern kingdom built their temple in Hebron. The southern kingdom, of course, included Jerusalem and the Temple of Solomon. From the divine viewpoint, the division was a judgment on not keeping God’s commands, specifically the commands prohibiting idolatry. From a human viewpoint, the division was the result of tribal discord and political unrest. Either way you look at it, the principle is that sin brings division as St. Paul later wrote in his First Letter to the Corinthians.

Today’s first reading from the Prophet Jeremiah looks to the future resolution of this division sometime after the Babylonian exile. Jeremiah pronounces an oracle of the Lord’s word: “At that time they will call Jerusalem ‘the LORD’s throne.’ All nations will gather together there to honor the name of the LORD at Jerusalem, and they will no longer stubbornly follow their wicked heart.” A remnant of Israel will reunite with Judah. The former Israelite community, represented by the ark of the covenant, will be replaced by a universal alliance, symbolized by Jerusalem, the Lord’s throne, to which all nations will be gathered.

The response to the first reading is also taken from the Prophet Jeremiah, a canticle that sings of the people streaming to the mountain of the Lord. The sorrow that followed the division of the kingdoms is forgotten and God promises to turn their sorrow into joy.

Although this reading is part of the continuous reading of the Prophet Jeremiah, it is particularly appropriate for today’s memorial of Saints Joachim and Anne inasmuch as the maid of Nazareth, Mary, is a part of the remnant of which Jeremiah speaks and that introduces St. Luke’s Gospel. Through the characters of Zechariah and Elizabeth, Simeon and Hannah, and Mary and Joseph, St. Luke introduces the infancy narrative of Jesus as being brought about in the presence of these men and women who represent the remnant of Israel.

What we know about Joachim and Anne comes from Catholic legend and the Gospel of James, which is an unsanctioned, apocryphal writing from the second century AD. Naturally, there is plenty of room for scholarly debate about these saints. We have no true primary sources that prove they even existed, but certainly we can agree that Mary had parents. Likewise, we can agree that Mary had good, faithful parents who raised her with a love and devotion to God like none other except Jesus Christ Himself.

As we celebrate them today, we are called to emulate the love and devotion to God that is expressed in their memory. Let us also pray for an end to the division that is so present in our world today which, like the division of the Kingdom of Israel is the product of sin in our world.