Three feasts in a week can teach us a lot

BY FR KEVIN REYNOLDS

In the last week of this month, the feasts of three saints remind us of a couple of interesting aspects of the human life of Christ. The feasts on July 22 and 29 focus our attention on Christ’s friendship with Ss Mary Magdalene and Martha respectively, while the feast of Ss Joachim and Anne on July 26 recalls Christ’s maternal grandparents.

The introduction in the Divine Office to the feast of Ss Joachim and Anne states: “An old tradition going back to the second century gives these names to the parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The veneration of St Anne dates from the sixth century in the East and spread throughout the West in the tenth century; that of St Joachim is more recent.”

In our Catholic tradition much is made of Jesus’ relationship with his mother, Mary, and his foster father, Joseph. However, it comes almost as a surprise to realise that he might well have had a relationship with his maternal grandparents, Joachim and Anne.

Because Mary was a young woman when she gave birth to Christ, in all probability her parents were alive at that time.

Tradition gives us the impression that Joseph was some years older than Mary, in which case his parents might have died by the time of Jesus’ birth. Be that as it may, Joachim and Anne surely played a role in the formative years of the human Christ.

Their feast encourages us to reflect on the importance of grandparents in the upbringing of a child. Generally speaking grandparents’ love and care for their grandchildren is enriched by their having brought up their own children.

A friend of mine recently became a grandmother when her eldest daughter gave birth to a little boy. For her, this was an event that had never occurred in human history, so profound and unique it seemed to become a granny.

When I asked if she felt that she loved her new grandson more than she had loved her own babies, she immediately said yes. She explained that her former experience of bringing up her son and three daughters had empowered her to love her baby grandson with a greater capacity.

Of course, our South African experience of many children growing up with their grandparents—because their parents’ work prevents their living with them, or because thre are no parents—confirms how many grandparents become surrogate parents. This reality in our society is not unique, being experienced in other countries, too.

One’s memories of the senior members of one’s family are usually positive. I am sure that Jesus’ memories of his maternal grandparents were precious, especially as Joachim and Anne had contributed richly to his human formation.

The feasts of Ss Mary Magdalene and Martha remind us how Jesus’ growth in his humanity was aided also by friendships in his adult life.

Unfortunately the attitude of the present world creates a warped view of adult friendships. This owes to an exaggeration of how relationships must have a sexual dimension.

Sadly, the friendship that Jesus enjoyed with Mary Magdalene is seen by many in such a skewed way. A good example of this is Dan Brown’s novel  The Da Vinci Code, which refers to Jesus and Mary Magdalene having had a marital and sexual relationship.

Current attitudes have become so “hyper-sexed” that some cannot accept the possibility of adults’ enjoying friendships with no sexual dimension. They refuse to accept that platonic relationships can facilitate true human growth.

That was certainly not the reality of Christ’s friendships with Mary Magdalene and Martha. The gospels record that Jesus had several friends of both sexes, including Martha’s brother and sister, Lazarus and Mary of Bethany. His example in this area of human interaction can inspire us to become richer persons by nurturing our own adult friendships.

Many believers find it difficult to come to terms with Christ’s growth in his human condition. Hopefully, though, our celebration of these July feasts helps us to accept his full humanity by recognising the value of grandparents and friends in our own human journey.