Let's Hear It For the Grandparents!

Today's feast of SS. Anna and Joachim, parents of  Mary and grandparents of Our Lord, is a good occasion to celebrate all of us grandparents! We know nothing of Jesus' grandparents from Scripture, and there's no indication as to whether they were alive or deceased at the time he lived. I'd like to think that they were around long enough for him to get to know them and for them to spoil him silly as I do my own grandchild! Surely we can presume that they loved their own daughter, Mary, and saw to it that she was raised as an intelligent and good Jewish girl. She certainly turned out to be an exemplary woman, and Scripture does attest to that. Whatever lessons Anna and Joachim taught Mary certainly equipped her well for the role God chose for her in the economy of salvation. Thanks be to God for Anna and Joachim! And thanks be to God for all of us grandparents! May we continue to be creditable examples to our children and grandchildren.