Dog Days of Summer(August 1, 2016) Definition of dog days: I am writing this on July 26, the Feast of St. Anne and St. Joachim, so that it can be published on the first of August. That puts us in the ‘dog days of summer’, something that refers to astrology, not weather, unless you live where I do, in the southernmost part of Canada. The weather here has been hot, humid and stagnant with the exception of an occasional thunderstorm to wash away the dust and increase the humidity in its wake. Here the ‘dog days’ are just too darned hot and muggy! 
Most of our conferences are in their down time during these days of summer, a period of stagnation when regular meetings are suspended and the school vacation might lessen the number of requests for assistance from families. So what do we do during these so-called ‘dog days’? We pray, read, meditate and prepare for the rush that is autumn. Perhaps St. Anne and St. Joachim can provide some insights? We don’t have any hard facts about these grandparents of Jesus, only legends and the apocryphal Gospel of James. Even their names might have been something else. All we know is that Mary had parents and that they were probably good and faithful people. After all, they raised the mother of our Lord. As a parent and a grandparent, I wonder what Anne and Joachim thought, said and did during the times when problems arose? How did they handle a pregnant and unmarried daughter whose fiancé wanted to leave her? What did they think and how worried were they when that same daughter left for the difficult trip to Bethlehem in the very late stages of her pregnancy? And how proud were they of that grandson? Anne and Joachim were probably very kind and good parents and grandparents (if, in fact, they lived to see the child Jesus) but they were ordinary folk. They were like you and me and every parent and grandparent we visit in their homes. We know they faced family problems just like everyone else. I wonder how they did it. We don’t know, but I believe that their faith in God and devotion to each other carried them through. At least that is my belief and my inspiration. This is the ‘feast of grandparents’. It reminds grandparents of their responsibility to establish a tone for generations to come. They must make the traditions live and offer them as promise to little children. But the feast has a message for the younger generation as well. It reminds the young that older people’s greater perspective, depth of experience and appreciation of life’s profound rhythms are all part of a wisdom not to be taken lightly or ignored.
Denise Bondy, Chair |
