Gospel: July 26, 2025
July 26, 2025 (Saturday)
16th Week in Ordinary Time
Psalter: Week 4 / (White)
St. Joachim and St. Anne, parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Ps 50:1b-2, 5-6, 14-15
Offer to God a sacrifice of praise.
1st Reading: Exodus 24:3-8
Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all his laws. The people replied with one voice: “Everything that the Lord has said, we shall do.” Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord, then rose early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain with 12 raised stones for the 12 tribes of Israel. He then sent young men from among the sons of Israel to offer burnt offerings and sacrifice bullocks as peace offerings to the Lord. And Moses took half the blood and put it in basins; and with the other half of the blood he sprinkled the altar. He then took the Book of the Covenant and read it in the hearing of the people. They said, “All that the Lord said we shall do and obey.” Moses then took the blood and sprinkled it on the people saying, “Here is the blood of the Covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.”
Gospel: Matthew 13:24-30
Jesus told the people another parable, “The kingdom of heaven can be compared to a man, who sowed good seed in his field. While everyone was asleep, his enemy came, and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. When the plants sprouted and produced grain, the weeds also appeared. Then, the servants of the owner came, and said to him, ‘Sir, was it not good seed that you sowed in your field? Where did the weeds come from?’ He answered them, ‘This is the work of an enemy.’ They asked him, do you want us to go and pull up the weeds?’ He told them, ‘No, when you pull up the weeds, you might uproot the wheat with them. Let them grow together, until harvest; and, at harvest time, I will say to the workers: Pull up the weeds first, tie them in bundles and burn them; then gather the wheat into my barn.’”
Reflection:
“Pray for grandparents.”
Today we celebrate the feast of the parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Joachim her father, and Anne her mother, who gave birth to the one who would become Theotokos, the Mother of God, the Mother of the Word Incarnate. Joachim and Anne represent the tradition of Israel and the hopes of their people in the Lord and his Covenant, a deep bond which is described in the first reading as the People reply to Moses, saying that they will do and obey all that the Lord has commanded. This promise is a response to the commitment that God has made to them, and it is sealed in blood, sprinkled over the people. The New Covenant, which healed the failure of humankind to live up to its promise, is forged in the blood of Christ. And so, Joachim and Anne’s hopes in the everlasting mercy of God are fulfilled in Jesus, born of Mary. Joachim and Anne are also the patron saints of grandparents, and so they remind us to pray for grandparents, and to thank God for the rich heritage, wisdom and experience that they embody. May Saints Joachim and Anne intercede for them and pray for us, too.
