The icon in the middle of the church, which is
the wedding icon that my wife and I received
when we got married in 1983. I said last night
that it was painted by Father Patrick, who was
the best man at that wedding. It's there today
in the middle of the church. For the feast that
we celebrate, it's on the calendar of yesterday,
but we moved it to today, the feast of the conception
of the All Holy Theotokos by Saint Anna. Well,
and we won't leave Joachim out of that either.
I have a great devotion to this feast because
I look at this icon every single day. It's there
in our room by the prayer corner. And I think
about those two magnificent saints. Let me give
you a brief version of the events of this feast
day. The events are that Joachim and Anna, righteous
people in Jerusalem, had no children. They wanted
children very, very much. They were barren. You
heard the hymn about barrenness. And now the
barrenness is lifted. Like Sarah, like Elizabeth,
getting on in years, past the age of bearing
children, yet they stayed faithful. And one of
the hymns from last night tells us a story. It
says this, Anna, named for divine grace, does
cry out in her prayer, the word, the name Anna
means grace apparently, beseeching the creator
and God of all things. saying, open my womb to
make it fruitful that we may offer thee a child
as a gift and give glory and praise with hymns
and songs to thy love through which the world
receives great mercy. And being barren, they
were in that particular culture at that time,
stigmatized, shamed. The society around them
thought they must be cursed. They have no children.
God does not look at them with a kind eye. They're
being punished. And that kind of shame to bear
for 50 years, imagine, imagine. Well, in due
time, in the fullness of time, and you'll hear
that phrase on Christmas Day from Galatians,
God did answer their prayer, and this is what
a hymn says. Behold, the promises of the prophets
are fulfilled. The holy mountain is planted in
the womb. The virgin is called the holy mountain.
The divine ladder is set up. The virgin is called
the ladder. The great throne of the king is ready.
The place for the Lord's passage is prepared.
The dry bush. which the fire could not consume,
is blossoming. Isn't that wonderful? For a long
time they waited, and God fulfilled their promise,
and barrenness became fruitful. This is the story
that gets us into Christmas, because without
this there simply is no Christmas. And looking
at the icon today, we see Anna and her husband
Joachim standing before the gates of Jerusalem.
where they met after learning that Anna was with
child. And the child to be born would be Mary,
the mother of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ.
This is why the hymn says, the great throne of
the king is ready. You look at the fresco of
the Virgin in the apse, she is the throne and
the Lord is sitting upon her. And the icon shows
them embracing tenderly. Lovingly. And we're
drawn into that love. We're drawn into that tenderness.
One hymn said, all the world celebrates. That's
true. We're invited into that celebration, but
we have to make the effort for that to happen.
We're invited into their joy. We're drawn into
their love and faithfulness. This feast is for
us, which is why we're celebrating it today.
It's not just a historical memory, as precious
as that is. So we're being led to prepare ourselves
for Christmas so that we too can make that barrenness
of our souls, which we find so dry and sometimes
so distant from God, something fruitful by God's
help. The icon of the hymns are telling us, without
being too explicit, that this miraculous conception
of Mary happened through natural means, like
any other man and woman and child coming from
them. Someone should tell movie and TV producers
it's probably too late, that explicit is not
needed. In any case, 50 years of prayerful waiting.
Desire. Faithfulness to God. That cleansed their
hearts. It cleansed their souls. It made them
ready to be what they needed to be. The parents
of the Virgin Mary. So despite all appearances
to the contrary, God was working in a loving
and wise way. He was managing everything so that
a joy could come. Beyond any comprehension or
comparison for the world, for us. So faithfulness
to God, trust in God, that's the first point
today. And that's not a new lesson, is it? I've
been talking about that for weeks. And in their
great joy, Joachim and Anna did what? They offered...
Back to God, the gift that he gave them. Isn't
that what we do every Sunday anyway? This gift
that they waited 50 years to receive? It's an
amazing thing to do, but we remember, I'll say
it again, our children belong to God. They belong
to God. They don't belong to us. We are their
caretakers, their caregivers. And we eventually
pass away. That's the second point. The righteous
couple understood that everything is a gift from
God, and they lived according to that gratitude.
Isn't it true, said the late Metropolitan Anthony
Bloom of London, that gratitude springs up in
the heart more powerfully, more gloriously, when
we receive what we did not deserve? When it is
a miracle of divine and human love. When we think
that we deserve something, he said, and we receive
it, we receive it as our due. Like those nine
lepers in the gospel that Christ healed that
didn't come back. They received it, they were
Jewish men. They received it as their due. But
the one leper that knew this was a gift undeserved
was the Samaritan, and he came back. St. Paul
says, it is a greater joy to give than to receive.
Is this our attitude in all things in our life?
That's point number two. Point number three.
Joachim and Anna are models for us. How? Here
today, in our culture, in our society, here today,
the church... is presenting to us. We're meditating
upon, we're celebrating a feast day in honor
of a conception, something so intimate, while
the world around us in our society strives in
so many ways, and it's a war of politics and
viewpoints, to do away with the conception and
what happens. And here we are celebrating this
thing, this intimate act. And we're called by
the church. We're invited into to celebrate and
learn from these righteous people, this man and
this woman. What a healthy human, not superhuman,
but human, godly, sacrificial, dignified, intimate,
and joyful sexuality between a husband and wife
looks like. Our marriage service Speaks of this
continually. We should pay attention. Listen
to this little reflection by Professor David
Ford. Marital relations are by nature inherently
good. I don't need to be explicit, right? And
they can be free from lust and sin. Chastity,
which... the church service mentions over and
over and over again, doesn't equal virginity.
Chastity in the context of marriage means faithfulness
to one's spouse and a disposition of graciousness,
dignity, decorum, moderation in all marital relations.
This is asceticism, isn't it? Hence the church
prays at the wedding. that the Lord our God will
grant them an honorable marriage and a bed undefiled
and cause their marriage to be honorable, preserve
their bed blameless, mercifully grant that they
may live together in purity. My goodness, brothers
and sisters, we're bombarded by other images.
This is the image we need to keep front and center
before us. Our life and our faith will conflict.
with all that out there. That's okay. We're nonconformists.
And of course, we admit, we should admit, have
to admit, that many of us do not embody the ideals
of what I read, the ideals of this feast, very
well. But still, it's our feast. It's our preparation
for Christmas. And it's a feast that speaks to
parents. For the reasons I said. It's a feast
that speaks to children. To love their parents,
to pray for their parents that they may have
a righteous marriage. It's a feast that speaks
to single people. To keep chastity and prayer
and desire for God first. And his providence
in your life first. It's a feast that speaks
to the care of infants. It's a feast that speaks
to those who care for infants. It's a feast that
speaks to those praying for children that are
having trouble. My goodness, don't we end every
single service asking for the intercessions of
the righteous Joachim and Anna, the ancestors
of God. The church puts them right in front of
us every single day if we do a service every
day because there are heavenly intercessors for
all of these things. And let me say, let me say,
this is a feast for married couples who have
problems, who would do well to deal with them
and be healed by God's grace. And mostly I speak
about to the husbands. I'll venture to say, we
will answer before God for our neglect of the
holiness, the dignity, the graciousness, the
gentleness, the love, tenderness of marriage.
Husbands, take heed. We will be judged. Let me
end with the words of Venerable Father Macarius.
You say, what did he know about marriage? He
knew a lot. Not only did he grow up with parents
and brothers and sisters, but he was a confessor
to very many people. He said this to a man that
was his spiritual son. A home is a Christian
one when all of the members of the household
bear each other's burdens and when each condemns
only himself. You have forgotten this, both of
you. Ponder the truth of Christian marriage.
Men and wife are one flesh. Humble yourself,
not her. Love her, not yourself. Through the
prayers of the righteous Joachim and Anna, Lord
Jesus Christ, our God, have mercy on us. Amen.