According to our liturgical calendar, July 26 is set aside to honor the parents of Mary, Jesus’ grandparents, if you will. We spend most of our time — as we should — on Jesus, but perhaps a deliberate day set aside to honor Mary’s parents reminds us of the importance of family in our lives.

There is little information about Anne and Joachim, Mary’s parents. Still, we can be sure that Mary came from a devout Jewish family of Davidic descent, fulfilling the prophecies of old…that Jesus would be from the house and family of David.

Until I saw this date on my liturgical calendar, I had never given any thought to Jesus’ grandparents. I wondered…what part did they play in Jesus’ younger years? Did Jesus spend much time with them? Did they sit together at mealtimes and talk about what happened that day? There are lots of questions that have no answers. But on the wall in my office, as I look at pictures of my children and grandchildren, I often wonder if they think about times we spent together as they were growing up and if they have memories that helped them along the way.

Families. And there is another family that is important to us: our church family…young and old, caucasian and southern islanders, Florida crackers and carpetbaggers, white collar and blue collar. We are different, yet we are all the same in our worship of the one true God, and that alone makes us a family…one family in Christ. Join us at Good Shepherd Church in LaBelle. You’ll be glad you did!