{"id":142906,"date":"2026-07-26T05:00:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-26T09:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/?p=142906"},"modified":"2026-07-02T14:21:41","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T18:21:41","slug":"st-joachim-and-ann","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/st-joachim-and-ann\/","title":{"rendered":"St Joachim and Ann"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dear Joe,<\/span> Well, once again you have proved that you\u2019re no angel \u2013 thanks be to God. \u00a0If you did act like an angel, I\u2019d be worried. As it is, I\u2019m not worried at all. \u00a0If you are surprised at your tendency to fall into sin, you deluding yourself. It is your delusional pride that makes you think you shouldn\u2019t have tendencies to sin, and that you should be plenty strong enough all by yourself not to give in to temptation. \u00a0My dear nephew, you are a fallen creature, a member of Adam\u2019s race; when you were redeemed in the waters of baptism you regained friendship with God, but he did not obliterate your wounded human nature \u2013 he left it there to give you something to fight against. \u00a0In this life, you will NEVER be free from temptation and weakness. You have got to accept that, or you\u2019ll never make any progress in the spiritual life. You NEED God\u2019s help to achieve the holiness and happiness you long for, and you will continue needing it until the day you die. \u00a0A Christian is not someone who lives in the clouds of faultless perfection; a Christian is someone who follows Christ along the muddy, steep, and rocky path that leads to the very earthly cross of Calvary.<\/span> This is one of the mysterious things about Christianity \u2013 a spirituality with one foot firmly and unshakably planted in heaven and the other foot solidly planted on earth. \u00a0I guess it has something to do with the Incarnation: Jesus Christ is true God and also true man. Even Mary, the sinless Mother of God, was (and is) as real and earthy as the lady who serves up the lasagna in the cafeteria. \u00a0Sometimes we forget that, and we get this mistaken idea in our heads that somehow if we are authentic Christians we suddenly become ethereal and angelic. On days like today, when the Church celebrates the memorial of Mary\u2019s parents, Joachim and Ann, we are reminded of the truth. \u00a0<\/span> Actually, we know few details about these two Nazareans. \u00a0(Unreliable legend suggests that they married at a young age, suffered public mockery and reproach because they couldn\u2019t have children, and obtained the blessing of fertility after much prayer and fasting and the appearance of an angel.) \u00a0They were normal folk just like Mike and Lucy down the street (how are they doing, by the way? I\u2019ve no news of them for ages), and God reached right into the midst of their nondescript lives in order to bless them with a child destined to become Queen of Heaven and Earth. \u00a0(Though she herself led a quiet, unspectacular life as well.) Such are the ways of our God, who meets us in the mundane realities of our very human and imperfect world.<\/span> And that\u2019s exactly where you have got to find him. \u00a0Don\u2019t go thinking that you will only encounter God when you have violently purged yourself of every concupiscent vestige; it\u2019ll never happen. \u00a0Christ wants to walk with you here and now \u2013 leave your heavenly arrival time up to him.<\/span> Terrestrially yours, Uncle Eddy<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dear Joe, Well, once again you have proved that you\u2019re no angel \u2013 thanks be to God. \u00a0If you did act like an angel, I\u2019d be worried. 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John Bartunek, LC","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/622fd36594e05daecbf3cb6f50d7151c3066ae3991815fa200dc7c1865bc6a7e?s=96&d=blank&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/622fd36594e05daecbf3cb6f50d7151c3066ae3991815fa200dc7c1865bc6a7e?s=96&d=blank&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/622fd36594e05daecbf3cb6f50d7151c3066ae3991815fa200dc7c1865bc6a7e?s=96&d=blank&r=g","caption":"Fr. John Bartunek, LC"},"description":"Fr. John Bartunek, LC, S.Th.D, received his BA in History from Stanford University in 1990. He comes from an evangelical Christian background and became a member of the Catholic Church in 1991. After college, he worked as a high school history teacher, drama director, and baseball coach. He then spent a year as a professional actor in Chicago before entering the religious Congregation of the Legionaries of Christ in 1993. He was ordained a Catholic priest in 2003 and earned his doctorate in moral theology in 2010. He provided spiritual support on the set of Mel Gibson\u2019s\u00a0The Passion of the Christ\u00a0while researching the 2005 Catholic best seller,\u00a0Inside the Passion, the only authorized, behind-the-scenes explanation of the film. Fr. John has contributed news commentary regarding religious issues on NBC, CNN, Fox, and the BBC. He also served as the English-language press liaison for the Vatican\u2019s 2005 Synod of Bishops on the Eucharist. His most widely known books are The Better Part: A Christ-Centered Resource for Personal Prayer and 60 Days to Becoming a Missionary Disciple. His most recent book is\u00a0Spiritual But Not Religious: The Search for Meaning in a Material World. Fr. John resides in Atlanta and serves as Territorial Vicar for the Legionaries of Christ. See all books, Regnum Christi Essays, Retreat Guides, posts, and online classes from Fr. John Bartunek, LC.","url":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/author\/jbartunek\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142906","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/359"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=142906"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142906\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/145992"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=142906"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=142906"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=142906"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=142906"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}