Today is the Feast of S. Anne (also known as Anna or Ann – all derived from the Hebrew name, Hannah) with a commemoration of the 8th Sunday after Trinity. We might wonder why on occasion the usual pattern of Trinity Sundays is interrupted. Depending on the ranking of the feast day, it may displace the usual Sunday celebration.
The ranking of feast days in the traditional kalendar is rather complicated. Most Sundays are ranked as semi-doubles, the exceptions being the Sundays in Advent, Lent and Passion-tide as well as Easter Day, Low Sunday and Pentecost. In this week’s case, the feast of S. Anne is a Double of the II Class, so we celebrate the day as the Feast of S. Anne and commemorate the 8th Sunday after Trinity.
The modern kalendar combines S. Anne and S. Joachim on this day, and celebrates the Parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The traditional kalendar, which we follow, celebrates them separately. S. Joachim’s feast day will be celebrated the day after the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, that is on 16th August. One can argue the rationale, but I think more dignity is accorded by separating the two parents. I also believe that there was a concerted effort in the revision of the kalendar to simplify and to consequently weaken the teaching aspect of the liturgical kalendar.
Scripture does not record the names of the Blessed Mother’s parents; their names come to us from tradition. Some have the attitude that if something is not found in Scripture, than it is to be discarded or at the least, discounted. But we forget that the New Testament is itself part of the Holy Tradition handed down from the early Church. We might recall the Dominical admonition from S. Paul as recorded by S. Luke in Acts: ...remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive (Acts 20.35). This saying is nowhere to be found in the Gospels so S. Paul must have received it from a tradition other than that used by the Evangelists.
The Catholic Encyclopedia gives us this account: All our information concerning the names and lives of Sts. Joachim and Anne, the parents of Mary, is derived from apocryphal literature: the Gospel of the Nativity of Mary, Pseudo-Matthew and the Protoevangelium of James. Though the earliest form of the latter, on which directly or indirectly the other two seem to be based, goes back to about A.D. 150, we can hardly accept as beyond doubt its various statements on its sole authority.
In the Orient, the Protoevangelium had great authority and portions of it were read on the feasts of Mary by the Greeks, Syrians, Copts, and Arabians. In the Occident, however, it was rejected by the Fathers of the Church until its contents were incorporated by Jacobus de Voragine in his “Golden Legend” in the thirteenth century. From that time on, the story of St. Anne spread over the West and was amply developed, until St. Anne became one of the most popular saints also of the Latin Church.
The Protoevangelium gives the following account: In Nazareth there lived a rich and pious couple, Joachim and Hannah. They were childless. When on a feast day Joachim presented himself to offer sacrifice in the temple, he was repulsed by a certain Ruben, under the pretext that men without offspring were unworthy to be admitted. Whereupon Joachim, bowed down with grief, did not return home, but went into the mountains to make his plaint to God in solitude. Also Hannah, having learned the reason of the prolonged absence of her husband, cried to the Lord to take away from her the curse of sterility, promising to dedicate her child to the service of God.
Their prayers were heard; an angel came to Hannah and said: “Hannah, the Lord has looked upon thy tears; thou shalt conceive and give birth and the fruit of thy womb shall be blessed by all the world”. The angel made the same promise to Joachim, who returned to his wife. Hannah gave birth to a daughter whom she called Miriam (Mary).
The fact that this story parallels that of the birth of Samuel to Elkanah and Hannah, does not, in and of itself, invalidate its truthfulness. We see repeatedly parallelisms between the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament. They exist to help us more deeply understand the mystery of our faith.
What is important here, is to recognize the hand of God at work in bringing about our salvation. His Providence was at work throughout the generations leading up to the nativity of Our Blessed Lord. The piety of the Blessed Mother’s parents is implicit in the angel Gabriel’s greeting: And the angel being come in, said unto her: Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.
While being “full of grace” of necessity is an act of God, it still required a willing spirit. The role of her parents in teaching the Blessed Mother about God and the ancient Hebrew faith cannot be underestimated. This story should make parents more aware of the role played in the raising of Christ-oriented children. And this story should make all of us aware of the fact that God desires to use each one of us for His purposes. When we fail to cooperate with His will for us, we may very well thwart His purpose of bringing salvation to those around us.
S. Anne was clearly a women open to God’s grace, and allowed that grace to work through her in the raising of the Blessed Virgin. May we allow the same grace to live and work in our lives, so that we, like the Virgin Mother, may allow the Word to reside within us and to grow to Its full maturity.
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Catholic politicians and the weeds in the wheat
Christians must forgo convenience in order to avoid selling out Christ for politics.
BY: Kevin Finn, The American Thinker (July 21, 2026).
The Gospel reading at Mass this Sunday was Matthew 13:24-43, the parable of the weeds among the wheat. In the story, an enemy has sown weeds in the wheat crop. Workers ask the farmer if they should pull them up, and the farmer says no, as they may damage the wheat by doing so. Instead, at harvest time, they should first gather the weeds and bundle them, then throw them into the fire. This is a clear warning to unrepentant sinners.
Our parish priest is a staunch Democrat, and his homily warned us of the dangers of the weeds in our community and our nation — those who are uncharitable, who persecute migrants and commit acts of violence. But although no reasonable person wants to see anyone subjected to neglect, unjust persecution, or violence, the fact remains that the majority of these actions are coming from the political left. He gave no homilies on the riots during the summer of 2020, and he never preaches about the evils of abortion or unrestricted illegal immigration.
His homily got me thinking, as homilies should. If someone claims to be a Christian, whether Protestant or Catholic, yet condones, enables, and even celebrates policies that are antithetical to Christianity such as abortion, assisted suicide, homosexuality, and gender ideology, is he still a Christian? We’re all in need of forgiveness, grace, and salvation. But at what point does a person move from being a “bad Christian” to an actual heretic?
Though I’m not qualified to speak authoritatively on the doctrines of the various Protestant denominations, a cursory search reveals a wide range of tolerance towards issues such as abortion, gender ideology, and assisted suicide. As a Catholic, I am more familiar with the teachings of the Catholic Church on these matters. Nevertheless, shouldn’t Protestant and Catholic teachings both conform to Scriptural truths?
When political loyalty overrides fidelity to Church teaching, it creates scandal and erodes the moral witness of the Catholic Church. It requires an honest examination through the lens of the “five non-negotiables” consistent with Catholic social teaching. These non-negotiable positions are abortion, euthanasia/assisted suicide, embryonic stem cell research, human cloning, and homosexual “marriage.” While the Catholic Church does not yet have an extensive body of teaching on the topic of transgenderism, she has always taught that every person is to be respected and treated with consideration, and every form of violence and aggression is to be carefully avoided. Nevertheless, the Catholic Church is against any “gender ideology” that separates psychological gender from biological sex, and opposes chemical or surgical interventions that alter the body in absence of any valid medical need.
The Church considers the “five non-negotiables” to be intrinsically evil and gravely disordered. As such, a politician who supports and promotes any of these has rendered himself ineligible as someone for whom a Catholic may legitimately vote. To my way of thinking, that pretty much eliminates the entire Democrat party, as well as a not insignificant number of Republicans.
The Democrat party has enshrined abortion as part of its platform, referring to it as “reproductive freedom” and sometimes as “reproductive justice.” This directly conflicts with core elements of Christianity. The ostensibly Catholic New York governor Kathy Hochul signed gender ideology and assisted suicide into law, despite bishops’ opposition, which views it as a “grave moral evil,” a direct attack on human life.
Hochul’s LGBT law is forcing the Dominican Sisters’ hospice to violate their orders’ beliefs on sex-segregated care, causing her to be accused of anti-Catholic bigotry. The Little Sisters of the Poor in California are likewise being pressured to provide funds for contraceptives and abortion for their lay partners — in direct opposition to their religious beliefs.
On June 26, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court held in a 5-4 decision that the Fourteenth Amendment requires all states to grant same-sex marriages and recognize same-sex marriages granted in other states. Catholic justices Scalia, Roberts, Alito, and Thomas dissented. In 2017, then-president and alleged Catholic Joe Biden took it one step farther by officiating at a same-sex “wedding.” The records of Catholic leaders such as Joe Biden, Kathy Hochul, and Gavin Newsom causes me to question their sincere adherence to their faith.
Many if not most Catholic Democrats in Congress support their party’s platform on these issues while simultaneously claiming adherence to their faith. They sometimes say they are personally opposed to them, but they remain publicly supportive. They are not alone. Roughly half of U.S. Catholics prioritize politics over Christ. They compartmentalize their faith or misapply the “seamless garment” philosophy to equate prudential issues (e.g., immigration, poverty) with intrinsic evils.
This shift may be attributed to cultural inertia, identity politics, and secular influences in media and academia. The Democrat party’s shift toward wealthy, secularist donors and activists has also played a pivotal role. The results have been repeated scandals to the faithful, a weakening of religious exemptions, and a “culture of death” that undermines hospice care, conscience rights, and the common good.
So far, the Catholic Church’s response has been weak. There are some Catholic leaders among the clergy and laity who are calling for repentance, a consistent ethic of life, and prioritizing the non-negotiables in voting and in public life. Among such leaders are Cardinal Robert Sarah and Bishop Joseph Strickland. Reading their letters and social media posts is refreshing, and I wish more Catholic leaders would speak out so forthrightly.
Some of the more vocal among them, like Bishop Strickland, have been censured for daring to criticize the leftward shift in the Catholic Church. Meanwhile, Pope Francis gave permission to openly bless same-sex unions, thus promoting homosexuality. The Catechism of the Catholic Church, which summarizes Church doctrine, has this to say on the topic:
Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity, tradition has always declared that “homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered.” They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved.
I am unable to reconcile the actions of Pope Francis in granting permission for priests to bless same-sex unions with the official teaching of the Catholic Church, just as I am unable to reconcile the words and actions of ostensibly Catholic politicians who promote and enable these practices.
In Matthew 13:24-43, Jesus alludes to how those who cause others to sin will be judged. We are all sinners, and we must avoid the path taken by the proud Pharisee in Luke 18:9-14. For Catholic individuals, a daily examination of conscience using the Catechism and encyclicals rather than party loyalty is needed. Catholics must support policies that align with human dignity, from conception to natural death.
The cognitive dissonance seen when Catholic politicians and even some in Church leadership support policies antithetical to teachings of Scripture and Tradition stems from elevating politics above faith. But truth (John 8:32) demands daily alignment with Christ and His Church.
Catholics must choose fidelity to prayer and a return to tradition, forgoing convenience in order to avoid selling out Christ for politics, fostering authentic justice rooted in unchanging moral truths.
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Candace Owens keeps driving the Jew-hating bandwagon
Stop ‘just asking questions’
BY: Everett Piper, The Washington Times (July 19, 2026).
The preliminary hearings for accused Charlie Kirk killer Tyler Robinson are over, and Candace Owens continues to “just ask questions.”
Why were Egyptian planes in American airspace at the time of Kirk’s shooting? Was Erika Kirk somehow involved in the plot to kill her husband? Are all those campus security videos of Tyler Robinson really Tyler Robinson? Was the accused assassin’s confession legitimate, or are the police, the accused’s parents and former roommate colluding to make all this up?
Then there is the ubiquitous granddaddy question of them all. Were the Jews behind the entire thing? Candace Owens asks, as her hordes of sycophantic, antisemitic trained seals sit up and clap in unison.
Responding to this line of inquiry, Christian apologist and pastor Samuel Sey posted the following on X: “Candace Owens and the growing number of demonic people like her on the Right should be a reminder that Satan isn’t just a leftist. He’s also a Christless conservative.”
“But we just want to get to the bottom of all of this,” shout the acolytes of Conspiracy Candy. “We’re just asking questions that need to be answered. What’s wrong with that?”
Well, the answer is simple: It is because the “questions” being asked are slanderous and/or completely nuts.
For example, Candace Owens is on record saying she is “just asking questions” about the Earth being flat. Is that “investigative journalism”? Is that “just asking questions”? No, it is dumb, and frankly, if I were doing the same, many would rightfully conclude that I am a little crazy.
The same goes for when Candace Owens “just asks questions” about dinosaur bones being manufactured in some factory in the Appalachian foothills, whether men have really landed on the moon or whether Brigitte Macron is really a man, not a woman. Candidly, these kinds of “questions” are delusional at best.
Then there are Candace Owens’s ongoing “questions” about Israel. Well, all that is nutty too. After all, what is her deal with “the Jews”? Why is she so fixated on these people, and why does she think a Mossad agent is hiding behind every bush just waiting to jump out and kidnap Christian children and then sacrifice and drain their blood for the Jewish Passover matzo?
It is a proven Nazi trope if ever there was one.
When someone continues to traffic in this kind of junk, they are either an unhinged lunatic or simply a very evil person who intentionally commits slander for profit. “Asking questions” that do harm to innocent people when zero evidence supports your rhetorical claims betrays either your stupidity or your vile bigotry.
You want proof? Just replace “the Jews” with “the Blacks,” “the Mexicans” or “the European White males,” and the obvious bias of what Candace Owens is asking is exposed.
Here is another test. The fact that all these “questions” are little more than a grifter’s shameless slander becomes obvious if we just personalize it a bit.
Let us say your neighbor dies today and I immediately start “asking questions” about your possibly having killed her. I have zero evidence other than the fact that you happen to live next door. But, of course, that means you must have done it.
Or, let us say every time you work late at the office, I start “asking questions” about your having an affair. Again, I have nothing other than the fact that you are not home by 5:30 p.m. for dinner. But that is clear you must be cheating on your wife, right?
These are not legitimate questions. They are slanderous and sinful. Pure and simple.
The bottom line is that Candace Owens’s “questions” are evil and wrong and Samuel Sey’s appropriate scolding should strike fear in the hearts of many so-called conservative Christians who continue to peddle her vile nonsense. Frankly, the lack of discernment from such a large swath of those claiming the banner of Christ is stunning.
Using the Candace Owens dodge of “I’m just asking questions” should be beneath any rational human being. Anyone with any moral sense knows that when the question assumes malicious intent and a false premise, you should not ask it.
There is a simple definition for all this. It is called gossip, and Samuel Sey is in good company in condemning it. As St. Paul said: “I urge you to … stop paying attention to myths. … [These people] have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity. They are full of envy … strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips [and] slanderers, [and] they have no understanding, no love, and no mercy. … They not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.”
The take-home is this: Everyone who continues to parrot the “myths,” “malice” and sin of Candace Owens should read these words and repent.
GFK
Observations From The Fifth Estate 