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Gospel: Matthew 1: 18-23
This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about.
When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph,
but before they lived together,
she was found with child through the Holy Spirit.
Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man,
yet unwilling to expose her to shame,
decided to divorce her quietly.
Such was his intention when, behold,
the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said,
“Joseph, son of David,
do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home.
For it is through the Holy Spirit
that this child has been conceived in her.
She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus,
because he will save his people from their sins.”
All this took place to fulfill
what the Lord had said through the prophet:
Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son,
and they shall name him Emmanuel,
which means “God is with us.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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In the longer version of today’s Gospel, we hear the genealogy of Jesus, which includes some pretty surprising and scandalous figures – including adulterers, murderers, and prostitutes!
If we looked back over forty-two generations from our own family tree, there’s a chance we’d also find a bad apple or two.
But this is the genealogy of Jesus!
Why would God knowingly include sinners to prepare the way for his Son’s first coming?
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To teach us a timeless lesson: that people often lead messy, difficult lives. Everyone makes mistakes; everyone has written a page or two they’d rather not repeat, even the ancestors of Jesus.
As Saint Paul says, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” except Jesus and the Blessed Mother.
So, what does this mean for us?
Just as the Lord used imperfect people to prepare the way for his Son’s first coming, God intends to use all of us to prepare for his Son’s second coming.
We help prepare the way of the Lord whenever we repent of our sins; share our faith; strive to be an agent of peace and understanding; and love our neighbor as Christ has taught us.
***
So, what can I do to honor Jesus today?
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Image credits: (1) Linking Earth With Heaven Above (2) Prakash @ sabc (3) Breaking in the Habit
My wife Linda’s Loyola Jesuit Center’s reflection for today. Some similar threads!
“Did you happen to catch last week’s episode of the popular PBS show Finding Your Roots? Hosted by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and using an army of search engine resources, the show gives celebrities new understandings of their personal identities and surprising links to their role in American history. The guest this time around was Laura Linney, an award-winning actress, who was startled to discover in her family-DNA-trail a few detours from England via stopovers in Australian penal colonies. Laid bare too were stories of women facing incredible hardships and choices, one disguising herself in a new town as a widow to escape the reach of an abusive husband. At the end of the segment, presented with the traditional hard copy scroll of her family tree, Linney tenderly touched the strands and then raised her hand in a gesture of blessing. “It is all good.”
Today we share in a finding-of-roots of our own, as the Church commemorates the birth of the Blessed Mother. Coming nine months after the Solemnity of her Immaculate Conception we celebrated in December, Mary’s birth, like that of John the Baptist, is worthy indeed of a birthday feast in recognition of the holy aura of her birth and her role in salvation history. The Gospel passage chosen to celebrate the feast day — Matthew’s sweeping genealogy of Jesus — at first seems to have the search engine moving in a different direction, for we are tracing not Mary but Joseph. In blocks of fourteen ‘begats’ we are reminded that Jesus has kingly roots. His is of the lineage of the house of David and of Abraham. And what has become fodder for homilists over the ages, in the mix is the evidence of Jesus’ full humanity, for his heritage shows us the messiness of the human condition: scoundrels, folks who are less than golden hearted, foreigners who struggled for acceptance, women who suffered deep betrayals, even violence.
How we yearn to know about this side of Mary. What were the family stories and legends that shaped this miraculous woman of faith? The canon of scripture does not record Mary’s birth. (The earliest account comes from the Gospel of James, written in the late second century, where we learn that her parents were Anne and Joachim.) But we know enough to celebrate as any birthday requires — a cause of great joy and festivity as her beautifully unfolding future awaits her. Her ‘yes’ to the beckoning of the Spirit and the courage to say ‘Let it be’ are still feast days away. Then she will need the protection that her loving husband Joseph will give her, and their family tree, the root of Jesse, will show a new branch.
“Blessed are you, holy Virgin Mary, deserving of all praise; from you rose the sun of justice, Christ, our God,” toasts today’s Alleluia preface. Mary, we fulfill your own canticle, your hymn of praise, your Magnificat. All generations call you blessed. We trace our legacy strands of faith, and we proclaim, “It is all good.”
Excellent reflection. Thank you!