Thursday - Third week of Advent

Thursday – Third week of Advent
“The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham” (Mt 1:1).

When we read the opening sentences from Matthew’s Gospel, we are overloaded with information about the genealogy of Jesus. Other than a strictly historical genealogy, the meaning of it is more important. St. Matthew wants to emphasize that Jesus is the long awaited Messiah from the house of David. Jesus fulfills the prophecies of old and is indeed the Son of God.

We are familiar with some people in the genealogy that Matthew mentions, others are more unknown or have even a questionable past. Most of the stories behind the names are lost to us. But every name in the list is important for our salvation. Their lives, no matter how well known or questionable, is connected to our salvation in Jesus Christ.

It is important for us to understand that it is the same for our own names and genealogy. Jesus’ genealogy reminds us that all lives matter. As Christians, our names and life stories refer to Jesus Christ. As we move closer to Christmas it is good to reflect on this story, but also on our own story. We need to ask ourselves about our relationship with God, the world, family and others. When others look at my life, do they experience God’s grace? This last week before Christmas gives us an opportunity to reflect on our lives and the meaning it has to others.

May our stories matter to bring other people to Christ. Let us pray for grace to fulfill that important task given to us by the Coming Lord. Amen.