Sorry I am a bit late today but I had spiritual direction and need to make a few stops along the way. I got moving a little late this morning and it has impacted my whole day...
Daily Thoughts: I use to be tremendously afraid of today's Gospel reading. I have never been a very good reader, my own fault, I preferred a baseball glove to a book, and I have trouble with names. My brain does a freeze when it comes to pronouncing names, first and last, of all kinds. I don't know why but my brain and I struggle with names. So the genealogy of Jesus Christ created terror in me whenever this day approached and I was the celebrant. However over the years I have worked very hard at learning the names in both Matthew's and Luke's genealogies. I am sure I am not perfect but when I approach the ambo to read these Gospels now I am not longer afraid. In fact I like it when the genealogy is the Gospel.
The reason for my change of heart is that I am no longer afraid to read it, but more importantly because I believe the genealogies connect us with Jesus in a very human way. All of us have ancestry. Some of us know more about our past than others. Some of us have put more time into learning about those who have gone before us than others. But all of us have a family tree, a family genealogy. We all, with a little work, could create a litany of names from our past, fathers, mothers from every generation. We could read those names and each would mean a story, an experience and reason for us being present. Like Jesus' genealogy some of the names would be familiar others would not. Some of the names would have a story of greatness, others would be ordinary, still others names and stories we might want to forget. Good or bad, rich or poor, important or ordinary each name would mean a story about us and the fact that we exist.
In proclaiming Matthew's genealogy of Jesus today I proclaimed the good news and the not so good news of Jesus' path into this world. A path that makes him just like us in all things but sin. A path that tells us the story of who responded to God's invitation, of who said yes, of who tried to get in the way, of who made it difficult for God's plan to take shape. Perhaps as we listen to Jesus' story today we might think of our own and give thanks to the many generations before us who by their lives gave us life, the characters, the saints, the not so saints. Yet, here we are giving birth to Christ once again today!
Daily Prayer: O God, Creator of all, listen to our prayers this day; prayers for families if grief; prayers for little ones whose lives were too short; prayers for teachers, administrators and responders who put others first; prayers for a community that must find a way to live; prayers for all of us who seek a world of lasting peace! Amen!
Runner's Thought: As you run today embrace the hope and potential of this life in every person you run past and in the gift of creation that is around you!
While late today, I hope it has been a good day so far, may you find your way home from work or wherever you are today and have a restful and peaceful night! Peace in Christ's Passion...Fr. Paul
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