Today in the Gospel we hear the Genealogy of Jesus, connecting Jesus to David and Abraham. Why a genealogy? It is a depiction of relationship. These names represent those who came after Abraham, and before Jesus, connecting the history with the present. If you were to study these names you would find all sorts of people. Jesus didn’t come from a long line of holy people, but from generation after generation of people who struggled to open their hearts to the will of God. To me the Old Testament feels like a mantra of “trust God.” When they trusted God they prospered, when they didn’t trust God (and tried to do it on their own) life was hard. It’s the same today. We need to open our hearts to trust God.
Today pick 3 or 4 of the names in this long list and find out something about them. Did they trust God? What can you learn from them about trusting God?
Here is a video of Bishop Barron talking about the genealogy we find in Matthew. When we hear his words we can enter more fully into this list of names!
Remember Thursday Evening Advent Reflection tonight! Register now!
Thursday, December 17, 7-8pm, on ZOOM
Praying with Scripture: “May it be done to me”
Register: Here
Facilitator: Patty Mayer and Randy Henderson
Our lives are changed when we open our hearts to the will of God. In the Gospel this Sunday Mary says yes to God’s will in her life. We all know that saying yes to God can create challenges in our lives. We see this in the Scriptures as Joseph learns about Mary plans to quietly divorce her, until his heart is opened as he listens to the words of the angel in his sleep.
Tonight we will sit with Mary and Gabriel as we quietly contemplate the joy and struggle of saying yes to God’s will in our lives.