Thursday of the Third Week of Advent
Before learning about Jesus’ genealogy detailed in today’s Gospel, my eyes used to gloss over when encountering this Scripture. Now I see it much like the genograms I create during intake sessions with my counseling clients. You can learn a lot about a person, their influences and their perspectives from their family tree and history. Matthew’s genealogy confirms the “pedigree” lineage of Jesus as a descendant of David through Joseph’s side of the family. Yet that “pedigree” includes sinful characters, both male and female. Their back-stories recount the circumstances in which good and bad decisions were made – migration, deportation, slavery, wars, betrayals, prostitution, adultery, contraception, idolatry, child sacrifice, power struggles, unholy alliances, and the breaking of covenantal promises with God. From these stories, we also learn that these same flawed people had faith, exhibited amazing courage, and loved sacrificially. Through them, and in spite of them, with the intervention of the Holy Spirit, God the Father’s promise was fulfilled. Jesus became one of us and invited us to become one in Him. Our hope is echoed in today’s Alleluia - “O Wisdom of our God Most High, guiding creation with power and love: come to teach us the path of knowledge.” As Catholic Charities workers trying to help people with histories and challenges as messy as those listed in today’s Gospel, we know we can ask for the Holy Spirit’s guidance. Let’s ask, trusting that knowledge of the “path” will be given “with power and love,” not only to us, but to the people we serve. Gwen Hall is a licensed clinical social worker in the Prestonsburg office located 125 miles from the headquarters of Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Lexington, KY. Covid-19 prompted her to research, train, and acquire the equipment and a HIPAA-protected platform that enables the agency now to offer tele-health counseling services to anyone living in the 50-county diocese.
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