In today's liturgy, Matthew presents us with the genealogy of Jesus' historical existence. The list includes both men and women of heroic pasts and those whose past lives include murder, rape, idolatrous and other destructive behaviors; in short those dominated by selfish, narcissistic, greedy violent pursuits. All persons listed in Jesus' genealogy were part of our salvation history, then and now! Each of us, now as well, has a role to play in bringing about our own salvation and the salvation of the world. Sometimes, our choices are those by which others are appalled or simply embarrassed and which bring people, including our self, to their knees. At other times, our behaviors are inspiring and bring people to the Light. Our salvation history, in 2016, as prior to Jesus' birth, includes leaders of reputable characters who inspire us and leaders whose behaviors are deceptive, repulsive and morally questionable. God uses the good and the bad within us and others to show us the way to the Father--choices that lead us to eternal life with Christ and those which could lead us to an eternity that excludes Christ and thus is an eternity of suffering!
What choices am I making each day? What appalls me? What inspires me?
No comments:
Post a Comment