17 December 2014
Wednesday of the Third Week of Advent
For the next eight days, we begin the beautiful and ancient “O” canticles i.e. “O Wisdom who came from the mouth of the Most High” or “O Root of Jesse’s stem, signs of God’s love for all His people: come to save us without delay.” For a full listing, see http://www.catholic.org/clife/advent/antiphons.php?id=1.
As we get closer to the birth of Christ, we hear more and more about the background surrounding the birth of Jesus (the Annunciation of John the Baptist, the Annunciation of Jesus, the Visitation, the birth of John the Baptist). Today’s Gospel presents a difficult reading for most lectors as they read through the genealogy of Jesus from Abraham until Jesus. Despite the difficulty in pronouncing the names, the focus is Jesus comes from the heart of the Jewish tradition, especially having King David and Abraham as ancestors. In the Jewish tradition, there is no better man to be related to then the “peaceful and unifying king” and “father of the nations.” As we are drawn into these holy days leading up to Christmas, may we recall that we too as Christians are brought into the all-star cast of believers (St. Francis of Assisi, St. Ignatius, St. Catherine of Sienna, Kateri Tekakwitha, etc.), both present and past.