Opening prayer
O Rising Dawn,
Radiance of the Light eternal and Sun of Justice:
come and enlighten those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death.
O Antiphon
Elliott Engelmann, unsplash.com
The 'holy' threshold is crossed…
We expect Jesus to be where it’s clean, but he is born into the mess of human life...Jesus’ idea of ‘holy’ is to bring the fresh air of heaven right into the dirtiest and messiest corners of our world. (Maggi Dawn, Beginnings and Endings)
The family tree of Jesus Christ, David’s son, Abraham’s son: David had Solomon... ...Josiah had Jehoiachin and his brothers, and then the people were taken into the Babylonian exile. When the Babylonian exile ended, Jeconiah had Shealtiel, Sheatiel had Zerubbabel... Jacob had Joseph, Mary’s husband, the Mary who gave birth to Jesus, the Jesus who was called Christ. (Matthew 1:6-16)
Reflection
The first in this geneology are the Kings of Israel from David to Jehoiachin. It includes the best of the Kings like David and the worst like Manasseh. The kingdom of Israel was at it’s height with David and Solomon and at it’s lowest point with the exile under King Jehoiachin. The last part of the list has people I don’t know, but ends with a good, but ordinary, man and woman, a carpenter and his wife. CS Lewis wrote in Prince Caspian, 'Being a son of Adam or daughter of Eve is shame enough to make the highest kings hold his head low and pride enough to lift the head of the lowliest peasant.' Jesus entered this hall of fame and shame. How do we feel now that Jesus, God himself, is listed amongst us human beings, pleased to line up in our human lineage?
closing QUESTIONs
Who makes you most proud to be a human? Who do you know who makes you lift your head high, glad to feel you are a man or woman, boy or girl?
What is it about Jesus, the image of humanity, that you would most like to exhibit in yourself?
Kirsty Hook
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