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Saturday, December 17, 2016

Bishop Barron's daily Gospel Reflection Saturday, December 17, 2016

Your daily Advent reflection...
Saturday, December 17, 2016
3rd Week in Advent, Year I
Matthew 1:1-17
Friends, today’s Gospel records the genealogy of Jesus. It was desperately important for Matthew to show that Jesus didn’t just appear out of the blue. Rather, he came out of a rich, densely-textured history. St. Irenaeus tells us that the Incarnation had been taking place over a long period of time, God gradually accustoming himself to the human race.

Look at this long line of characters: saints, sinners, cheats, prostitutes, murderers, poets, kings, insiders and outsiders—all leading to the Christ. Of course, King David is mentioned. He was, without doubt, a great figure, the king who united the nation. But he was also adulterer and a murderer.

From this long line of great, not-so-great, prominent, obscure, saints, sinners, kings and paupers came “Jesus who is called the Messiah.” God became one of us, in all of our grace and embarrassment, in all of our beauty and ordinariness. God had a series of human ancestors, and like most families, they were kind of a mixed bag. And what good news this is for us! It means that God can bring the Christ to birth even in people like us.

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