Readings: Genesis 49: 2, 8-10; Psalm 72; Matthew 1: 1-17
This octave of immediate preparation for the celebration of the birth of Christ is a time of true spiritual preparation. These final days of Advent should especially focus on the great mysteries surrounding the Incarnation. This final week leading up to Christmas can be filled with busyness and other forms of preparation – shopping, cooking, traveling, decorating, etc. Though they have a place, don’t neglect the most important preparation—the spiritual preparation. Spend time with the Scriptures this week. Savor the story. Think about the amazing reality that we are about to celebrate.
A long list introduces us to the novena in preparation for Christmas. A list that is apparently dry, full of a series of mostly unknown names. It does not matter if the genealogy of Matthew differs from the parallel one of Luke: the intent of the evangelists is not historical precision: it is the theological message. Starting from Abraham, Matthew wants to communicate to us that Jesus is the fulfillment of the search started by the father of the three monotheistic faiths. It is our history, the truth of our human condition. The evangelists do not do as in similar genealogies that celebrate the coming of the leader: Jesus comes precisely from our small and fragile humanity, capable of peaks and abysses, capable of impulses and smallness.
God's plans have their own paths; they insinuate themselves into the affairs of men, it sometimes seems to be upset and distorted, but in the end the conclusion in faith is always the same: "what the Lord wants, He does it in heaven and on earth". God is the Lord of history and at every Christmas this reality shines with particular evidence.
When our stories seem to plunge into the abyss of evil, we should remember the God who saves, who intervenes, who redeems our events, even the worst.May this last week of preparation not be wasted but, rather, used as a foundation for a glorious and prayerful celebration of the holy gift of Christmas. Amen. Abba Meskel