Eternal. That is the nature of God. God is eternal. God always was. God always will be. God is outside of time. It is almost impossible for me to think what being outside of time means. No before or after. No sequence. God: the eternal “I am.”
God is Eternal, yet our story of God through Scripture tells us how the eternal God entered into history, beginning with Genesis 1. In fact, those who study comparative theology note that it was the Hebrew people who gave the world the concept of God entering into history, into time. When God entered into history, he became a part of the sequence of historical events.
In Psalms and prophets, since the beginning of Advent, the Church has reminded us of God’s entrance into the history of the Hebrew people, even while the Gospels reminded us of Christ’s second coming to end time as we all step out of time into eternity with God.
Just a week from now we will celebrate God’s coming in person into history: the Incarnation, the birth of Jesus—who was the Christ.
Today’s Gospel turns us from the time of preparation to the Great Event. On one hand, it is a simple list of names—the lineage of Joseph. Why Joseph when he was Jesus’ foster father? The purpose of this lineage is to show the people of the early church that Jesus was of the lineage of David. The Messiah was to be from King David’s family line. Tradition says that Mary also was of that line. The doctrine of the Trinity and Christ’s “fully God, fully human” identity had not yet been fully developed when Matthew’s Gospel was written. Matthew’s Gospel was written especially for Christians with a Jewish heritage. If people were to believe that Jesus was the Messiah, he had to match the prophetic expectations within Jewish culture.
And so the list of names.
God Comes in Time…and Frailty
As I read those names, the popular Christian song “Written in Red” comes to mind. This song has a very interesting line: “God’s most awesome work was done in the frailty of his Son.” It is a deep Advent thought. God entered history all through the Hebrew Scriptures with strength and power and might.
But when God came in person in the Incarnation, he came in human frailty. He came like any other child—born of a woman. True, Mary was not just any woman. She was a virgin and gave birth…as a virgin. And there was a star and angels–not ordinary. But to the neighbors making conversation around the village well, Jesus was the “son of” who was the “son of” who was the “son of” like any other baby. He was a baby who took his place in family, time, and history.
Yet in Jesus, it was GOD, the great eternal “I am” who entered into time. It was the great eternal “I am” who entered into time with the frailty of a newborn child. God’s most awesome work?
With today’s Gospel list of “the son of” who was “the son of” who was “the son of” the Church focuses our attention on the Holy Night soon to come and how ordinary it looked.
Yet it was God who came, who entered into time and human life like any other child.
As a different Christmas song says, “And we didn’t know who it was.”
It is something to ponder.
Today
Is Jesus entering into the times of our families this Christmas? Is God an active member resident of our homes?
It, too, is something to ponder.
I am reading a new book, The Catholic All Year Compendium: Liturgical Living for Real Life, by Kendra Tierney, Ignatius Press, ©2018. It is a gold mine of ideas for how to make God an active member of your family. Written by a mother with children at home, it describes multiple ideas to help Jesus enter into your household in fun and interesting ways. As Jesus enters, faith can come home, be home, be at home–stay at home to lead and guide us.
Our Catholic faith is catholic—universal. We have access to lived faith ideas from cultures around the world: posadas, straw for the manger, advent wreaths, yule logs. We know many of these customs for Advent and Christmas. Do we take the time and trouble to use them? What about similar Catholic culture activities for the feast days of each person in our family’s namesake or chosen saints? Home rituals for Lent and Easter? Blessing children as they go off to school or sprinkling holy water before children go to sleep?
Research shows clearly children learn what they live. And children LOVE to live Catholic culture in at-home ways . My 14 year old grandson acts “too old for” some things, but he makes sure to light the Advent wreath on the kitchen table every time he sits down for a meal with me.
Renewal through God Coming into the Times of Our Families
I am on retreat this weekend at St. Meinrad. Fr. Denis Robinson, OSB, the retreat master, has made the point in every talk that it is practical, in the home and family LIVED faith of ordinary laity which will make the difference in recovery from crisis in the Church. It is the lived, at home faith that brings the Eternal God into the here and now of everyday life–in every age.
How am I passing Jesus through the lineage of my family? Has there been a breakdown in yours? There has been a breakdown in mine. There has been a breakdown in almost every family I know.
It’s something to think about as we read the list of names of Jesus’ ancestors—the way God entered into history.
Prayer:
Eternal God, thank you for coming into history—and for coming into my history and the history of my family. Yet you remain present in our families with a real frailty. You depend on us to make your Presence a part of family celebrations and every day life. You depend on us to invite you to enter the times of family meals with more than “Bless us oh Lord,” to be a part of our leave-taking, our celebrations, the culture of our homes. Show me how to bring you into the history and the times of my family’s life. Amen.
NOTE: Kendra Tierney has a website/blog which talks about bringing God into your family’s times and life: https://catholicallyear.com/
