Family Trees and the Paschal Mystery

Written by Michael Miller on Thursday of the Third Week of Advent

Each Christmas vacation, I have to travel a long way to see my family. While on the road, I anticipate a number of things: freshly baked molasses cookies, being in a (slightly) warmer climate and lots of laughter. I am related to some genuinely hilarious people and, soon after arrival, I can expect my cheeks to be hurting after hours of jokes and funny stories.

I hear about the latest antics of my nieces and nephews. We tell the stories that get told every year about that one time you-know-who did you-know-what. Although it’s been told so many times we know it by heart, we still laugh as if it was the first time we ever heard it.

While I love to share in this joy and laughter, I await other kinds of stories. These are the stories of suffering and struggle that are hard to hear. I’ll learn about the cousin who is having a hard time in school or the uncle who had to have an emergency open heart surgery.

In today’s Gospel, Matthew gives us the genealogy of Jesus Christ. This places Jesus in the context of salvation history and connects him to key figures like Abraham and King David. At first glance, it is simply a list of names – many of which are too difficult for me to pronounce and don’t seem to mean anything. But, if I look a little closer, I see the names of many of our foremothers and forefathers, each of whom has a lifetime of stories. The community Matthew was writing for would know their names and know their stories. Each person on Jesus’ family tree would have fun hilarious stories as well as stories of heartbreak and sorrow.

I hear these stories as an invitation to enter into the Paschal Mystery – Jesus’ life, suffering, death and resurrection. It is our hope, that, as followers of Christ, we share not only in His joy and suffering of life, but also in His resurrection. Our stories can serve as a reminder to fully enter into the Paschal Mystery.

Suggestion for Prayer/ Question for Reflection:
Listen for all the stories shared at your next family gathering.
How do these stories connect you with the Paschal Mystery?

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Michael Miller, Jr.
Michael is a husband, father and Regional Chief Mission Officer for Saint Joseph Mercy Health System. He’s studied philosophy, theology and bioethics, but wishes he would have paid more attention in that computer science class during the spring semester of ‘96. You can follow him on twitter @michaelmillerjr.
Email: [email protected]