Thursday of the Third Week of Advent
In today's readings we hear the recounting of the lineage of Jesus' family, the makings of the Jesse tree, the family tree of Jesus. What is interesting to me is that this lineage is the lineage through Joseph, not Mary. This means that this is not actually the blood line of Jesus, but rather the lineage of the family in which he was adopted into.
While it may seem sexist to follow his lineage, the reality is that this was a very patriarchal society and a family name was recognized through the male's lineage. So looking at our Gospel in the historical context in which it took place gives us the freedom to see the lessons within.
So often in life we think that "this is just how I am. I was made this way." But this story of lineage gives me pause and makes me reflect more deeply on the amazing gift that is free will. Because of free will, Adam and Eve both ate of the apple, causing their separation from God and original sin, but also, because of free will, Mary was able to choose to say yes to God to bring Christ in this world. And Joseph was able to make a choice to choose to marry Mary and to take on the son of God into his lineage.
The beauty of this message to me is the amazing gift we have to choose - to choose goodness, to choose life, to choose God. God puts the pieces into place in our life, but then we have to make a choice. In much the same way that God put all of the people necessary into this world to fulfill the prophecy of the son of God coming from the lineage of Israel, God gives us all that we need to choose goodness. When you read through this you discover that God did not magically make this lineage happen, he allowed human beings like you or I to make choices that lead them to goodness and to God.
And we must be encouraged by this. We are not confined to a pre-conceived image of who we feel we have to be. We are not controlled by God. We are free to choose. And those choices that are rooted in prayer, as was Joseph's decision to marry his betrothed, even when she was pregnant with a child that was not his own, often can have incredible repercussions, far more impactful than you or I could imagine.
As we get nearer and nearer to Christmas, may we use this as a time of prayer to reflect on the choices weighing on our hearts. And may we prayerfully discern where the Lord is calling us and thank God for the gift of our free will - the ability to consciously choose God in all things. Amen.
- Amanda Grimm