Reflect, Realise your real lineage!
Monday, December 17, 2018
Genesis 49:2, 8-10; Matthew 1: 1-17
Living the Reign here and now requires we understand who we really are and where we come from. The readings today remind us of how important it was for the Jews to know their lineage and how it played a crucial role in their understanding of the coming of the Messiah. The first reading reminds us of the promises given to the peoples and how they understood it in such relationship with their lineage. The Gospel presents us how this promise, in keeping with the lineage and people's, was fulfilled in time!
In any traditional society, people place a great importance on the lineage of a person and the historical background that a person hails from. Issues like the surname in the European context, or the family names from the father or the mother in some cases, the clans in tribes and sometimes the caste identities in the Indian subcontinental contexts... how dear and important they seem for so many! But the real question today is: which is the most significant lineage for you and me?
The Word today insists on the one lineage that matters: that we come from God! It is God who formed us and created us; it is God who willed us into existence; it is God who has a plan for us; it is God who waits to make sense, for us and through us for many others. If only we realise this lineage and that this lineage alone matters, we would find God very close to us, and find ourselves genuinely close to each other.
What do we need to do, if this realisation has to happen: take time and reflect! Yes, from the overwhelming chores of days, from the countless customs of the living contexts, from the limitless expectations constantly shoved upon us, let us take a time off... to take time and reflect... reflect on the real lineage that matters... the lineage that we have from God! It is from God that all God's people take their name! When we realise this all-important lineage that we possess, we shall begin to live the Reign here and now.
Genesis 49:2, 8-10; Matthew 1: 1-17
In any traditional society, people place a great importance on the lineage of a person and the historical background that a person hails from. Issues like the surname in the European context, or the family names from the father or the mother in some cases, the clans in tribes and sometimes the caste identities in the Indian subcontinental contexts... how dear and important they seem for so many! But the real question today is: which is the most significant lineage for you and me?
What do we need to do, if this realisation has to happen: take time and reflect! Yes, from the overwhelming chores of days, from the countless customs of the living contexts, from the limitless expectations constantly shoved upon us, let us take a time off... to take time and reflect... reflect on the real lineage that matters... the lineage that we have from God! It is from God that all God's people take their name! When we realise this all-important lineage that we possess, we shall begin to live the Reign here and now.