Matthew 1: 1-17
An account of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Aram, and Aram the father of Aminadab, and Aminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of King David.
And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah, and Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asaph, and Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah, and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amos, and Amos the father of Josiah, and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon.
And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Salathiel, and Salathiel the father of Zerubbabel, and Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, and Abiud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor, and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud, and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah.
So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David to the deportation to Babylon, fourteen generations; and from the deportation to Babylon to the Messiah, fourteen generations.
New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.
A Living Genealogy
Genealogies are awfully dry. We may find a historical tidbit or two, but it usually isn’t possible to know the interesting part - what those ancestors and their lives were really like. Still, many take great interest in their family genealogies. Our genealogy seems to anchor us in history and imply some structure to our existence. By beginning his gospel with Jesus’ genealogy, Mathew likely had a similar purpose.
As in today’s gospel, genealogies come to an abrupt conclusion: the newly born, the living. Only at that point is the story alive, dynamic, playing out. We are beyond fortunate that Jesus’ genealogical story does not go static at his death on the cross. We are not only his descendants in spirit and faith, but he continues his actual life in us as individuals and in community. Let’s embrace that grace and live it. Alleluia!
—Allain Andry is a spiritual director and OCIA leader at St. Peter Catholic Church in Charlotte, NC, the Jesuit parish in the Diocese of Charlotte.
Prayer
Christ is alive! No longer bound
to distant years in Palestine,
but, saving, healing , here and now,
and touching every place and time.
—Lyrics to “Christ is Alive!” by Brian Wren ©1975
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