Dear Friends,
Saint Matthew begins his Gospel with Jesus’ genealogy, extending back to Abraham. Pronouncing the many names of Jesus’ ancestors correctly can be challenging if the reader is not prepared! Certainly, not all of these folks were saints! In The Saint John’s Bible, the first New Testament illumination presents the names of Jesus’ forbears in Hebrew: They were (mostly) part of the Jewish people. But they appear also in Latin characters, written in gold. Gold is the color of God’s presence in The Saint John’s Bible. God was present in those ancestors. And God can write straight on crooked lines! – The genealogy is shown in the shape of a menorah, a candle stand used in the Jewish tradition. This says: In a certain sense, this whole ancestry holds the light, Jesus! They have made an important contribution to his life!
Genealogy of Jesus, Donald Jackson, Copyright 2002, The Saint John’s Bible, Saint John’s University, Collegeville, Minnesota USA. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
A fascinating detail in this illumination are the stamps of a double helix in the arms of the menorah above. For us today, DNA is the symbol of our identity. No two human beings are genetically the same (except for identical twins). DNA reminds us here of Jesus’ humanity. He who was fully divine was fully human, too, and born into a human family with all its particularities, strengths, weaknesses, virtues and vices – as is the case with us! Like all the names, the DNA stamps are also in gold. God’s gold shone forth in Jesus. It shone forth in his ancestors. And it also shines forth in each one of us, in our humanity, in our uniqueness, despite and in the midst of our imperfections!
My suggestion to you for a retreat at St. Benedict Center or for a quiet hour at home is to reflect on the following questions: How has God been at work in your family in the course of the generations, despite and even in the midst of sinfulness and dysfunction? For what are you grateful when you think of your ancestors and family members? Where is the gold in what you inherited from them (in your DNA) or in what you learned from them?
Especially worth noting among the upcoming events of our St. Benedict Center program schedule is the seminar titled, Improving Your Communication Skills on December 13 – 14. The presenter is Fr. Joe Miksch, from Columbus, NE, a beloved priest and certified teacher of communication skills. – I am looking forward to seeing you again soon!
Fr. Thomas Leitner, OSB, Administrator