Fr. Francois Noha s.x.
The celebration of the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ is a process of education for families, countries and the Church. It teaches about where we came from and where we are heading to. Jesus’s birth is long development process in which through generations, God continues to assert that his promise is still standing until today. The central question for us is: how important the knowledge of our ancestry is today? In other words, is it relevant to know who our forefathers were and where our families came from? To answer this question, we will explore the difficulty for some of us African people to remember our ancestry, first. In second stage, we will examine the crucial role the genealogy of Jesus plays in the history of salvation. In fine, we will discover the implications and the relevance of the story telling in the Church and in our communities in relation with who are and who we ought to be.
First of all, it is a problematic endeavor to venture and ask some people in most African countries to list the names of their ancestors from this present generation going back to the farthest in past, or to enumerate their forefathers. They will remember their father and their grandfather from the first generation. Everything that came before that is lost on the way. It is already outstanding if some among them reach the fourth or the fifth generation. Beyond that, there is a disruption which cancelled the lineage and we are not able to explain why at the present moment. So, none of us is able to explain where we came from. This is a challenging task concerning our identity as people. Therefore, the example of the genealogy of Jesus is a reminder of where Jesus came from. At the same time, the knowledge of this genealogy is central to understanding the history of salvation.
The gospel of Matthew presents us the genealogy of Jesus which is divided into three grand periods of fourteen generations: Abraham to David, Solomon to the Babylonian deportation, from deportation to Jesus. Abraham is the father and Jesus is the culminated Messiah to whom all plan tends to. When we go through this genealogy, we discover that there are prominent people who excelled with their good conduct in obeying God such as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob etc. There are others who are known by their disobedience to God such as Solomon at the end of his life, Roboam etc. Finally, the genealogy mentions four women who are part of the genealogy among them some demonstrate certain difficulties in the normal lineage of the genealogy. These women are covering the disruption that could occur in the story of Jesus Christ. At the same time, it shows how God works even through the human mistakes and sins committed by people. This would have interrupted the normal process of evolution of Jesus ancestry. What are the implications in our lives today?
As storytelling book, the gospels and especially the passage of Matthew we read on Christmas day shows us that God works in and through the human history. God’s actions are to be remembered in order to connect to the history of salvation. Storytelling recalls of who were as people, and as people of God. Jesus’s genealogy tells us that there is no perfect family. In each and every one of our families, there are bright and dark sides. The shining sides indicate the way forward and the dark ones are warning signs on our journey. However, God is the one who orders everything so to fulfill his own plan of salvation. Therefore, we are called to work hard and to learn about our families, who were our ancestors and what they have done. From that, we may discover how God has contributed in the making of our family today. The same can be applied to the Church. Whenever we read the history of the Church, we discover the saints and the less prominent people who have both contributed to make who we are today. As we celebrate the Christmas we discover how God journeys with us through good and rough times in the history of humanity. However, the move towards a more digitalized world which rewrites people’s history in a manner that does not reflect who they are; will it keep the tradition? Will we be able to remember who we are as a people of God or will we be subject to Artificial Intelligence’s narrative? At that time, will Jesus find faith again in this earth?
To sum up, the nativity of Jesus takes its full meaning from the genealogy that clarifies the origins of Jesus and who his ancestors have been. These prominent people on one side have forged the pride and honor of Jesus. At the same time, some people in his lineage not only are a reminder of his human origin but also their sinful and frailty condition as people in need of redemption. Christmas is not only the birthday of Jesus; it is also the story of a people: “the people of God”
Mary Mother of Jesus who played an important role in this history of Salvation, pray for us.
The celebration of the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ is a process of education for families, countries and the Church. It teaches about where we came from and where we are heading to. Jesus’s birth is long development process in which through generations, God continues to assert that his promise is still standing until today. The central question for us is: how important the knowledge of our ancestry is today? In other words, is it relevant to know who our forefathers were and where our families came from? To answer this question, we will explore the difficulty for some of us African people to remember our ancestry, first. In second stage, we will examine the crucial role the genealogy of Jesus plays in the history of salvation. In fine, we will discover the implications and the relevance of the story telling in the Church and in our communities in relation with who are and who we ought to be.
First of all, it is a problematic endeavor to venture and ask some people in most African countries to list the names of their ancestors from this present generation going back to the farthest in past, or to enumerate their forefathers. They will remember their father and their grandfather from the first generation. Everything that came before that is lost on the way. It is already outstanding if some among them reach the fourth or the fifth generation. Beyond that, there is a disruption which cancelled the lineage and we are not able to explain why at the present moment. So, none of us is able to explain where we came from. This is a challenging task concerning our identity as people. Therefore, the example of the genealogy of Jesus is a reminder of where Jesus came from. At the same time, the knowledge of this genealogy is central to understanding the history of salvation.
The gospel of Matthew presents us the genealogy of Jesus which is divided into three grand periods of fourteen generations: Abraham to David, Solomon to the Babylonian deportation, from deportation to Jesus. Abraham is the father and Jesus is the culminated Messiah to whom all plan tends to. When we go through this genealogy, we discover that there are prominent people who excelled with their good conduct in obeying God such as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob etc. There are others who are known by their disobedience to God such as Solomon at the end of his life, Roboam etc. Finally, the genealogy mentions four women who are part of the genealogy among them some demonstrate certain difficulties in the normal lineage of the genealogy. These women are covering the disruption that could occur in the story of Jesus Christ. At the same time, it shows how God works even through the human mistakes and sins committed by people. This would have interrupted the normal process of evolution of Jesus ancestry. What are the implications in our lives today?
As storytelling book, the gospels and especially the passage of Matthew we read on Christmas day shows us that God works in and through the human history. God’s actions are to be remembered in order to connect to the history of salvation. Storytelling recalls of who were as people, and as people of God. Jesus’s genealogy tells us that there is no perfect family. In each and every one of our families, there are bright and dark sides. The shining sides indicate the way forward and the dark ones are warning signs on our journey. However, God is the one who orders everything so to fulfill his own plan of salvation. Therefore, we are called to work hard and to learn about our families, who were our ancestors and what they have done. From that, we may discover how God has contributed in the making of our family today. The same can be applied to the Church. Whenever we read the history of the Church, we discover the saints and the less prominent people who have both contributed to make who we are today. As we celebrate the Christmas we discover how God journeys with us through good and rough times in the history of humanity. However, the move towards a more digitalized world which rewrites people’s history in a manner that does not reflect who they are; will it keep the tradition? Will we be able to remember who we are as a people of God or will we be subject to Artificial Intelligence’s narrative? At that time, will Jesus find faith again in this earth?
To sum up, the nativity of Jesus takes its full meaning from the genealogy that clarifies the origins of Jesus and who his ancestors have been. These prominent people on one side have forged the pride and honor of Jesus. At the same time, some people in his lineage not only are a reminder of his human origin but also their sinful and frailty condition as people in need of redemption. Christmas is not only the birthday of Jesus; it is also the story of a people: “the people of God”
Mary Mother of Jesus who played an important role in this history of Salvation, pray for us.