Do you know who your ancestors
are? Today most of us could count only the names up to five or six generations.
It is a fact that most of the people today do not know the lineage that they
came from. Ask them and some may be fortunate to mention the names but if you
dig deeper they will not be able to answer. What does it mean to trace back
once lineage.
Our Gospel for today speaks of
the lineage that our Lord Jesus Christ came from. The Gospel for today narrated
the lineage from Abraham until Christ. The names in the Gospel are people who
are important personages in the Old Testament. They played an important role
during their lifetime. Some of them we are familiar of like Abraham, David,
Jacob and Joseph. No matter how big or small the role that they have partaken,
what is important is that all of them have said yes to the plan of God.
Some of these personages have
once in their lifetime fallen yet they stood and followed the Will of God. What
made them unique is that no matter what circumstances they are into, most of
them have felt the presence of God in their life. They have recognized that
they have God in their journey.
Allow me to quote a story that I
heard from the priest who celebrated the mass this morning. There was a young
priest going to a chapel he is not familiar with. Since that priest was new to
the place, he asked for a direction to a man walking along the street. He said,
“Excuse me, can you tell me how to get to the Holy Cross Chapel?” The man
answered, “Sure. Follow this road, upon meeting an intersection turn left, from
there turn right after two more intersection, then count 5 houses and turn
right to a narrow road, from there you will see a green house turn to the left,
follow that path and you will see a cemetery, after it you will see another
intersection and turn right and after turning right you will see a big Acacia
turn and beside it is the chapel that you are looking for.” After hearing the
man, the young priest was at a lost after some few turns. He then asked again
for a direction. He asked an old man. The old man replied, “Okay, let me
accompany you!”
Accompany! Like the Old man, God
also accompanied the personages mentioned in our Gospel for today. Knowing also
the lineage that we came from we also allow our ancestors to accompany us in
our journey. Through the great example of how they live their life, through
knowing the mistakes that they have done, through hearing the stories that they
experienced we learned. We do not only know the people who came before us but
we also allowed them to teach us how we should live our life. God is telling us
today to allow Him to accompany you by learning from the past.
Our ancestors surely in their
love, they have also felt the love of God. We likewise if became wise enough to
learn from them, will surely not only learn more so feel the tenderly loving
care of God towards us. Feel the love of God in your life. Allow Him to
accompany you through the experiences of your ancestors. Know where you came
from and life would be a smooth sailing.
