Friday of the 3 week of Advent ‘c’

Mt 1:1-17

I am a religious person. I have not always been, but I am now. I do believe in God; I pray and try to follow the commandments. But even though I grew up in the same house and in the same family with my siblings, we all are different. We have different political views and not everyone is as religious as I am. Some don’t even practice their faith and traditions. On top of that, when I hear stories about my ancestors, I learn that some of them were not very nice people. And I would guess that at some point, we all have had ancestors like that -- those whom we not very proud of. But that can’t determine who we are. Our ancestors and our siblings may have been wonderful and holy people or maybe a sinful people, but that doesn’t affect our way of living. We are responsible for who we are now and today. Some people wonder why do we read that long Gospel reading with all of Jesus’s ancestors, with the names that are hard to pronounce, why do we need to hear that? I believe that from that reading we learn that even Jesus Christ, God’s Son, also had some ancestors that were not very nice people. I learn today that I can’t blame my family members nor my ancestors for who I am now, nor for my sins and mistakes.