A Lenten Word - Ancestors

Homily for Tuesday of the Fifth Week in Lent

A Lenten Word – Ancestors

Even though we are celebrating a solemnity today in honor of St. Joseph, I am going to continue with our mindfulness Lenten exercise on this feast. The word that I have chosen from the readings today to be mindful of throughout the day is “ancestors.”

“Go, tell my servant David, ‘When your time comes and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your heir after you, sprung from your loins, and I will make his kingdom firm. It is he who shall build a house for my name.”

You are familiar with the opening words of St. Matthew’s Gospel as he traces the lineage of Jesus back to Abraham. Fourteen generations later, King David appears on the scene. God reveals to King David that he should not build a temple of cedar for the Lord and should leave the Ark of the Covenant in the meeting tent. It will be Solomon, the son of David, who will provide God with a temple.

The words of Nathan the prophet identify Solomon as a son of God, and in our response to the first reading we pray Psalm 89 in which the psalmist refers to God as his Father. The Gospel uses these words frequently identifying Jesus as the son of God, and Jesus identifying God as his Father. Because he is of the house of David, Jesus becomes the descendent of King David who is his ancestor.

Throughout our day today, let us being mindful of our own ancestry. For some, your forebearers may be hidden by a cloud. Others may have traced their lineage back through various tools that are now provided for creating a family tree. No matter which is true in your case, because we have become the adopted children of God, we can look to the ancestors of David and the lineage of David as part of our family tree.