Hezekiah became the father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Amos, Amos the father of Josiah. // Matthew 1:10
The radiant, beautiful Sister was standing at the podium on a Blessed is She retreat with her heart wide open. She was giving one of the most beautiful talks I’ve ever heard on a retreat in which she shared about a few specific women in her family line who had said a very courageous yes to life. Each of those yeses were part of the reason she could stand there and give that talk to us on that day. She highlighted a few of the tremendous sacrifices they had made and the way they had laid down their dreams and lives for the good of their children. It was breathtaking.
The genealogy of Jesus that we reflect upon today is a familiar Gospel—we may sit through it at Mass amazed at its length or fascinated by the unique male names.
Wouldn’t it be incredibly moving if, even just once, we could hear the names of all the women?
Certainly, not in the current cultural way that says “if we recognize one person, we have to recognize everybody,” but in a way that gives us pause to remember—there is another layer to this story that resounds with the yeses, the sacrifices, the laying down of the lives of dozens of women so a Savior could be born unto us.
That is the beauty of genealogical lines: there are an untold number of women who poured out in the beauty of motherhood so that you could sit where you are in this very moment. It is not often, if ever, that we stop to think of them and say a prayer of thanksgiving for them. Today, I invite you to do just this.
Emily Wilson Hussem planned her whole life to become a sports reporter but turned out to be a Catholic writer at the hand of God. The heart of her ministry is offering encouragement to women in living a counter-cultural life of joy. She is the author of two children's books, God’s Glorious Girl and God’s Brave Boy and Awaken My Heart, a devotional for women of all ages. Find out more about her here.
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