All in the Family

December 17, 2024 // Tuesday of the Third Week of Advent

Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Gospel: Matthew 1:1-17

Reflect on the Word // 

I stare at those two little pink lines, unbelief sizzling under my skin. Flush begins to creep up my face and a roaring whoosh overtakes my ears. “Honey, can you come here,” I shout to my husband through the bathroom door one Friday morning before work. My hand shakes as I hand him a positive test and burst into tears. 

I had finally found a rhythm with my health. I was working out every week, seeing progress in my endurance, and feeling confident in my skin again. My hormones were regulating and life was feeling comfortable and stable again.

As the pregnancy progressed, my health deteriorated. Hyperemesis gravidarum wrecked my body and my spirit. I felt desolate in prayer and questioned His will for our family. 

But as the weeks went by, the Lord quietly reassured me. He whispered His comfort and reminded me that in every moment, His plan perseveres. Through the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1, every name, every son, every daughter had led us to Christ. It is easy to glaze over and let your eyes run over their names, but each of them was a person with a complicated life of joy, love, and suffering. The Lord needed Asaph, who “became the father of Jehoshaphat” (Matthew 1:8) and Boaz, who “became the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth,” the grandfather of King David (Matthew 1:6-7). All that these generations endured was for our salvation.

The physical suffering during my pregnancy ended with the sweetest little baby boy, our son, and an overwhelming conviction of how many generations have led to our family. Through chance meetings, immigration, fostering, birth, marriage, poverty, and abundance in generation to generation, His will was working through time to come to this moment.

We are reminded of His will throughout our lives. Each encounter, each life, each love, each friend, and each family reveals His perfect plan. We never have to question His timing. It may not be clear at the moment, but each person fits into the family of Christ.

Relate to the Lord // Look for God’s loving will in each encounter today. 

O Antiphon: 

O Wisdom of our God Most High,

guiding creation with power and love:

come to teach us the path of knowledge!