Where I Came From

Last year I began converting my mother's old 8mm films into DVDs. I had no idea what they contained, but I knew they embodied memories of her past . . . my past. Excited to see some old movies, the first one I popped in stunned me. I sat there staring at a loving, happy family. A mom, dad, four girls and a white French poodle danced and played around a Christmas tree. No traces of Mom's mental illness or her frequent hospitalizations for "nervous breakdowns." Mom and Dad appeared in love . . . a memory so distant to me I almost forgot it existed. 

Dad, me and Pepe, Mom and Sheryl

 Sisters!

This is how the movie ended . . .

After this final kiss, the film jumped to another 8mm movie combined with the first. It was my paternal grandparents playing with my older sisters before I was born. I replayed this DVD over and over, thankful for a glimpse of a time where all seemed peaceful.  I am forever grateful Mom and Dad gave me life. More importantly, they gave me faith. I was chosen by God to be born to these two people and live the life I did for a reason. This is where I came from. I had to experience what I did to discover His love and mercy.  Every one of us is on a journey called life. What brought you to Him?

Todays Gospel (Matthew 1:1-17) shows we all come from somewhere and eventually it leads to Christ:

The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ,
the son of David, the son of Abraham.

Abraham became the father of Isaac,
Isaac the father of Jacob,
Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers.
Judah became the father of Perez and Zerah,
whose mother was Tamar.
Perez became the father of Hezron,
Hezron the father of Ram,
Ram the father of Amminadab.
Amminadab became the father of Nahshon,
Nahshon the father of Salmon,
Salmon the father of Boaz,
whose mother was Rahab.
Boaz became the father of Obed,
whose mother was Ruth.
Obed became the father of Jesse,
Jesse the father of David the king.

David became the father of Solomon,
whose mother had been the wife of Uriah.
Solomon became the father of Rehoboam,
Rehoboam the father of Abijah,
Abijah the father of Asaph.
Asaph became the father of Jehoshaphat,
Jehoshaphat the father of Joram,
Joram the father of Uzziah.
Uzziah became the father of Jotham,
Jotham the father of Ahaz,
Ahaz the father of Hezekiah.
Hezekiah became the father of Manasseh,
Manasseh the father of Amos,
Amos the father of Josiah.
Josiah became the father of Jechoniah and his brothers
at the time of the Babylonian exile.

After the Babylonian exile,
Jechoniah became the father of Shealtiel,
Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,
Zerubbabel the father of Abiud.
Abiud became the father of Eliakim,
Eliakim the father of Azor,
Azor the father of Zadok.
Zadok became the father of Achim,
Achim the father of Eliud,
Eliud the father of Eleazar.
Eleazar became the father of Matthan,
Matthan the father of Jacob,
Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary.
Of her was born Jesus who is called the Christ.

Thus the total number of generations
from Abraham to David
is fourteen generations;
from David to the Babylonian exile, fourteen generations;
from the Babylonian exile to the Christ,
fourteen generations.

In Anne a lay apostle's book Lessons in Love, she stresses the importance of leading our children to Christ and to truly know their Catholic faith:

"Giving children a Catholic identity is important. Both adults and children must know who they are and where they come from. Parents, it is true that we want our children taking their identity as Catholics out into the world and influencing others. The opposite of this would be our children lacking Catholic identity and going out into the world only to be influenced by others who lack a Catholic identity. We, parents in the home, are primary formatters of our children."

Lay apostles, are you living your Catholic faith by example to your children or grandchildren?  Are you teaching them about where you came from and how it lead you to Christ? Teach them that no matter what happens in life, Jesus will always be there with the graces to heal and the joy to celebrate every second of every day. All we have to do is pray . . . and patiently await His answer.

Thank you, Lord, for my family and all the crazy things which had to occur in my life to lead me to You. Thank you for choosing Anne to be your messenger to give Your Words true meaning in my life. I am forever grateful.

God bless,

Bonnie