Salmon [was] 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. (Mt 1:1-17)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/121722.cfm
We come to the second and final part of Advent, the time of the O’s (the O Antiphons): “O Wisdom of God come teach us the path of knowledge!” One of my favorite gospel readings is the genealogy of the Lord in Matthew’s gospel. The Rahab mentioned is not the Rahab, the “Harlot of Jericho” from the Book of Joshua, but just the name alone brings to mind that other Rahab of the sordid reputation. (It’s like the name Jezebel in the South: the name is used but NEVER for little girls). Ruth, a foreigner, is one the great, great grandmothers of the Lord, and then poor Bathsheba couldn’t even be mentioned. She’s just “the wife of Uriah,” whom David had murdered after the king had slept with his wife. A somewhat interesting family history for the Lord . . . in many ways a lot like our own!
These reflections are a result of more than 40 years of ministry as a Roman Catholic priest. Most of these years I spent in the Diocese of Charlotte which covers Western North Carolina. Now I am retired, and live in Medellín, Colombia where I continue to serve as a priest in the Archdiocese of Medellín.
Saturday of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Advent—O Wisdom, December 17
