Today we turn and head down into the final days of preparation marked in the Liturgy by the antiphons used in evening prayer and most famous to us through the song O Come, O Come Emmanuel. Today begins with O Wisdom.
And we see that Wisdom of God in the Gospel. That long reading of the genealogy provided by St. Matthew parallels in many ways the story of creation in that it shows the order of God's plans. If seven is the number of perfection, in the Gospel the number is doubled to 14 generations. Saint Matthew tells us the story of three groups of 14 generations leading to birth of Jesus.
But this is no fairytale filled with happiness and light. In Saint Matthew's account of the genealogy there are contained examples of in but grave sin. Tucked into the folds of what it may look like simply a list of names, is the good news that even in the darkest of sin can be used, transformed, for some good purpose. Where we see only darkness, in, weakness, and frailty; God who is the only true wisdom sees hope and possibility.
Today let us pause and pray for Wisdom to see as God sees.
