Homily from Mass on my anniversary of the priesthood

With the Serra Club:

8 years ago today, I was ordained to the priesthood by Archbishop Pilarczyk at the Cathedral of St. Peter in Chains, downtown.

It was a memorable day and my family joked that they had to tie a rope around my waist I was so excited and ready to start my task of working in the Lord’s vineyard.

After 8 years, I wanted to reflect a bit about what I have learned and possible things to reflect upon in our work as the Serra Club of Cincinnati.

First, I have come to appreciate more and more that the Lord is never outdone in generosity.  As we give ourselves to Him, as priest (or Bishop), religious or even as a lay person (single or married), He takes what we give Him, blesses it and gives it back to us.  This is the model of Mass and the pattern of our lives as Catholics.  Last night, I was walking through Kroger to pick up a few things and while I was only there five minutes, tops, I was met by a family that welcomed me and mom remarked: ‘we’re going to have you over soon, I promise!’  (as she has been promising for, I think, a year and a half!)  It is probably the most striking lesson as a priest: many, many more know you than you will ever know them.  And it is such a beautiful thing to be able to witness.

Secondly, I am struck by the amount of work that truly needs to be done, as I am sure Jesus was struck by that same impression as well.  My generation, especially, is lost and needs the direction that comes only from the Gospels.  I am frightened there will be few to minister to, eventually.  Frankly, I do not see many my own age at Mass.  If there is anything else that drives me in my work as priest and vocation director, it is this.  I am scared that my generation has bought into the lies of this world so deeply that we will not be able to be rescued.  But Jesus did not preach only where he knew he would be successful, He preached everywhere.  So must we.

Finally, point three, today’s First Reading gives us all a great context when we get a little too caught up in thinking I have to do this or that.  Simply, St. Paul hands on his work to the next generation.  This is the life of the priest.  I have baptized many babies, married many couples, heard countless confessions; and I have no idea where they are now.  Every once in a while, someone will come back and say, ‘you did this for me….’  Truthfully, because of the way my brain works, I usually have no idea what it was, but I’m glad they remember.  More often than not, we have no idea.  But we still preach, we still present the beauty of the Gospel, and then we hand it on.  It is for another to reap.  The Church Militant marches on through the passage of time, and is bigger than any one individual.  And again, something beautiful about that, too.

I continue to be struck by the love outpoured to our priests and bishops.  I had many, many facebook and twitter messages, phone calls and texts today congratulating me on 8 years as a priest.  I can honestly say, I still feel like I am getting started and I am eternally grateful that God has seen fit to call me to this most wonderful way of life.

Silent No More and Vocations to the Priesthood

Yesterday on Patheos, The Crescat posted a very personal, moving account of the lasting effects she suffers from mistakes she has made in the past.  Please head over there to read the whole thing, say a quick prayer for her and all those who are agonizing with such mistakes that they might be healed by Christ's loving call and then comeback over here.  Ok?  Ok.



Back?  Good.  A few thoughts, if I might.

I am involved in the Pro-Life Movement.  Gladly.  I say Mass once a month for the Helpers of God's Precious Infants at Holy Name Church, Mount Auburn.  (I'm on 1st Saturday of the Month, 8:00 AM, stop by if you get the chance.)  I pray regularly for an end to abortion and the conversion of hearts of those who are in that industry and the lawmakers who shelter and coddle them.  I've been to the March for Life, but need to go more often.  I am an advisor for Cincinnati Right to Life, where the Pro-Life Movement was founded.  (Really, I mean that.)

With all the above, I also recognize that I am not going to be the one who wins the war against abortion on the everyday level.  I can't.

However, those who, like the Crescat, come forward after an abortion and admit the terrible and lasting effects that it has had on them in their lives.  The depression.  The feeling of absolute inadequacy.  The imprisonment. The Shame.

I have counseled women who have had abortions, at least initially.  It is beyond my limited abilities.  I have seen the same pain and turmoil that the Crescat talks about in her post face to face.  I have also seen the courage that it takes to publicly admit that mistakes have been made.  The fear that paralyzes.  The evil one whispering in the ear that 'because of this, you are unloveable.'

It is not so.  I look at the Gospels and see the ones Jesus called closest to Himself were not the perfect and the 'Holy,'

The Priesthood and Spiritual Motherhood

On Mother's Day Weekend, I was asked to address the Spiritual Motherhood of Priests Retreat on the topic of the Priesthood and Spiritual Motherhood.  Here are my remarks:

 

I am Fr. Kyle Schnippel, Vocation Director for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati.  I originally hail from the northern reaches of the Archdiocese, as I say, where the faith is still very much alive.  I am very honored that my mother drove down this morning to be here as part of this retreat.  As every priest knows, he would not be at the altar without the loving support of his mother.  I’m very lucky in that not only my mom but my whole family was very supportive of my vocation to the priesthood and continue to pray for me as I do for them.  In fact, Grand-Baby Schnippel #19 is due any time now.

However, my task today is to reflect on three interrelated topics to set the stage for launching this apostolate: The Importance of the Priesthood, Spiritual Motherhood and ‘Why this apostolate?’  I will visit each of these topics in due course of my reflections this morning.  I have been given an hour to share my thoughts, which is probably about 45 minutes too long!  But nonetheless, away we go.

On the question of the importance of the priesthood, we begin not with the priest himself, but in the very nature of the human person, all the way back to the creation of Adam.  As Adam was created in the Garden of Eden, there was an incompleteness, a lack within the self, for he was out of relationship.  In His infinite wisdom, God recognizes that ‘it is not good for the man to be alone, let us make a suitable partner for him.’  And God sets out to create all the plants and animals for the man to name, yet none are suitable, none are reflections of God Himself, until, at last, bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh, Eve is created from his very side as the one suitable partner in all of creation.  Man was created for the transcendent, there is a longing for more at the very core of who we are as human beings.  As we use our thought to reflect on the nature of the world around us, we see that there is more than meets the eye.  Nature itself reveals the fingerprints of God and points us to both the source of all creation and the goal of all creation.  In this recognition, we hear the echoes of St. Augustine’s great awareness: ‘You have made us for Yourself, O God, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You!’

This plays out repeatedly in the Scriptures, but perhaps never so clearly as when Jesus, following the Sermon on the Mount in Chapters 5-7 or Matthew’s Gospel begins to go around Galilee performing miracles and forming his closest disciples.  As He looks to the crowd that follows after Him, as he visits the towns and villages, Saint Matthew reports that ‘at the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd.  Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.”’[1]

Isn’t this interesting that the most often quoted passage that speaks of the need of praying for vocations to the priesthood follows Jesus recognizing the hunger in our hearts of the transcendent?  This shows the connection that exists between this longing and Christ establishing the priesthood as His continual presence in the Church and the World after His Ascension.

For, right after He commands us to pray for shepherds after His own heart, Jesus then calls the Twelve forward to begin forming them in the mission they will have after His Resurrection.  At

Now What?

My last missive for the Catholic Telegraph, which I should have posted a few weeks ago:

There are so many wonderful things that we celebrate during the Easter Season, it is so difficult to pick out different memories or thoughts and keep them from blending into one seamless fabric of thoughts.  From the joy of Easter Sunday itself, to reflecting on the growth of the Church as we read the Acts of the Apostles, celebrating vocations on Good Shepherd Sunday (the 4^th Sunday of Easter, this year April 29), to the Feasts of the Ascension and Pentecost; the entirety of the Easter Season gives us a ‘plan of attack,’ as it were, for us to move forward into Ordinary Time.

However, one memory always comes to fore, as I think it does for many priests: my ordination.  May and June is ‘Ordination Season’ when many dioceses celebrate the ordination of the new crop of priests, ready to be sent into the fields of the Lord’s Harvest for the first time.  In particular, my ordination in 2004 was on the Feast of the Ascension, and as these words from the Acts of the Apostles were proclaimed at my Mass of Thanksgiving, I could so relate:

“While they were looking intently at the sky as he was going, suddenly two men dressed in white garments stood beside them. They said, "Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven.  (Acts 1:10:11)’

I had just spent 8 years in seminary formation, preparing for this day.  And while I knew it was coming, I could identify with the Apostles as I felt them looking toward one another with the same question rolling around in their minds: ‘Now what?’  Paralyzed by the unknown, they were locked together on that hill.

Yet, Jesus promised that He would not leave us orphaned or alone, and that, soon, the Paraclete would come to be their guide.  As we move from Holy Week into the Easter Season, we are able to see the Apostles finally responding to the prompts of the Spirit as they move from a rag-tag group of eleven men huddled in the Upper Room to fierce debaters of all comers as they proclaim Christ, and Him Crucified.

Thankfully, the same Spirit who so animated the Early Church continues to inspire and guide us, their spiritual descendents.  There have been many times already in my eight short years as a priest where I have walked into a situation without a clue of what to say or what to do.  I try to take that step back and whisper a short prayer to the Holy Spirit that He might continue to guide me in this very moment, as He has up to this point.

For me, it is a great comfort to know that it has always been this way.  The Eleven, after the Resurrection and Ascension of Our Lord, looked at each other and surely had that thought: ‘Now What?’  History reports so many of the saints having that same thought: St. John Chrysostom as he was banished repeatedly from Constantinople, for example.  Yet, the Spirit continues to lead.

As Jesus calls, he does not look for just talent, he does not look for intelligence, he does not look for just the gifted speaker.  He looks for trust.  For those who are called to follow Him as priest and/or religious, this gives great hope in the midst of that quaking fear.

But you, Follow Me!

My latest for the Catholic Telegraph.

In my life as a priest, I often joke that it has been my plight to work with young people,  but their energy and zeal is certainly something that keeps us ‘older’ folks moving!  In my work with young people, especially, however, I have noticed a trend that speaks not only to the reality of life of a 21^st Century teenager, but also reflects the realities that many of us face.

When I do vocation talks among the young, or our seminarians spend the day in various high schools around the diocese, and we present to young men the possibility of the priesthood, or young women with the possibility of religious life, the usual initial response is somewhere between a scoff, a shrug or a vociferous ‘NOT ME!’  It is often fodder for my own prayer as to why we get such a reaction.  Of course, I have a few thoughts on this…

Especially with the young, facing the demands placed on them by this culture, there is a strong sense that ‘I can’t do this.’  Either because of a pervasive sin that blocks them from hearing God’s call, or the culture prevents them from seeing the possibility of a celibate life, or there is a desire to have prestige in the eyes of the world instead of the eyes of the Church, or a sense that one does not have the necessary talents and/or abilities that are required for the priesthood today; there is an unwillingness or an inability to respond, in love, to God’s gentle invitation to ‘Come, follow me.’

In response, we hold up the example of Christ in the Scriptures.  He did not seek out only the talented and well equipped, he did not seek out solely the perfect and the beautiful; he sought out those who loved, and loved deeply.  For example, St. Peter was brash and impetuous, Sts. James and John were bold and bragging, St. Mary Magdalene had seven demons cast out from her.  Yet, these individuals were either Jesus’ closest Apostles or the one to whom He first appeared after His Resurrection.

This highlights one inescapable fact about who Jesus calls, and the response demanded when He calls.  Jesus calls the individual into the life of the Church.  And when He looks at the one called, he sees not just where they are presently, but what they will become in the future with His grace.  The response is not one of ‘Yeah, but…’  Rather it is to have the courage of our saintly predecessors: ‘Wherever You go, I will go; wherever You lead, I will follow.’

Then, in response, in love, we desire to sacrifice our sins in greater love for God.  Jesus calls where we are, but He calls to something more, something deeper, something profound that this world cannot answer.  To respond to His call (whether to priesthood, religious life, or married life) is to begin a life long journey of faith, of discovery of the breadth, depth, beauty and majesty of life; and a life shared generously.

To those who are called to this unique relationship with Christ as a priest or religious, I leave you with the final words of Jesus to St. Peter in the Gospel according to St. John: “Amen, amen, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to dress yourself and go where you wanted; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” He said this signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. And when he had said this, he said to him, “Follow me.”  Peter turned and saw the disciple following whom Jesus loved, the one who had also reclined upon his chest during the supper and had said, “Master, who is the one who will betray you?”  When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about him?”  Jesus said to him, “What if I want him to remain until I come?  What concern is it of yours? You follow me.”  (John 21:18-22)

'Being Catholic' launched...

As if I needed another place to land online, I was asked to be a part of a new effort of the Office of Evangelization and Catechesis: 'Being Catholic' which is a group blog of writers from around the Archdiocese of Cincinnati focused around the question of 'Being Catholic' of course.

You can find it here.

Spiritual Fatherhood Seen in a New Light

My latest missive from the Catholic Telegraph:

As I do talks on the priesthood, inevitably questions arise about priestly celibacy.  In responding to this question, I compare how the love of a husband and wife erupts in the creation of natural life, while the priest’s love for the Church begets a spiritual life in her children, especially through the Sacraments.  Practically, though, I cannot imagine doing what I do and also having to try to support a wife and family, but that is another story.

Because of the work I have done as a priest, initially teaching full time in a high school and now working in the Vocation Office, I have not always been able to see the results of this spiritual fecundity that I knew was present as a priest, but not always so overtly.  When I talk to my classmates, I feel a little abashed that I have not done near the number of weddings, funerals, and/or baptisms that they have; as they have all had full time parish ministry responsibilities; but God continues to call us where He wills, so I will get there sooner or later.

However, I had a recent opportunity that allowed me to glimpse directly into the heart of what it means to give spiritual life to another, and the experience was one I will always remember.  I have recently struck up a friendship with a young man who is going through the RCIA process.  He did not know many Catholics at the time he started inquiring, so a mutual friend connected us on Facebook and we have gone from there.  As a life long Catholic, I love walking someone through the mysteries of our faith to help them discover the interconnections between the teachings of the Church, gleanings from science, how the Old and New Testaments are interconnected, etc.  That he is soaking this all up as quick as I can feed it to him is icing on the cake!

As I got to know him, I also got to know his mother, who also started to desire full Communion with the Church.  Unlike her son, however, she was already Baptized, so she did not need the full RCIA process, and being homebound, it would be difficult to get to classes anyway; so we started meeting at their home and she soaked things up almost as quick as her son.  (I want to chalk it up to being a good teacher, but that had little to do with it, I fear!)

Finally, she seemed ready and in need of the graces of the Sacraments, so we set the date to welcome her into full communion of the Catholic Church and prepared the ceremony.  While it is a fairly simple and straightforward rite, I found it to be particularly moving as this individual who had sought God for so many long years was fully embraced by the Church she now calls mother.  Having played a small part in this process, I have rarely felt so much like a ‘dad’ as I did in the moments of receiving her testimony of faith, offering the Sacrament of Confirmation and finally giving her Holy Communion for the first time.  This, I finally understood, was Spiritual Fatherhood.  As I stepped out of the Sacristy after Mass and saw so many parishioners greeting her warmly, I knew her long journey was over and now she was home.

As I reflect on this now, there is so much in the journey we all make that is echoed in the journey of this one woman.  Despite the many wanderings and meanderings we all make during life, God consistently and persistently calls each one of us by name closer to Himself.  When we finally do return, we are welcomed as if we never left, as the Magnanimous Father reaches out to embrace his long lost son.

Forums discussing Religious Liberty

This from the Archdiocese of Cincinnati:

Three offices of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati are sponsoring two informative forums on the new Health and Human Services mandates that would require most to employers, including Catholic institutions and business owners, to pay for employees’ health coverage that includes abortion-inducing drugs, sterilization, and contraception.

Each free event will include presentations from a panel of experts in the areas of  moral theology, Catholic social teaching, civil law and its impact on religious institutions, and the Church’s teachings on human sexuality. They will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. March 6 at Ascension Parish, Kettering, and 7 to 9 p.m. March 8 at St. Maximilian Kolbe Parish, West Chester.   

The Family and Respect Life Office, the Office of Evangelization and Catechesis, and the Catholic Social Action Office are sponsoring the forums.

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati is the 38^th largest Catholic diocese in the country, with almost 500,000 Catholics, and has the eighth largest network of Catholic schools in terms of enrollment.  The 19-county territory includes 214 parishes and 113 Catholic primary and secondary schools.

Religious Freedom Under Fire

St. Cecilia is hosting a panel discussion and Q&A on Wed., Feb. 15, at 7:00 p.m. in response to the recent Health and Human Services mandate that will require all institutions that provide health insurance to cover the cost of contraceptives, abortion-inducing drugs, and sterilization for their employees. This would force all Catholic organizations, such as hospitals and schools, to pay for practices that directly violate the Church’s teachings.
This mandate runs contrary to our nation’s long-standing tradition of respecting our citizens’ religious liberties that allow people of all beliefs to follow their consciences and the tenets of their faith. The U.S. bishops have declared the Church cannot and will not comply with this mandate, because to comply would be to deny the teachings of Christ.
Some topics the panelists will address: What is the situation, its implications, and its effect on religious liberty? What did God create us for? Why does the Catholic Church not allow contraception, abortion, and sterilization? What are the fruits of contraception and abortion on society in the last 50 years? How should we respond to these attacks on religious liberty and our rights of conscience?
For more information e-mail Dan Egan at: Catholic4areason @ gmail.com

Archbishop Schnurr on the HHS Mandate

Archbishop Schnurr, Archbishop of Cincinnati (and my direct boss!) has issued a statement to be read at all Masses within the Archdiocese of Cincinnati this coming weekend.

I've linked to it over at the Vocation Office Page.

The statement can also be found at the Telegraph's page.

Which also has a response from the new editor.

Vocations Among Us

My latest missive for the Telegraph:

Vocations Among Us

One of the key moments in my own vocation was several years before I even thought about the possibility that I might even be called to the priesthood.  But looking back now, without this event, I would have never even considered the possibility.  At the time, however, it was just another event that I was honored to be a part of.

My junior year of high school, a son of my home town was ordained to the priesthood for the Congregation of the Holy Cross.  As he was my oldest sister's brother-in-law and needed extra servers for his Mass of Thanksgiving, my twin brother and I were volunteered to assist; which we gladly did.  I can still see the joy on the face of a newly ordained priest, years of study, prayer and hard work had culminated in this event; and even though I would not have been able to articulate it at the time, this became a key moment for me in looking towards the priesthood.

A year later, as my class was graduating and heading off to college, I learned that someone I knew from the neighboring town was entering seminary.  Hmmm.....   Men really do still do this.  As I made my way through my own first year of college life, I recognized my own priestly calling through the ongoing example of the priests at the Campus Ministry and entered the seminary for my second year of college.  I never really looked back since.

These recollections are not merely to fill space, but serve to highlight a very simple, yet vitally important point in the cultivation of a spirit of vocations within the Archdiocese of Cincinnati.  With both Archbishop Schnurr and Archbishop Pilarczyk (and now including Bishop Binzer in the discussion), we are convinced that there are vocations to the priesthood in our midst, sitting near you every Sunday at Mass, passing you on the street corner, riding the bus home from school.  We just need to find them, encourage them, help them to discover this pearl of great price to which they have been called.

With this recognition, throughout the month of January as we went from National Vocation Awareness Week to the World Day of Prayer for Consecrated Life, the Vocation Office has been recognizing the stories of local men and women who have answered the call and are now serving as religious, priests, or still in training to be so.  I invite you to visit www.cincinnativocations.org to peruse these stories.

In reading through them, I am struck that there is no common theme besides faithfulness.  There is no 'magic pill,' as it were, for families to do which inspired a vocation.  There is no simple recipe that will automatically bring your son to be a priest.  In these vocation stories, the life-long cradle Catholic is positioned side by side with converts from atheism.  Families who were wonderfully supportive are contrasted with a few who nearly disowned their daughter or son for entering the seminary or convent.

Yet, even with the disparate versions of these stories, three common themes present themselves: faithfulness, prayer, and trust.  As we move deeper into Ordinary Time and once again enter into the great season of Lent; perhaps these three dimensions are once again being called to the fore in your family as God continues to form us all to be more like His Son.  And if God calls one of your sons or daughters to the priesthood or religious life, trust that He truly does know what is best.
 

Witness Awakens Vocations

From http://www.foryourvocation.org/

Vocation Awareness Week Prayer Service

Hey, all you folks up in the Northern fringes of the Archdiocese, have we got the event for you:



National Vocation Awareness Week

An Evening of Worship & Prayer
Thursday - January 12, 2012

Holy Redeemer Catholic Church
New Bremen, Ohio
Presiding: Fr. Kyle Schnippel, Vocations Director
& Deacon Greg Bornhorst

Mass at 7 p.m. followed with Prayers

The Church sets aside the week following the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord as National Vocation Awareness Week. A vocation to the priesthood and/or consecrated life can only truly be heard and answered by one who has a deep connection with Our Lord and fostered by a strong life of prayer. For more information, visit www.cincinnativocations.org

Sponsored by Serra Club of St. Mary’s/Sidney Deaneries

The New Translation and a Culture of Vocations

My latest for the Catholic Telegraph, which is featuring their annual Vocation Issue this month:

As the implementation of the new translation of the Roman Missal neared, I was often asked what impact I thought it would have on vocations to the priesthood and religious life. While it seemed that some felt the new, more elevated translation might drive some away from pursuing the priesthood, it is my thought that it will actually do the opposite and draw more young men and women to recognize the possibility of a priestly or religious vocation.




There are several reasons for this possibility. First, over the last two years, we have had such a focus on the importance and centrality of the Eucharistic celebration in our identity as Catholics. Hopefully, this has led all of us to a deeper and more profound love for Christ and His Church. This love is what ultimately creates those initial stirrings of a vocation and provides the strength to overcome those sometimes tedious moments during formation when it all seems too much.



Also, a priest friend recently relayed an encounter he had with a parishioner, who admitted that the new translation was forcing her to listen with a more attentive ear. But she also admitted that this was not a bad thing! Yes, the language is ‘higher,’ more poetic and the syntax can be difficult at times; but these are the exact attributes which engage the mind, the heart, the imagination, the desire to learn and grow deeper into what is being celebrated. As we have now entered into these changes, we (priest and laity alike) can no longer just skate through Mass easily, we have to be much more intentional about the words we are praying. Again, the words will shape the heart which will ultimately, hopefully, engage the heart in the stirring of that desire to know Christ, personally, profoundly.



On a further note, the language of the new translation is one of supplication and pleading; rather than one of the sometime presumptuous found in the now outdated translation. I think this is mostly a result of the change from active to passive voice in the newer translation; but in reading the prayers, in meditating over them, as a priest, I get the sense that I do this with a certain amount of fear and trembling before the God of the Universe. It strikes me that the recognition of a vocation often requires a similar approach. One does not presume to take on the priesthood for oneself, but has been called forth to this life by God Himself; mystery surrounds why I was invited to this and not my brother; for instance. (To be clear, I am not denigrating the outgoing translation which nourished my own priestly vocation, just trying to understand the differences between the two.)



It is this encounter with the Living God is the source of any true vocation: priesthood, consecrated, single or married life. Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen was quoted as saying that men, in discerning the priesthood, will not give their life to a question mark, but they are willing to give their lives to a mystery.



As we grow more accustomed to this new translation, as we are formed by the words and actions of the Sacred Liturgy, as we meditate and pray over the mysteries being celebrated; let us all experience that awe inspiring mystery of the One True God, that He might lead us all through our pilgrimage of life closer to Himself.

What, Tom's son?

The reaction when I felt a call to the seminary and priesthood was mostly positive; but one reaction from an Aunt of mine really caught me off guard: 'What, Tom's son?'

In his younger years, dad was a bit of a party animal.  I would repeat some of his stories here, but it is a family blog, so well, you know.  (Not that anything was illegal, rather more impish; so yes, I come by it honestly.)

I thought of that reaction at Mass this morning as I read the Genealogy of Jesus as found in the Gospel According to St. Matthew:

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.




Not exactly the list of characters, if you were going through the Bible, whom you would choose as ancestors of the Son of God.  Rahab was a harlot and prostitute.  The kings were ruthless murders, cutthroats and thieves; among others!


Yet, these are the human ancestors of Jesus.  This is his family heritage.  I hope it gives some solace to those families who have a less than perfect record, that even 'Tom's son' can make it to be a decent priest.  God works in mysterious ways, as we stand one week outside of Christmas; let Him work in your family, too.