Tracing origins has always been of interest and nowadays it is possible to have a sample of your DNA tested to find out what kind of genetic mix you are. It can lead to surprises! Jesus also had shadows in his genealogy, as is normal. There is hope, too, in the ancestors: God can write straight with our crooked lines. The shadows are not simply in our past, somehow in others, but in each of us as well. But the great message of the Gospel is that our past does not always have to stalk us—there is total forgiveness and even amnesia in God: I, I am the one who blots out your rebellious deeds for my sake; your sins I do not remember. (Isa 43:25)

Prayer

Help us to accept from you, God, a new name, a new reality in Christ that we may know your forgiveness and love and be set free from our past sins and faults. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Kieran O’Mahony, OSA