The gospel from the Vigil Mass for Christmas Eve begins with the following proclamation: “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.” We then go on to hear the entire line of the ancestors of Jesus. In case you weren’t aware, St. Matthew reminds of many important facts, like: “Abiud became the father of Eliakim, Eliakim the father of Azor, Azor the father of Zadok.” Isn’t that exciting? Well, for most of us, reading the genealogy of Jesus is even less exciting than reading a phone book (do they still make those?).
The genealogy of Jesus contains a seemingly interminable list of 47 proper names, most all of which are repeated twice. Throw in an unquantified number of brothers, an unnamed woman (whose name was Bathsheba) and one anonymous angel of the Lord and you end up with quite a lot of names… and they’re all in Hebrew just for fun. In other words, this is quite possibly the most boring reading from all of Scripture…. unless you know the story.
You can bet the Israelites who were anxiously awaiting the Messiah were excited the hear that genealogy. The Church thinks this reading is so exciting that they gave it the feature spot on Christmas of all days. Knowing the story of the Old Testament makes this boring reading come alive. The same is true for most everything in our faith.
Think about what it would have been like to stumble onto the cave in Bethlehem on the first Christmas night. A mom and dad, a baby, and some shepherds. Boring! No one seeing the first Christmas would think anything of it… unless you know the story. Today, billions of people around the world gather to reflect on the events of that first Christmas night. It’s one of the most exciting days of the year.
So do you think the faith is boring? Well, you’re right, sort of. From an entertainment standpoint, Mass is pretty boring. All this to do about some bread and wine. Why do we do the same boring stuff over and over? If you’re bored with the Christian message, maybe you need to do a little more homework and learn the story. The Church isn’t trying to be entertaining in her message or her worship. It’s much deeper than that. You’ve got a choice; you can put some effort into learning more about your faith or else you can settle for mediocrity. But remember, for those who don’t know the story, even Christmas is boring.