Dear Gabriel,

The Gospel today from St. Matthew (1:1-17), is one of the more boring of the year. It is the geniology of Jesus; Son of David, son of Abraham etc. At first, it seems an endless list of strange people with unpronounceable names, about whom we know nothing, with a monumental formula at the end:

Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Messiah.

But think on it. They are not remote people. With their follies, badness and goodness they are merely us. They precede the hinge of human fate we succeeded into. We are interchangeable.

Yours,
Thomas