Friday, December 16, 2005
SATURDAY 3RD WEEK OF ADVENT
DECEMBER 17, 2005
SATURDAY 3RD WEEK OF ADVENT - YEAR I
GENESIS 49:2, 8-10
Jacob called his sons and said to them: "Assemble and listen, sons
of Jacob, listen to Israel, your father. "You, Judah, shall your
brothers praise - your hand on the neck of your enemies; the sons of
your father shall bow down to you. Judah, like a lion's whelp, you
have grown up on prey, my son. He crouches like a lion recumbent,
the king of beasts - who would dare rouse him? The scepter shall
never depart from Judah, or the mace from between his legs, While
tribute is brought to him, and he receives the people's homage."
MATTHEW 1:1-17
The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son
of Abraham. Abraham became the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of
Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers. Judah became the
father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar. Perez became the
father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Ram, Ram the father of
Amminadab. Amminadab became the father of Nahshon, 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. After the Babylonian exile,
Jechoniah became the father of Shealtiel, Shealtiel the father of
Zerubbabel, Zerubbabel the father of Abiud. Abiud became the father
of Eliakim, Eliakim the father of Azor, Azor the father of Zadok.
Zadok became the father of Achim, Achim the father of Eliud, Eliud
the father of Eleazar. Eleazar became the father of Matthan,
Matthan the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband
of Mary. Of her was born Jesus who is called the Christ. Thus the
total number of generations from Abraham to David is fourteen
generations; from David to the Babylonian exile, fourteen
generations; from the Babylonian exile to the Christ, fourteen
generations.
REFLECTION
There are not many people who can work up any sort of interest in
genealogies. So-and-so begat so-and-so, and so-and-so begat so-and-
so. Even when you put it into modern English it's no less
repetitious and boring. Perez was the father of Hezron, Hezron the
father of Ram, Ram was the father of Amminadab, and so on.
Reading the family record of Jesus as it's presented to us by
Matthew is rather boring . . . unless you have a scripture
scholar to point out items of interest.
For instance the scholars tell us that Matthew's genealogy indicates
clearly that Jesus was fully Jewish. Jesus' earliest roots are set
by Matthew in Abraham, who lived thousands of years before Jesus.
Just hearing the names of his ancestors one after another is sort of
like visiting all the main moments in Israel's political and
spiritual history.
The genealogy also shows that Jesus was fully human. His forebears,
in addition to men of nobility, also included many who were flawed
morally and spiritually. David, the king whom God loved, and
against whom all Jewish kings would be measured, in addition to
being a great warrior, was an adulterer and a murderer. Solomon,
David's son, was an idolater. Many kings of Judah were weaklings
who feared the might of pagan kings more than they loved or
respected God. Many were absolute tyrants.
The women mentioned in the genealogy had their own notoriety.
Tamar, a Canaanite widow, seduced Judah, her father-in-law, to
obtain her rights in the community. Rahab was a prostitute in
Jericho who protected Joshua's spies and enabled the Israelite army
to break into the Promised Land.
We speak of families that have skeletons in their closets. Jesus'
family had quite a few skeletons there. Jesus was descended from
men and women scarred by human faults, wounded by moral and
spiritual defects.
Jesus is Emmanuel, God-with-us. But he is deeply, fully human, even
though he is as deeply, fully God.
PRAYER
"Lord Jesus Christ, you are the Messiah and Savior of the world, the
hope of Israel and the hope of the nations. Be the ruler of my heart
and the king of my home. May there be nothing in my life that is not
under your kingship."
PRAYER REQUESTS
We pray -
- for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the
unborn.
- for the continued & speedy recovery of Mike Torres.
- for the eternal repose of the soul of Dr. Alice Sy Tan. Eternal
rest grant unto her and may perpetual light shine upon her. May she
rest in peace.
- for all the prayer intentions in the MTQ Dailyprayer Diary.
- Birthday: Christopher Sun
- Birthday: Henry L. Uy
- Wedding Anniversary: Ernie & Puny Dy
- In Memoriam: Cesar L. Lopez
- for world peace and reconciliation.
Finally, we pray for one another, for those who have asked our
prayers and for those who need our prayers the most.
Have a good day!
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© 2005 Daily-Homily
SATURDAY 3RD WEEK OF ADVENT
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