DAILY- HOMILY

December 17, 2014

Wednesday 3rd Week of Advent 

Gn 49: 2, 8-10 / Ps 72: 1-2, 3-4ab, 7-8, 17 / Mt 1: 1-17 

Reading: Gn 49: 2, 8-10

"Gather round, sons of Jacob. And listen to your father Israel! Judah, your brothers will praise you! You shall seize your enemies by the neck! Your father's sons shall bow before you. Judah, a young lion! You return from the prey, my son! Like a lion he stoops and crouches, and like a lioness, who dares to rouse him? The scepter shall not be taken from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs, and who has the obedience of the nations.    

Gospel: Matthew 1:1-17

This is the account of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, son of David, son of Abraham.  Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers. Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah (their mother was Tamar), Perez was the father of Hezron, and Hezron of Aram. Aram was the father of Aminadab, Aminadab of Nahshon, Nahshon of Salmon. Salmon was the father of Boaz. His mother was Rahab. Boaz was the father of Obed. His mother was Ruth. Obed was the father of Jesse. Jesse was the father of David, the king. David was the father of Solomon. His mother had been Uriah's wife. Solomon was the father of Rehoboam. Then came the kings: Abijah, Asaph, Jehoshaphat, Joram, Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, Manasseh, Amon, Josiah. Josiah was the father of Jechoniah and his brothers at the time of the deportation to Babylon. After the deportation to Babylon Jechoniah was the father of Salathiel and Salathiel of Zerubbabel. Zerubbabel was the father of Abiud, Abiud of Eliakim, and Eliakim of Azor. Azor was the father of Zadok, Zadok the father of Akim, and Akim the father of Eliud. Eliud was the father of Eleazar, Eleazar of Matthan, and Matthan of Jacob. Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and from her came Jesus who is called the Christ - the Messiah. There were then fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, and fourteen generations from David to the deportation to Babylon, and fourteen generations from the deportation to Babylon to the birth of Christ.

Reflection:

     Jesus Christ was an Israelite who came from the line of David. He belonged to the people of Israel who were a people specially devoted to God as God was specially devoted to them. Never in the history of the world has God spoken so clearly and directly to a people as He did to Israel. God told Abraham to go to Canaan, gave the ten commandments to Moses, fought David's battles against Israel's enemies, spoke through the prophets, etc. The latter prophesied the coming of a Messiah who will save his people. Jesus indeed comes and is born of the tribe of Judah, one of the sons of Jacob. However, he did not come to establish an earthly kingdom but a spiritual kingdom. He came to save us from our sins and bring us to paradise. So we see how important it is for us to know our Jewish roots because their leaders are our forefathers.     

Prayer Requests:

We pray ...

... for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the unborn

... for all the prayer intentions in the MTQ Dailyprayer Diary

... for families who are in need of healing

... for world peace and reconciliation

... for the wedding anniversary intentions of Ernie & Puny

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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