"God's merciful love is steadfast"

God's love isn't dependent on our performance;

it's constant and reliable, this truth provides confidence and security,

《Lamentations》: "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;

his mercies never come to an end."

 

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊     

1st Reading: Genesis 49:2, 8-10

"Gather around,

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.

 

Ps 72:1-2, 3-4ab, 7-8, 17 

Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace for ever.

 

＊＊＊ 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 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.

 

Gospel Reflection ：

"God's merciful love is steadfast."

Some people become fascinated by their family tree, tracing their roots back many generations.

The few attempts I have made revealed that my mother's side of the family had a few generations of comb makers.

Presumably they were for other people, as baldness runs in our family too!

Matthew presents us with the genealogy of Jesus, declaring that he is truly "son of David" and "son of Abraham"

to show that he is of David's line and hence truly the Christ they had long been awaiting.

Research into a family tree can unearth unusual jobs and unusual people, some of whom have had an unsavory past.

 

We can see this in Christ's genealogy. too. It's a collection of saints and sinners,

but all of them have been taken up into God's plan of salvation.

The genealogy of Christ shows that God's merciful love is steadfast, and the fulfilment of his plan is assured.

As the Son of God took flesh to rescue humanity, so he will come again to gather us to him in eternity.

That's God's saving plan; one which progresses through the generations to a glorious and certain triumph.