Today is the first day of the novena on the nine days before Christmas.

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊     

Genesis 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.

 

Ps 72:1-2, 3-4ab, 7-8, 17

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

 

＊＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊＊      

Matthew 1:1-17

This is the account of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, son of David, son 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.

 

Gospel Reflection：

How human can the Son of God be? His lineage is listed until His birth. And it is populated by people that are good and bad. There is no whitewashing of His genealogy. It is laid bare to show us that He comes from a human family with its own share of good and bad.

There is also neatness in the arrangement of His ancestors. They are evenly divided according to some arbitrary timelines from Abraham to David to the deportation to Babylon until the birth of Jesus.

This mathematically precise division is of symbolic worth. For numbers have their own meanings in the Jewish tradition. And fourteen which is the double of the perfect number seven certainly drives a point in the mind and consciousness of those who understand.

Therefore, the gospel writers are artists more than just mere writers. They paint with words. It takes creativity to unlock the hidden meanings embedded in the gospels rather than literal understanding only.