Reflection for Saturday, 3rd week of Advent
By
Fr. Aloysius Santiago sdb
Director, Social Action Movement, Don Bosco Bidar
Gospel Verses for today
Matthew 1:1-17
This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham:
Abraham was the father of Isaac,
Isaac the father of Jacob,
Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,
Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar,
Perez the father of Hezron,
Hezron the father of Ram,
Ram the father of Amminadab,
Amminadab the father of Nahshon,
Nahshon the father of Salmon,
Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab,
Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth,
Obed the father of Jesse,
and Jesse the father of King David.
David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife,
Solomon the father of Rehoboam,
Rehoboam the father of Abijah,
Abijah the father of Asa,
Asa the father of Jehoshaphat,
Jehoshaphat the father of Jehoram,
Jehoram the father of Uzziah,
Uzziah the father of Jotham,
Jotham the father of Ahaz,
Ahaz the father of Hezekiah,
Hezekiah the father of Manasseh,
Manasseh the father of Amon,
Amon the father of Josiah,
and Josiah the father of Jeconiah and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon.
After the exile to Babylon:
Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel,
Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,
Zerubbabel the father of Abihud,
Abihud the father of Eliakim,
Eliakim the father of Azor,
Azor the father of Zadok,
Zadok the father of Akim,
Akim the father of Elihud,
Elihud the father of Eleazar,
Eleazar the father of Matthan,
Matthan the father of Jacob,
and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus who is called the Messiah.
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.
Meditation on the Word of God
We can divide our lives into three general categories.
One category can be called moments of greatness, the other category can be called moments of weakness and the last can be called moments of grace.
Moments of grace are instances when we experience the hand of God moving profoundly in our lives.
The history of Israel may also be divided into these three categories and we can see it in the genealogy that is presented in the gospel.
From Abraham to David, it was an era that was filled with moments of greatness, with Israel becoming the Chosen People of God and developing into a great and mighty nation.
The second era, from David to the Babylonian exile recalls Israel's fall from greatness. It was also about how Israel turned away from God and turned to sin.
The third era, from the Babylonian exile to Jesus, recalls God's promises to Israel and its fulfillment in Jesus, who is the fullness of grace.
It is this moment that we are preparing to celebrate - a time of grace, a time of restoration, a time of re-creation.
We had our moments of greatness and our moments of weakness.
What we need is to live our days in God’s grace.
It is a time to witness to the world that because of Jesus, we can lift our heads and our hearts and take pride in being the chosen people of God.
GOD BLESS YOU
Good morning. Have a nice day.