DECEMBER 17 - Gospel (Mt 1:1-17) - THE WORD OF GOD FOR EVERYONE

“Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary. Of her was born Jesus who is called the Messiah.” (Mt 1:16)

FIRST READING - Gn 49:2, 8-10

A reading from the Book of Genesis

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.”

GOSPEL OF THE DAY - Mt 1:1-17

From the Gospel according to Matthew

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,

DECEMBER 17 - Gospel (Mt 1:1-17)

THE WORD OF GOD FOR EVERYONE

Dear People of God,

Today's Word of God records the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of God who came to earth to become a human being. This is to show all humanity that when any human being is born, there is always a lineage originating from God, there are always ancestors, grandparents, parents, and a lineage of humanity that continues. Therefore, all human beings are brothers and sisters of the same heavenly Father.

God wants all humanity to know that The Son of God incarnated on earth to become a human being so that humankind can experience happiness: to experience the holy presence of God, to participate in His divine life, to experience happiness when welcoming the Supreme God born in the form of a human being; that is the happiness that God bestows on all humanity.

Today, God wants humanity to receive the love of God who was born, humbled Himself, and lowered Himself to become a human being to accompany and be with humanity; there is nothing happier than the Supreme Being humbly lowering Himself to be among humanity; not only is He a human being among humanity, but God Himself was born as an ordinary person like everyone else.

Furthermore, He dared to sacrifice Himself, to die to bring life to all humanity. This is the most noble, sublime, and absolute love. In this world, there is no love as magnificent as that!

Therefore, to prepare for the Savior to come to earth, to become a human being, to be with humanity, to die and be resurrected to redeem humanity, God prepared many generations, and they encountered many difficulties, hardships, and ups and downs in life. God fulfilled His promise to be born as a human being to save humanity.

God calls on all mankind in the world to believe in the Son of God who became man under the influence of the Holy Spirit when Mary conceived the Son of God.

God wants humanity to believe that His love for humanity's is true; His love will cover and protect all those who run to Him, calling on the holy name of the Son of God, will all be saved, and all will experience the holy presence of God when He calls humanity out of this world.

God's calling on all humanity not to fall into Satan's temptations and dark traps. Walk in the light of the Son of God who has come and been with humanity for so many centuries. Run to the light of the Word of God. It is the light of God's Word that will bring human souls into the holy presence of God, the Most High.

God calls on humanity to attain the holy presence of God and to be happy in the Kingdom of Heaven, we should look up to the example of the love of the Almighty God: because of His love for humanity, He was born into the world as a human being to be with humanity until the end of the world.

May we have absolute faith in the love of the Supreme God, which is the love of the Son of God who became truly human, like all the humans present in this world.

Therefore, the Word of God today wants all humanity to know the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of God who came to earth to become a human being. His genealogy also includes sinful people and imperfect people. However what is important is that God's love will turn evil into good, God's love will transform darkness into light.

Looking back at the image of the ancestors of the Son of God coming to earth to become a human being, there were sinful people, and there were disobedient people to God; But God's love has erased hatred, erased sin, erased darkness so that the plan of the Son of God coming to earth to become a human being to save all humanity has been realized to this day and continues in the period of the activity of the Holy Spirit as He calls sinners to cooperate into the work of sanctifying all humanity. So that humanity can glorify how great and profound God's love and mercy are.

Thanks be to God. Amen.