And we need simplicity to pray as a
family: simplicity is necessary! Praying the Our Father together, around the
table, is not something extraordinary: it’s easy. And praying the Rosary
together, as a family, is very beautiful and a source of great strength!
And also praying for one another! The husband for his wife, the wife for her
husband, both together for their children, the children for their
grandparents….praying for each other. This is what it means to pray in
the family and it is what makes the family strong: prayer. – Pope Francis:
(Homily, October 27, 2013)
Gospel Text: (MT 1:1-17)
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,
fourteen generations.
Remember the TV series “Roots”?
Today’s gospel of Matthew tells of Jesus’ roots. Jesus’ roots run deep in the
long history of Israel, all the way back to Abraham.
We like to look at our family tree.
How far back do we go? When did we come to this country? We like to have our
family associated with famous men and women. But there can be some relatives
we’d rather go un-noticed. Like every family tree we will eventually find some
“bad apples”.
St Matthew in today’s gospel wants
to impress upon his readers that Jesus is no ordinary person. He comes from a
long line of kings and leaders. His genealogy is not based on any direct line
of blood. In his line we find Gentiles, we find famous women, we find
murderers, adulterers, exploiters. In his line we find men of holiness, wisdom
and justice. The whole bag! St. Matthew wants to impress upon his readers that
this Jesus who came from an impressive background yet is born in a stable, a
refugee fleeing for his life, a proclaimer of the truth that we are all loved
by God and for witnessing to this truth would be executed as a common criminal
is indeed “God with us”, Emmanuel.
St. Paul tells us that before the
world began God chose us to be God’s adopted sons and daughters, brothers and
sisters of Jesus. We are family with Jesus whose birth we will soon celebrate. May
each of us live such a faithful and upright life that we will never bring shame
to our family.
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