December 17, 2012

Monday of the Third Week of Advent

Lectionary: 193

Reading 1 from the Holy Book of Genesis
Gn 49:2, 8-10

Jacob called his sons and said to them:
"Assemble and listen, sons of Jacob,
listen to Israel, your father.

Israel and Jacob are the same person.  Jacob is the name given him by his parents.  Israel is the name given him by God:

Genesis 32:28
And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.

He is the father of the Twelve Patriarchs who father the Twelve Tribes of Israel.

"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."

It is a touching tribute to the great Patron of our faith.  God apparently informed Jacob of his impending death and Jacob knowing this, passed down his final blessings upon his sons and then:

33 And when Jacob had made an end of commanding his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghost, and was gathered unto his people.

Amen.  Even before the advent of Jesus Christ, our Father in heaven was manifest in and through His people.  As He is today in all the faithful.

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

R. (see 7) Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace for ever.

O God, with your judgment endow the king,
and with your justice, the king's son;
He shall govern your people with justice
and your afflicted ones with judgment.

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

The mountains shall yield peace for the people,
and the hills justice.
He shall defend the afflicted among the people,
save the children of the poor.

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

Justice shall flower in his days,
and profound peace, till the moon be no more.
May he rule from sea to sea,
and from the River to the ends of the earth.

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

May his name be blessed forever;
as long as the sun his name shall remain.
In him shall all the tribes of the earth be blessed;
all the nations shall proclaim his happiness.

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

This is an announcement of the coming of the King of Kings, Jesus Christ.  

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew
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.

The genealogies.  Like most people that I know, I find them sort of tedious to read.  However, I discovered at least two people who can make these genealogies come to life.  Dr. Scott Hahn:

 The Promised Son
The numerous fulfillments Matthew tells us about are intended to signal one thing: In Jesus, God is finally delivering on the promises he made throughout salvation history.
Matthew announces this in his very first line, which we hear in the Christmas Vigil Mass: “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham” (1:1).
In this one sentence, Matthew drops four critical Old Testament references and he expects his readers—including you and me—to get them. 

First, the word we translate as “genealogy” is genesis, the Greek word for “creation” and, of course, the name of the Bible’s first book. Matthew also evokes God’s covenants with Abraham and David, both of which involved a promise of divinely given sons. 

At the dawn of salvation history, God made his covenant with Abraham, promising him an heir whose descendants would be as countless as the stars in the sky, a chosen people through whom God would bestow his blessings on all the earth (see Genesis 22:16-18). Centuries later, when the descendants of Abraham had become a mighty kingdom, God made a climactic covenant with David, his handpicked and anointed king. 

By an “eternal covenant,” God promised that David’s son would be his own son and that he would reign forever, not only over Israel, but also over all the nations. (To read more about the Davidic covenant, see 2 Samuel 7:8-16; 23:5; Psalms 2:7-8 and 72:8, 11.) In effect, God’s covenant with David is a promise to finally fulfill his covenant with Abraham—making Abraham’s descendants, gathered into the kingdom ruled by David’s son, the everlasting source of blessings for all the world. 

Unfortunately, David’s kingdom crumbled and the people were swept away into exile about 400 years after David died. This “Babylonian exile” is the turning point in Matthew’s genealogy. He repeats the phrase four times so we don’t miss it (1:11 and 12, and twice in verse 17). 

This is his way of showing us that Jesus is the Christ (Messiah in Hebrew) the prophets had hoped for, the new son of David who would liberate Israel from its enemies, restore the lost sheep to the house of Israel and establish a new covenant that would embrace all nations. (For background on some of these prophecies, see Isaiah 2:2-3; 7:14; 9:1-7; 11:1-5,10; 42:6; 55:3-5; Jeremiah 23:5-6; 31:31-34; 32:36-41; Ezekiel 16:59-63; 34:24-30; 37:23-28.) 

In that first sentence, Matthew gives us a summary of his Gospel and the entire New Testament. It is a book about the new world created by Jesus; the Christ sent to fulfill God’s ancient covenant promises to David and Abraham.

Read more by Dr. Scott Hahn.

and Jeff Cavins.  I couldn't find an online quotation for Mr. Cavins Biblical teachings.  But I've heard some of his Great Adventure Bible series and it is awesome.  Look for it.

Sincerely,

De Maria