Gospel: Matthew 1:1-16, 18-23The 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.
Now this is how the birth of Jesus
Christ came about. When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, but before
they lived together, she was found with child through the Holy Spirit. Joseph
her husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to
shame, decided to divorce her quietly. Such was his intention when, behold, the
angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David,
do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the
Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son and
you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:
Behold, the virgin shall be with
child and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel, which means “God is
with us.”
+ + + + + + +
Reflection:
Today Sept. 8 is the Nativity/Birth of the
Blessed Virgin Mary. The Nativity of the Blessed Mother is celebrated as a
liturgical feast in the Roman Catholic calendar nine months after the solemnity
of her Immaculate Conception, celebrated on 8 December.
We Catholics have this very deep devotion
to the Blessed Mother for the reason that she is our universal mother. The
respect and devotion that we give her should be the same respect and devotion
that we gave our own mothers. How can we not venerate Mama Mary when she is the
mother of our Lord Jesus Christ?
In the gospel, Joseph was about to quietly
divorce Mary whom he found to be pregnant already through the Holy Spirit. But
the Lord intervened through an angel and it told Joseph not to leave Mary. For
the reason that the child that she carries in her womb was conceived by the
Holy Spirit.
Joseph humbly listened to the Lord, he did
not leave Mary and the salvific plan of God was realized in the birth of Jesus.
We too have to listen to the voice of God who always whispers to us to do good,
to avoid anything that is sinful and to always remain humble no matter what status we have achieved in our
respective lives.
Do you always listen to the voice of the
Lord? - Marino J. Dasmarinas