Gospel: Matthew 1:1-16, 18-23
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.
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.”
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Reflection:
Do you remember the birthday of your mother? You
surely know it because she is your mother and without her you would not be here
in this world.
Today we celebrate the feast of the Nativity of the
Blessed Virgin Mary. The Blessed Mother is the mother of Jesus and our
universal mother as well. Why do we give so much honor and reverence to the
Blessed Mother? The answer is very simple: she is the mother of Jesus. Without
the Blessed Mother Jesus would have not been born.
From the beginning God looked to the Blessed Mother
to be the human mother of Jesus. There was no other choice for God but the
Blessed Mother only the Blessed Mother. Why? This is for the reason that the
Blessed Mother has all the virtues to deserve the honor of being chosen as Jesus’
mother. Therefore, she was blessed by God when she conceived the child Jesus through
the grace of the Holy Spirit.
What can we learn from the nativity of Mary? We
learn that we need to live a virtue filled life in this world. We need to discard
our arrogance and replace it with humility. We need to trust more on our
infinite God rather than trust our finite minds.
Happy birthday Mama Mary and always pray for us. –
Marino J. Dasmarinas
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