Reading 1
Mi 5:1-4a
The LORD says:
You, Bethlehem-Ephrathah,
too small to be among the clans of Judah,
From you shall come forth for me
one who is to be ruler in Israel;
Whose origin is from of old,
from ancient times.
(Therefore the Lord will give them up, until the time
when she who is to give birth has borne,
And the rest of his brethren shall return
to the children of Israel.)
He shall stand firm and shepherd his flock
by the strength of the LORD,
in the majestic name of the LORD, his God;
And they shall remain, for now his greatness
shall reach to the ends of the earth;
he shall be peace.
Gospel
Mt 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."
Meditation: Matthew 1:1-16,18-23
The Nativity of the Virgin Mary
All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said. (Matthew 1:22)
If there’s one thing the genealogy in Matthew’s Gospel shows us, it’s how much care God took in bringing his plan of salvation to fruition! Just look at how many events had to converge before Jesus could come into the world. Or think about how many characters had to play out their parts in order to prepare God’s people for the fulfillment of all his promises.
Praying about Jesus’ genealogy can give us a bigger picture of God’s work. And that’s important, because the broader our grasp of God’s goodness and his wisdom, the easier it will be to trust the Lord with our lives. Think, for instance, about how many things came together before your own birth. Your ancestors paved the way with their lives. There were formative events in the world that affected your family. God’s intervention shaped your family tree until that moment in history when you were born. You aren’t an accident of genetics. You didn’t just show up randomly without a history or without a future. No, God has a plan for your life—a plan centuries and centuries in the making.
It’s likely that the ancestors of Jesus didn’t have a clear sense that they would be immortalized in Scripture. Surely Mary didn’t grasp her significance as she was growing up in Nazareth. It unfolded over time, and she was able to embrace it as she sought the Lord and his wisdom. And it is the same for us. We may not know the part we are meant to play in God’s plan. And we certainly will never know just how many people our lives will influence. But we can still choose to follow the Lord and watch as his plan unfolds for us.
We may not see it fully now, but our lives are woven into the tapestry of God’s perfect plan for the world. So let’s not get caught up in minor squabbles. Let’s not allow small concerns to become sources of deep anxiety. Let’s take a broader look at our lives and know that our God has great things planned for each of us.
“Thank you, Lord, for the beauty of your plan! I trust in your wisdom and in the way you are forming my life.”
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