First Reading - Isaiah 62:1-5 ©
Second Reading – Isaiah 9:1-7 ©
Third Reading – Isaiah 62:11-12 ©
Fourth Reading – Isaiah 52:7-10 ©
First
Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 88(89):2-5, 27, 29 ©
Second
Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 95(96):1-3,11-13 ©
Third
Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 96(97):1, 6, 11-12 ©
Fourth
Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 97(98):1-6 ©
Fifth
Reading – Acts 13:16-17, 22-25 ©
Sixth
Reading – Titus 2:11-14 ©
Seventh
Reading – Titus 3:4-7 ©
Eighth Reading – Hebrews 1:1-6 ©
The First Acclamation
The Second Acclamation – Luke 2:10 –
11
The Third Acclamation – Luke 2:14
The Fourth Acclamation
The
First Gospel Reading, The Gospel According to Matthew 1:1-25 ©
The Second Gospel Reading, The Gospel
According to Luke 2:1-14 ©
The Third Gospel Reading, The Gospel
According to Luke 2:15 – 20 ©
The Fourth Gospel Reading, The Gospel
According to John 1:1-18 ©
(NJB)
In the reading for Christmas the
prophet expresses a profound hope for the future of Israel, and by extension
for the entire world. We should brandish that hope, we should carry it forward,
a hope for justice that we hope not only for ourselves, but for all people, like
the hope of a young couple entering marriage, they do not know what the future
will bring but they are determined to face it together.
Together we are stronger, together we
are wiser, together we are better; the love we share with one another is like a
gem, bright and beautiful, fixed with a circle of gold upon our brow, like a
beacon on a hill or a new-star in the heavens.
Remember!
God made us in freedom, both individuals
and the entire creation, God were made free. God does not coerce, God does not
intervene in worldly affairs, either for our benefit or our detriment. God has
promised to deliver us to a place of rest and wellbeing when we are done with
this world.
Listen!
The prophet errs when he ascribes a
divine motive or intervention by direct-action to any event that transpires or
has transpired, or will transpire here on Earth.
God does not confer glory on anyone, not
on any tribe or nation, and God does not seek glory for God’s own self; set
these ideas aside. All such talk is vanity, springing directly from the human heart,
delivered by the mouths of men, to the ears of other men.
Understand.
The prophet was wrong to speak this
way; his error was the error of human ambition, representing the limits of the
human imagination. However, the prophet was right to speak of hope like a light
shining in the darkness, which once perceived gladdens and brings joy.
Hope is the way that leads to
God, and faith (which means trust, and love.
God’s light shines from beyond the
world, we will not see the fullness of it until we have left the world behind.
Listen and take joy!
What Isaiah says concerning Zion, is
a message he intends for all of God’s children…for everyone. The savior does
not come as a conqueror, but as a healer, God’s victory is over death and the prize
is life.
Know this,
We are what the divine is seeking, wherever
we are, in whatever city we dwell, God will find you. The creator comes with
blessing for all, and no-one is left behind
The one who comes in the name of God,
comes as a herald of peace
Remember.
God is not a King; while it is wise
and good to allow the will of God to guide you, you must bear in mind that the divine
does not seek to coerce you.
When we call God, King, we risk the
eventuality that we will find ourselves calling a king, god. This is the hubris
of the ruling class. Royalists are never harbingers of peace; kings always make
slaves of their people and ruin their nations with war.
Do not listen to their promises.
Tear down the Jerusalem of kings and
fanatics, rebuild a Jerusalem of love and friendship; this is the way of
Jesus and the prophets.
Consider the words of the psalmist
and beware, because much that has been preserved in scripture was written nationalists
and war-mongers.
God is a God of love and mercy, not a
God of palace intrigues; God is not the lord of battles.
It is right to praise God; it is
right and good to treat our discourse
concerning God with respect and honor; for God is holy and our discourse should
reflect the sacred nature of God’s work.
Be mindful!
God has judged the world, and the
entirety of the created order, and in so doing God has proclaimed that it is
good. God has proclaimed that we are good; in spite of our sinfulness, we are
good.
God is not to be feared, but trusted.
God is Abba, father; Jesus is
brother, teacher, friend and the spirit is our mother.
God is the keeper of a garden, not
the lord of a castle, not a knight on a crusade or a general leading armies.
Let the Earth rejoice and all people
in it proclaim the mystery of God; all people are God’s children, and God has
no enemies. God is the creator of all things and all things obey the will God,
in the end all things and beings will express the divine love in its fullness,
with justice and mercy for all.
Here in God’s presence let go of your
doubts and your dismay; God will wipe away the tears from everyone’s face, as
the prophet said:
All have been invited to the table,
and the feast will not begin until everyone is in.
Be mindful.
If you have never worshipped a carved
image do not think you are superior to someone who have; idolatry can be found
in more than the worship of objects, idolatry is even more insidious when it is
presented in the form of ideas and dogmas, propaganda and myth, creeds and
doctrines.
God is not a giver of victories. God
has no enemies. In God, within whom all things exist, within whom all things
have their being…in God there is no conflict.
Understand.
It is not God’s justice that is shown
in the work of human beings, human beings enact human justice. However, when
human justice approximates the justice of God, we experience justice as mercy…and
that is good.
Know this!
God is kind and faithful to all
people, showing no favoritism; God treats all people equally.
Consider the words and deeds of the
apostle:
It was a mistake for the apostles to
link Jesus son of Joseph the carpenter, to the lineage of David the King, this
was an exercise in shameless propaganda and should be rejected.
Jesus was poor, he came from a humble
village, his father was a craftsman, his friends were shepherds and fisherman,
he was a Jew from Galilee, in the diaspora.
Jesus was also a rabbi, which is to
say he was a pharisee; he was also a healer, a prophet, and most importantly,
he was a man committed to life of humility, seeking justice for the people in a
spirit of mercy.
David was the opposite; he was a king,
a warrior, a murderer, vile, debauched and the father of despots.
Be mindful.
The salvific work that God wrought in
Jesus did not begin with his birth, or his death, it began in the mysterious
place outside of time, at the beginning of all things. Our salvation begins
with the Word of God, the Logos, the second person of the trinity in whom all things
made, and in whom all things are sustained.
The salvation of all people, of all
creation, that work began then, at the beginning of time; it is built into the
foundation of all that is.
Living a good life does not purchase
salvation, we do not earn it, and no one earned it for us. Our salvation was
God’s intention from the outset; we were born in darkness and will be delivered
by grace.
Living a life of justice and mercy,
of love and humility, a life that manifests the reality of God’s salvific will (already
present in us), is like walking through the darkness with a torch held high. To
display such character is like raising a flag in our time and place, like
displaying a banner for all to see, signaling to everyone the joy and peace of
the divine, and the expectation of God’s blessing which we hold in faith while
we sojourn on Earth.
Remember.
God loves us. God is the savior of
all people, providing for our salvation from the moment we come into existence.
Salvation is well-being, both in this world and the next, the reception of it
does not require rituals or rites, or a magical mechanisms of justification. There
are no secret codes that grant us access to heaven. We are saved and delivered
into the next world simply because God wills it, and we experience salvation in
this world through faith in that promise
Be mindful!
The apostle makes a fundamental error
when he writes about the station Jesus occupies. I do not fault him for this,
not personally, because the apostle is a man of his time, formed with a
hierarchical view of the world, in a world dominated by kings, emperors, and
other pretenders.
The apostle tells us that Jesus of
Nazareth is the Son of God, through whom the entire universe, everything that
is, was, or will ever be, came to exist. He tells us that Jesus of Nazareth
possesses the exact copy of God’s nature, expressing his faith in the
categories of Platonic thought.
The apostle tells us that the
universe itself is sustained by the power that resided in Jesus of Nazareth,
and that through this same power sin has been destroyed, which is an odd
insofar as it is clear to anyone that sin is a constant reality, present in the
lives of every human being.
The apostle tells us that this
perfect copy of God, sits at the right of the creator, and is himself the
creator of the universe. The church that followed him demands that we rigidly
adhere to this constructions, which in reality is merely a set of metaphors
intended to convey an essential mystery.
The apostle expresses concern that
we, his audience, properly understand the majesty of Jesus, a majesty above all
other beings, even the angelic host, because he, Jesus has inherited the title,
Son of God, a title belonging to no other.
We must understand that apostle was
winging it. He was making it up as he went along, and did not know what he was
talking about. He was trying to say that God dwelt within Jesus of Nazareth in
a special way, and as a result Jesus is a unique being, a being fundamental to
God’s sovereignty over the universe, and whose life was the critical instrument
in the resolution of sin and evil in the world.
The apostle’s message gets muddied
with his incessant commentary on the hierarchy of the angelic hosts, the role
of sonship, qualities of majesty, position and station. It would have been
better for the world if he had spoken plainly.
Let us recap and do so mindfully!
Jesus was a child of the creator, he
was our brother. In Jesus the conflict of sin was resolved, by following the
example of his life we may resolve it for ourselves. The fullness of the
eternal and infinite God dwelt perfectly within Jesus, as it dwells perfectly
within each of us, whether we know it, believe it or not.
The whole is in the part, the whole
is undivided, and we are one.
Be mindful.
Jesus came and went but human
sinfulness will not end as long as human beings sojourn through time and space;
the divine promise is not of this world.
Today we celebrate the birth of Jesus
and we call him Immanuel, which means God is with us; it is vital
that we remember, God is always with us; from the beginning to the end God is
with us.
Be mindful of how you praise God,
even praise can lead a person astray; for instance, if you say that God is in
the highest heaven, you may forget that God is everywhere, that God dwells in the
hearts of all people, even the worst of us.
Know this!
All of God’s children are beloved by
God. God finds favor in everyone. Praise God, but do not let your piety circumscribe
the fullness of the divine love. The creator of the universe cannot be
circumscribed by words and titles, remember how Jesus addressed the divine, as a
loving parent and a friend.
Consider the gospel readings for
Christmas; pay close attention to what they say and the assumptions they make.
Mary was betrothed to Joseph; Joseph
was of the House of David. She became pregnant before their wedding, becoming
pregnant according to the design God had established for the propagation of
human life.
Joseph had second thoughts about
their marriage and being a father. He considered setting his pregnant betrothed
aside, but in a moment of conscience, listening to the spirit of God within
him, he choose to do the just and honorable thing; Joseph chose to raise his
son, and more children followed.
He took Mary as his wife and brought
her into his house. They named their son Joshua, after the great hero of the
Israelites. They pinned their hopes on him, and through that trust they
experienced the presence of God, in their child God was with them.
If Joseph had succumbed to his fear
and weakness Mary would have been destroyed, she would have been an outcast, a
woman with child out of wedlock. She would have had no standing in her
community, and neither would have her son.
Joseph was humbled by his weakness
and doubt, in his humility he found the strength to do the right thing. In that
moment he learned what it means to truly love, this was the Christmas miracle.
Jesus, son of Joseph of the house of
David, was a Galilean of Nazareth. These are the essential elements of the
birth narrative present in Luke’s gospel, along with the historical references
to the reign of Augustus and the census conducted under Quirinius. Everything
else in the story is propaganda. Everything else is veiled in myth, an
expression of the beliefs and ideology of people who lived a hundred years
after Jesus’ death.
The apostle Luke never met Jesus.
Luke was not one of the disciples, he was a protégé of Paul, and Paul never met
Jesus either.
Luke and Paul travelled broadly and
met many of those who had known and followed Jesus. They met with James, who
was Jesus’ brother, but almost Paul and Luke knew about Jesus came to them as hearsay.
Note well:
While the Gospel of Luke bears Luke’s
name, it was not written by Luke. None of the Gospels were written by
individuals, each of them were exercises in collective development, and the
writing of them took place over generations, as the communities who authored
them did their best to narrate their understanding of the life and mission of
Jesus in terms their audience would understand.
The Gospel of Luke says that Joseph
and Mary and baby Jesus were visited by three shepherds. This is presented in contradistinction
to Matthew’s Gospel which says that they holy family was visited by three kings,
who were “wise men” and Magi, priests in the tradition of Persian
Zoroastrianism.
The Gospel of John, which was the
last to be written, and that of Mark, which was the earliest, those Gospels do
not treat the subject of Jesus’ birth at all.
The communities of Matthew and Luke
were writing to very different audiences. As such, they tailored the narrative
of the birth of Jesus to their audiences. Each in their own way created a
fiction that was pleasing to the people to whom they were preaching.
This is the essence of propaganda.
Therefore be mindful!
In order to understand the Gospels,
this must be understood first of al:
The Gospels contain some legitimate
historical data, but the facts are difficult to find even with the best sifter.
The gospels are products of artifice, they are fictions; at best they are
allegories, analogies and metaphors. They speak to some truths that are
universal, and relate some true events, but taken as whole they cannot be
relied on as a true account of anything.
This is not to say that they are bad,
but it is to say that they must be seen for what they are. Because the Gospels
are propaganda, they are not reliable as a tool to teach us about Jesus, though
they can be used to teach us about the diverse Near Eastern and Mediterranean
communities that formed the early church.
Consider
John’s Gospel, which is an outlier:
John’s
Gospel is unlike the others. Its authors were the farthest removed from the
life of Jesus; writing the narrative between 120 and 150 years after Jesus’
death. It is also the furthest removed from the actual ministry of Jesus,
concerning itself with the cosmic identity of Christ as the Word of God, more
than with the lives of actual people, or the ministry of healing, mercy, and
justice that was Jesus’ actual calling.
The
gospels of Mark, Luke and Matthew are commonly referred to as the synoptic
gospels. The events that they narrate are closely linked to each other and
follow the same basic pattern; even though there are differences. Luke and
Matthew rely largely on Mark for their structure, Mark having been written
first.
Luke
was compiled in the second place, and took a step a little further back in time
than Mark. Whereas Mark begins with the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan; Luke
begins with the story of his birth.
Matthew
coming third in the sequence goes a little farther back in time still; he tell
us of Jesus’ descent from Abraham. While John, coming last, takes the reader
all the way back to the beginning of time.
John
narrates some of the same events as the other gospels do, but with a markedly
different character, designed to tell us who Jesus is, God’s own self.
The
historian in me objects to this treatment of the life of Jesus, but it is what
it is, and this fiction having taken hold of the Christian consciousness,
represents a historical reality all of its own.
The
prolog to John’s Gospel tells us very little about the persons of Jesus and
John the Baptist, but they tell us a great deal about what Christians believed concerning
God and creation itself.
Even
though it was a common view in the ancient world that our material condition
was essentially corrupt; as evidenced by our experience of pain, sickness, and
death. The Christian community of John was articulating its faith in the
essential goodness of the world, and regardless of its many other flaws, this
is in itself good.
John’s
Gospel affirms the unity and oneness of all creation; having been brought into
being through the Word of God, the divine Logos, rational principle within the
Godhead. This tells us that life itself has purpose, it is not random, nor the
product of chaotic forces. It tells us that Creation comes from the goodness
and light of the eternal God, and not one thing or being exists apart from
that.
The
Gospel encourages us in the hope that no matter how bad things are in the drama
of creation, the darkness will not overcome the light. It encourages us to
believe that the world and humanity itself are worthy of love, so much so that
God becomes a human being, lives and suffers with us in a spirit of compassion
and solidarity.
Many
people do not want to hear the truth. They prefer their own cozy view of the
world, their tribal and national gods, their totems, their neat philosophies
and their magical realities to the sober understanding of what it means to be a
child of God.
The
basic tenants of the Christian tradition assert that God’s own self was taken,
tortured and killed for suggesting that there was a different way to live, a
better way to be than the ways that were common to the world of men.
First Reading - Isaiah 62:1-5 ©
The
Bridegroom Rejoices in His Bride
About
Zion I will not be silent, about Jerusalem I will not grow weary, until her
integrity shines out like the dawn and her salvation flames like a torch.
The
nations then will see your integrity, all the kings your glory, and you will be
called by a new name, one which the mouth of the Lord will confer.
You
are to be a crown of splendour in the hand of the Lord, a princely diadem in
the hand of your God; no longer are you to be named ‘Forsaken’, nor your land
‘Abandoned’, but you shall be called ‘My Delight’ and your land ‘The Wedded’; for
the Lord takes delight in you and your land will have its wedding.
Like
a young man marrying a virgin, so will the one who built you wed you, and as
the bridegroom rejoices in his bride, so will your God rejoice in you.
Second
Reading – Isaiah 9:1-7 ©
A
Son is Given to Us
The
people that walked in darkness has seen a great light; on those who live in a
land of deep shadow a light has shone.
You
have made their gladness greater, you have made their joy increase; they
rejoice in your presence as men rejoice at harvest time, as men are happy when
they are dividing the spoils.
For
the yoke that was weighing on him, the bar across his shoulders, the rod of his
oppressor, these you break as on the day of Midian.
For
all the footgear of battle, every cloak rolled in blood, is burnt, and consumed
by fire.
For
there is a child born for us, a son given to us and dominion is laid on his
shoulders; and this is the name they give him: Wonder-Counsellor, Mighty-God, Eternal-Father,
Prince-of-Peace.
Wide
is his dominion in a peace that has no end, for the throne of David and for his
royal power,
which
he establishes and makes secure in justice and integrity.
From
this time onwards and for ever, the jealous love of the Lord of Hosts will do
this.
Third
Reading – Isaiah 62:11-12 ©
Look,
your Saviour Comes
This
the Lord proclaims to the ends of the earth:
Say
to the daughter of Zion, ‘Look, your saviour comes, the prize of his victory
with him, his trophies before him.’
They
shall be called ‘The Holy People’, ‘The Lord’s Redeemed.’
And
you shall be called ‘The-sought-after’, ‘City-not-forsaken.’
Fourth
Reading – Isaiah 52:7-10 ©
Rejoice,
for the Lord is Consoling his People
How
beautiful on the mountains, are the feet of one who brings good news, who
heralds peace, brings happiness, proclaims salvation, and tells Zion, ‘Your God
is king!’
Listen!
Your watchmen raise their voices, they shout for joy together, for they see the
Lord face to face, as he returns to Zion.
Break
into shouts of joy together, you ruins of Jerusalem; for the Lord is consoling
his people, redeeming Jerusalem.
The
Lord bares his holy arm in the sight of all the nations, and all the ends of
the earth shall see the salvation of our God.
First
Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 88(89):2-5, 27, 29 ©
I
will sing for ever of your love, O Lord.
I
will sing for ever of your love, O Lord;
through all ages my mouth will proclaim your
truth.
Of
this I am sure, that your love lasts for ever,
that your truth is firmly established as the
heavens.
I
will sing for ever of your love, O Lord.
‘I
have made a covenant with my chosen one;
I have sworn to David my servant:
I
will establish your dynasty for ever
and set up your throne through all ages.
I
will sing for ever of your love, O Lord.
‘He
will say to me: “You are my father,
my God, the rock who saves me.”
I
will keep my love for him always;
with him my covenant shall last.’
I
will sing for ever of your love, O Lord.
Second
Responsorial Psalm - Psalm 95(96):1-3, 11-13 ©
Today
a saviour has been born to us: he is Christ the Lord.
O
sing a new song to the Lord,
sing to the Lord all the earth.
O sing to the Lord, bless his name.
Today
a saviour has been born to us: he is Christ the Lord.
Proclaim
his help day by day,
tell among the nations his glory
and his wonders among all the peoples.
Today
a saviour has been born to us: he is Christ the Lord.
Let
the heavens rejoice and earth be glad,
let the sea and all within it thunder praise,
let
the land and all it bears rejoice,
all the trees of the wood shout for joy
at
the presence of the Lord for he comes,
he comes to rule the earth.
Today
a saviour has been born to us: he is Christ the Lord.
With
justice he will rule the world,
he will judge the peoples with his truth.
Today
a saviour has been born to us: he is Christ the Lord.
Third Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 96(97):1,
6, 11-12 ©
This day new light will shine upon
the earth: the Lord is born for us.
The Lord is king, let earth rejoice,
let all the coastlands be glad.
The skies proclaim his justice;
all peoples see his glory.
This day new light will shine upon
the earth: the Lord is born for us.
Light shines forth for the just
and joy for the upright of heart.
Rejoice, you just, in the Lord;
give glory to his holy name.
This day new light will shine upon
the earth: the Lord is born for us.
Fourth Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 97(98):1-6
©
All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation of our God.
Sing a new song to the Lord
for he has worked wonders.
His right hand and his holy arm
have brought salvation.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation of our God.
The Lord has made known his
salvation;
has shown his justice to the nations.
He has remembered his truth and love
for the house of Israel.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation of our God.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation of our God.
Shout to the Lord, all the earth,
ring out your joy.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation of our God.
Sing psalms to the Lord with the harp
with the sound of music.
With trumpets and the sound of the
horn
acclaim the King, the Lord.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation of our God.
Fifth Reading – Acts 13:16-17, 22-25
©
Paul's Witness to Christ, the Son of
David
When Paul reached Antioch in Pisidia,
he stood up in the synagogue, held up a hand for silence and began to speak:
‘Men of Israel, and fearers of God,
listen! The God of our nation Israel chose our ancestors, and made our people
great when they were living as foreigners in Egypt; then by divine power he led
them out.
‘Then he made David their king, of
whom he approved in these words, “I have selected David son of Jesse, a man
after my own heart, who will carry out my whole purpose.” To keep his promise,
God has raised up for Israel one of David’s descendants, Jesus, as Saviour,
whose coming was heralded by John when he proclaimed a baptism of repentance
for the whole people of Israel. Before John ended his career he said, “I am not
the one you imagine me to be; that one is coming after me and I am not fit to
undo his sandal.”’
Sixth Reading – Titus 2:11-14 ©
God's Grace has been Revealed to the Whole
Human Race
God’s grace has been revealed, and it
has made salvation possible for the whole human race and taught us that what we
have to do is to give up everything that does not lead to God, and all our
worldly ambitions; we must be self-restrained and live good and religious lives
here in this present world, while we are waiting in hope for the blessing which
will come with the Appearing of the glory of our great God and saviour Christ
Jesus. He sacrificed himself for us in order to set us free from all wickedness
and to purify a people so that it could be his very own and would have no
ambition except to do good.
Seventh
Reading – Titus 3:4-7 ©
It was no Reason Except his own Compassion
that he Saved Us
When the kindness and love of God our
saviour for mankind were revealed, it was not because he was concerned with any
righteous actions we might have done ourselves; it was for no reason except his
own compassion that he saved us, by means of the cleansing water of rebirth and
by renewing us with the Holy Spirit which he has so generously poured over us
through Jesus Christ our saviour. He did this so that we should be justified by
his grace, to become heirs looking forward to inheriting eternal life.
Eighth Reading – Hebrews 1:1-6 ©
God has Spoken to Us through his Son
At various times in the past and in
various different ways, God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets; but in
our own time, the last days, he has spoken to us through his Son, the Son that
he has appointed to inherit everything and through whom he made everything
there is. He is the radiant light of God’s glory and the perfect copy of his
nature, sustaining the universe by his powerful command; and now that he has
destroyed the defilement of sin, he has gone to take his place in heaven at the
right hand of divine Majesty. So he is now as far above the angels as the title
which he has inherited is higher than their own name.
God has never said to any angel: You
are my Son, today I have become your father; or: I will be a father to him and
he a son to me. Again, when he brings the First-Born into the world, he says:
Let all the angels of God worship him.
The First Acclamation
Alleluia,
alleluia!
Tomorrow
there will be an end to the sin of the world and the saviour of the world will
be our king.
Alleluia!
The Second Acclamation – Luke 2:10-11
Alleluia, alleluia!
I bring you news of great joy: today a saviour has
been born to us, Christ the Lord.
Alleluia!
The Third Acclamation – Luke 2:14
Alleluia, alleluia!
Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace to men
who enjoy his favour.
Alleluia!
Alleluia,
alleluia!
A hallowed
day has dawned upon us.
Come, you
nations, worship the Lord, for today a great light has shone down upon the
earth.
Alleluia!
The
First Gospel Reading, The Gospel According to Matthew 1:1-25 ©
The Ancestry and Birth of Jesus
Christ, the Son of David
A genealogy of Jesus Christ, son of David, son of
Abraham:
Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of
Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, Judah was the father of
Perez and Zerah, Tamar being their mother, Perez was the father of Hezron, Hezron
the father of Ram, Ram was the father of Amminadab, Amminadab the father of
Nahshon, Nahshon the father of Salmon, Salmon was the father of Boaz, Rahab
being his mother, Boaz was the father of Obed, Ruth being his mother, Obed was
the father of Jesse;
and Jesse was the father of King David.
David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had
been Uriah’s wife, Solomon was the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the father of
Abijah, Abijah the father of Asa, Asa was the father of Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat
the father of Joram, Joram the father of Azariah, Azariah was the father of
Jotham, Jotham the father of Ahaz, Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, Hezekiah was
the father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Amon, Amon the father of Josiah;
and Josiah was the father of Jechoniah and his brothers.
Then the deportation to Babylon took place.
After the deportation to Babylon:
Jechoniah was the father of Shealtiel, Shealtiel the
father of Zerubbabel, Zerubbabel was the father of Abiud, Abiud the father of
Eliakim, Eliakim the father of Azor, Azor was the father of Zadok, Zadok the
father of Achim, Achim the father of Eliud, Eliud was the father of Eleazar,
Eleazar the father of Matthan, Matthan the father of
Jacob; and Jacob was the father of Joseph the husband of Mary; of her was born
Jesus who is called Christ.
The sum of generations is therefore: fourteen from
Abraham to David; fourteen from David to the Babylonian deportation; and
fourteen from the Babylonian deportation to Christ.
This is how Jesus Christ came to be born. His mother
Mary was betrothed to Joseph; but before they came to live together she was
found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph; being a man
of honour and wanting to spare her publicity, decided to divorce her
informally. He had made up his mind to do this when the angel of the Lord
appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to
take Mary home as your wife, because she has conceived what is in her by the Holy
Spirit. She will give birth to a son and you must name him Jesus, because he is
the one who is to save his people from their sins.’ Now all this took place to
fulfil the words spoken by the Lord through the prophet:
The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and
they will call him Emmanuel, a name which means ‘God-is-with-us.’ When Joseph
woke up he did what the angel of the Lord had told him to do: he took his wife
to his home and, though he had not had intercourse with her, she gave birth to
a son; and he named him Jesus.
The Second Gospel Reading, The Gospel
According to Luke 2:1-14 ©
'In the Town of David a Saviour has
been Born to You'
Caesar Augustus issued a decree for a census of the
whole world to be taken. This census – the first – took place while Quirinius
was governor of Syria, and everyone went to his own town to be registered. So
Joseph set out from the town of Nazareth in Galilee and travelled up to Judaea,
to the town of David called Bethlehem, since he was of David’s House and line,
in order to be registered together with Mary, his betrothed, who was with
child. While they were there the time came for her to have her child, and she
gave birth to a son, her first born. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and
laid him in a manger because there was no room for them at the inn.
In the countryside close by there were shepherds who
lived in the fields and took it in turns to watch their flocks during the
night. The angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone
round them. They were terrified, but the angel said, ‘Do not be afraid. Listen,
I bring you news of great joy, a joy to be shared by the whole people. Today in
the town of David a saviour has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. And
here is a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and
lying in a manger.’ And suddenly with the angel there was a great throng of the
heavenly host, praising God and singing:
‘Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace to
men who enjoy his favour.’
The
Third Gospel Reading, The Gospel According to Luke 2:15 – 20 ©
The Shepherds Hurried to Bethlehem
and Found the Baby Lying in the Manger
Now when the angels had gone from them into heaven,
the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let us go to Bethlehem and see this thing
that has happened which the Lord has made known to us.’ So they hurried away
and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger. When they saw the
child they repeated what they had been told about him, and everyone who heard
it was astonished at what the shepherds had to say. As for Mary, she treasured
all these things and pondered them in her heart. And the shepherds went back
glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen; it was exactly as
they had been told.
The
Fourth Gospel Reading, The Gospel According to John 1:1-18 ©
The Word was Made Flesh, and Lived Among
Us
In the beginning was the Word: and the Word was with
God and the Word was God.
He was with God in the beginning.
Through him all things came to be, not one thing had
its being but through him.
All that came to be had life in him and that life
was the light of men, a light that shines in the dark, a light that darkness could
not overpower.
A man came, sent by God.
His name was John.
He came as a witness, as a witness to speak for the
light, so that everyone might believe through him.
He was not the light, only a witness to speak for
the light.
The Word was the true light that enlightens all men;
and he was coming into the world.
He was in the world that had its being through him, and
the world did not know him.
He came to his own domain and his own people did not
accept him.
But to all who did accept him he gave power to
become children of God, to all who believe in the name of him who was born not
out of human stock or urge of the flesh or will of man but of God himself.
The Word was made flesh, he lived among us, and we
saw his glory, the glory that is his as the only Son of the Father, full of
grace and truth.
John appears as his witness. He proclaims:
‘This is the one of whom I said:
He who comes after me ranks before me because he
existed before me.’
Indeed, from his fullness we have, all of us,
received – yes, grace in return for grace, since, though the Law was given
through Moses, grace and truth have come through Jesus Christ.
No one has ever seen God; it is the only Son, who is
nearest to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.
The Solemnity of Christmas (Year B)
A Holy Day of Obligation
