The Catholic Calendar for Monday, December 17, 2001 The Third Week of Advent
Scripture from today's Liturgy of the Word: Genesis 49:2,8-10 Psalm 72:3-4,7-8,17 Matthew 1:1-17 Full text: http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/index.htm A Reflection on Today's Scripture: May His Name Be Blessed Forever Why did Matthew begin his Gospel with a genealogy of Jesus? To Jews of His time this was most important; for they put great stock in the purity of their ancestry, and even a small admixture of foreign blood would lose one the right of being called a Jew. Christ's genealogy breaks this and several other rules and establishes Him as the "universal" Savior, not merely a Messiah to the Jews. Amazingly, Christ's genealogy contains the names of women at a time when females were considered more a "thing" than a "person", treated as the property of husband or father and given no legal rights. In addition, these particular women were of questionable character and lineage. Rahab was a harlot of Jericho (Joshua 2:1-7). Ruth was a Moabitess, not a Jewess (Ruth 1:4); yet the law said that" no Moabite can enter the assembly of the Lord forever." (Deut.23:3). Tamar was a deliberate seducer and adulteress (Genesis 38); and Bathsheba was seduced from her husband Uriah by King David. Patently, God used Matthew's Gospel to tear down all barriers between the world's people. Women were restored to their position as equals to men, and the wall between Jew and Gentile was destroyed, as was the barrier between saint and sinner. Ours is surely an "equal opportunity" God. Advent is a joyful reminder that man, created in God's image, was born for greatness but lost it through sin. Yet God, in His boundless mercy, gave us Christ so that through Him we might regain the dignity, sanctity and glory He ordained for us. Blessed Redeemer, help us see that by coming in human flesh You wished to unite Yourself with us. Remove all obstacles we create to our becoming one in You. Amen. - Marie L. Bocko, ocds ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) YOU CAN HELP to evangelize the Word of God: Please RECOMMEND our website to your friends and webmasters. The Daily Meditations appear online in BOTH English & Spanish at: http://homepage.mac.com/ojoachim3/index Archived Meditations at: http://www.mail-archive.com/dailymed%40saturn.nibcomp.com For ALL communications, including subscribe/unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (c)2001 The Way, The Truth, The Life. Permission granted to make reprints of the meditations or to post on any web page, except for profit.All scripture quotes are from the Douay-Rheims version of the Catholic Bible.
