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| “Birth of the Virgin” by Le Nain brothers, c. 1645 |
First Option: Micah
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.
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Commentary on Mi
5:1-4a
The Prophet Micah, a contemporary
of the Prophet Isaiah, speaks in the voice of God (“Thus says the Lord…”)
prophesying that the Messiah will come from the Clan of Ephrathah, a group
synonymous in the day with the town of Bethlehem roughly 5 miles South of
Jerusalem(see Joshua 15:59 and Ruth 4:11). The reference to
the origin of the ruler as being “of old” is a reference to the ancient line of
Kind David.
Eight centuries before Christ he
foresees Israel’s domination by foreign powers will end only with the Messiah.
The intervening years are seen by Micah as analogous to the labor pains of
child birth and his prophecy is consistent with the Immanuel oracle from Isaiah 7:15. The passage
concludes with the attributes of the future monarch concluding with the
statement that he will not only bring peace but “he shall be peace” (even
clearer in the Jerusalem translation “He himself will be peace.”)
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Or :
Second Option: Romans
8:28-30
Brothers and sisters:
We know that all things work
for good for those who love God,
who are called according to
his purpose.
For those he foreknew he also
predestined
to be conformed to the image
of his Son,
so that he might be the
firstborn
among many brothers.
And those he predestined he
also called;
and those he called he also
justified;
and those he justified he also
glorified.
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Commentary on Rom
8:28-30
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm
13:6ab, 6c
R. (Isaiah 61:10) With delight I rejoice in the Lord.
Though I trusted in your
mercy,
let my heart rejoice in your
salvation.
R. With delight I rejoice
in the Lord.
Let me sing of the LORD, “He
has been good to me.”
R. With delight I rejoice
in the Lord.
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Commentary on Ps
13:6ab, 6c
Psalm 13 begins
as an individual lament. However, the
final strophe captures the hope in the mercy of God and the faith to accept his
call.
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Gospel
Long Form: 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.
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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Commentary on Mt
1:1-16, 18-23
Beginning with
Abraham, this passage from Matthew’s Gospel traces the ancestry of Jesus
through thirty eight generations. From a
scriptural standpoint this family tree was necessary, especially the final 14
generations (twice 7 the perfect number) from the birth of King David on. The oracles of the prophets that the Lord
fulfilled in his birth spoke of the Messiah as coming from the stump of Jesse
(King David’s Father) and of being of the house and line of David. The lineage described insures that the Gospel
reader will know that Jesus indeed fulfilled what had been promised by God.
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Or
Short Form: Matthew 1:18-23
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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Commentary on Mt 1: 18-23
Following the genealogy,
St. Matthew presents a shortened narrative about the nativity of Jesus
(relative to those in Mark and Luke).
While more is said of St.
Joseph
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Reflection:
“The
Blessed Virgin was predestined to be the Mother of God in the eternal plan for
the incarnation of God’s Word. By decree of God’s providence she was, here on
earth, the loving mother of the divine Redeemer, the noblest of all his
companions, and the humble servant of the Lord. In conceiving Christ, in
bearing him, in nursing him, in presenting him to the Father in the temple, in
sharing her Son’s passion as he was dying on the cross by her obedience, her
faith, her hope and burning love, she cooperated in a way that was unique, in
the work of the savior in restoring supernatural life to souls. She is
therefore a mother to us in the order of grace.”
From the dogmatic constitution on the
Church of the Second Vatican Council
(Lumen gentium nn. 61)
One of the nuances that make
the Catholic Church unique in the eyes of other Christian sects is our deep
admiration and dedication to St. Mary. Because much of what we accept about Mary,
the Mother of God, is taken from non-biblical (apocryphal) sources, many of
these other communities find it difficult to understand our love of the Queen
of Heaven. Today’s celebration is one more of those occasions where we can help
them understand.
Since the sixth century the
Church has had a special celebration honoring the birth of St. Mary. She takes
her place at the base of the branch of the limb on the family tree that
included King David, and that produced Jesus of Nazareth, the Savior and Christ.
We join the Lord Jesus whose mother she became in thanking God for the event
that would ultimately demonstrate God’s love of us all by providing a vessel
for Jesus that was pure and free of all worldly contamination. (Indeed we
believe that her conception was immaculate- the genealogy of original sin was
broken for her.)
The birth of the Theotokis
(the Mother of God) is for us like a great chorus of cheers that begins the
final lap of a great race. Her birth to Sts. Anne and Joachim was God’s great
burst of energy that infused his great plan with the final piece needed to
complete his act of sacrifice that would save us all.
Just as we thank God for all
his creation, the earth he made, the life he placed upon the earth, and all
that he has given us since, we thank him especially for the gift of the life of
St. Mary who through her obedience and courage brought us a child that would be
the revelation of God’s love- Jesus Christ.
Pax
In Other Years: Monday
of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time
[1]
ALTRE
[2]
The picture is “Birth of the Virgin” by Le Nain brothers,
c. 1645
[3]
The readings are taken from the New American
Bible with the exception of the Psalm and its response which were developed by
the International Committee for English in Liturgy (ICEL). This re-publication
is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.
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