 |
“Nativity”
by El Greco 1603-05 |
Readings for the Vigil of the Nativity of the Lord [2]
Readings from the Jerusalem
Bible [3]
Readings and Commentary:[4]
Reading 1: Isaiah 62:1-5
For Zion’s sake I
will not be silent,
for Jerusalem’s sake I will not be quiet,
until her vindication shines forth like the dawn
and her victory like a burning torch.
Nations shall
behold your vindication,
and all the kings your glory;
you shall be called by a new name
pronounced by the mouth of the LORD.
You shall be a glorious crown in the hand of the LORD,
a royal diadem held by your God.
No more shall people call you “Forsaken,”
or your land “Desolate,”
but you shall be called “My Delight,”
and your land “Espoused.”
For the LORD delights in you
and makes your land his spouse.
As a young man marries a virgin,
your Builder shall marry you;
and as a bridegroom rejoices in his bride
so shall your God rejoice in you.
-------------------------------------------
Commentary on Is 62:1-5
Isaiah
prophesies the coming of the Christ [Messiah] with several references and
images. Christ is identified as the vindication of Israel. Once the Lord has
delivered his salvation, the land will be called the Lord’s delight. Finally,
the image of the bridegroom and the bride are used as a common metaphor for the
Messiah and the people of God (see also Hosea 2:11-15).
CCC: Is
62 1611; Is
62:4-5 219
-------------------------------------------
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 89:4-5, 16-17, 27, 29
R. (2a) For ever I will sing the goodness
of the Lord.
I have made a
covenant with my chosen one,
I have sworn to David my servant:
Forever will I confirm your posterity
and establish your throne for all generations.
R. For ever I will sing the goodness of the Lord.
Blessed the
people who know the joyful shout;
in the light of your countenance, O LORD, they walk.
At your name they rejoice all the day,
and through your justice they are exalted.
R. For ever I will sing the goodness of the Lord.
He shall say of
me, “You are my father,
my God, the rock, my savior.”
Forever I will maintain my kindness toward him,
and my covenant with him stands firm.
R. For ever I will sing the goodness of the Lord.
-------------------------------------------
Commentary on Ps 89:4-5, 16-17, 27, 29
Psalm
89 is a communal lament sung after the defeat of the Davidic king, because it
calls into question God’s promise made in the strophes cited here wherein God
promised David’s throne to stand forever. The community asks God to remember
his promise.
CCC:
Ps 89 709
-------------------------------------------
Reading II: Acts 13:16-17, 22-25
When Paul reached
Antioch in Pisidia and entered the synagogue,
he stood up, motioned with his hand, and said,
“Fellow Israelites and you others who are God-fearing, listen.
The God of this people Israel chose our ancestors
and exalted the people during their sojourn in the
land of Egypt.
With uplifted arm he led them out of it.
Then he removed Saul and raised up David as king;
of him he testified,
‘I have found David, son of Jesse, a man after my own heart;
he will carry out my every wish.’
From this man’s descendants God, according to his promise,
has brought to Israel a savior, Jesus.
John heralded his coming by proclaiming a baptism of repentance
to all the people of Israel;
and as John was completing his course, he would say,
‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not he.
Behold, one is coming after me;
I am not worthy to unfasten the sandals of his feet.’”
-------------------------------------------
Commentary on Acts 13:16-17, 22-25
St.
Paul, speaking to Jews who were being called to deeper faith in Christ, reminds
them that the prophecy that the Messiah would come from the lineage of King
David had been fulfilled. He speaks of St. John the Baptist as the herald of
that event by recounting St. John’s prophetic speech on the occasion of Jesus’
baptism in the Jordan (see also Mark 1:6-7; Matthew 3:11; John 1:26-27).
With
this reminder, St. Paul also recounts a change in the entire perception of
baptism. “While until now to ‘baptize’
had always connoted repeated immersion in water, so as to cleanse or dye
an object, Jesus’ baptism with fire and the spirit suggests a leap to
another dimension of being. This baptism will not only cleanse but will also
destroy what cannot coexist with the fire of God’s holiness and love.” [5]
CCC:
Acts 13:24 523
-------------------------------------------
Gospel: Matthew 1:1-25
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.
Thus the total
number of generations
from Abraham to David
is fourteen generations;
from David to the Babylonian exile,
fourteen generations;
from the Babylonian exile to the Christ,
fourteen generations.
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 conceive and bear a son,
and they shall name him Emmanuel,
which means “God is with us.”
When Joseph awoke,
he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him
and took his wife into his home.
He had no relations with her until she bore a son,
and he named him Jesus.
-------------------------------------------
Commentary on Mt 1:1-25
St. Matthew, speaking to a predominantly Jewish audience who call
themselves “Sons of Abraham,” produces the genealogy of Jesus starting with
Abraham. The critical purpose is to show that Jesus was of the line of King
David. This was an important demonstration that Jesus was the Messiah as
predicted in the prophetic Scriptures of the Old Testament (the “prophets” as
they were known and referenced by the Jewish audience).
In the final verse of this reading we see the significance of
Hebrew numerology as the numbers of generations are counted. Recalling seven as
the most perfect number in this symbolic system, we see the product of two
sevens in the generations from Abraham and David, two more between King David
and the Babylonian Exile, and two more from the exile to the Messiah. Three
(the formula for the most, e.g. holy, holy, holy equivalent to holy, holier,
holiest) times the product of two sevens, is six (6) sevens, one short of the
perfection to be achieved when Christ will come again.
"The particular genealogy in Matt 1:1-17 compresses the
entire history of Israel into seventeen short verses. The many names would have
brought to mind the various twists and turns, triumphs and tragedies, in that
story. By tracing Jesus' lineage back to David and Abraham, Matthew places the
story of Jesus within the larger plot of God's dealings with Israel and, at the
same time, announces that Israel's story is reaching its climax in the child at
the end of the line. Most of all, the genealogy establishes Jesus' messianic
credentials. Grafted on to the trunk of David's royal lineage, Jesus will
appear as the legal heir of this family's kingly prerogatives that have been
passed down from generation to generation." [6]
CCC:
Mt 1:18-25 497; Mt
1:20 333,
437, 486, 497; Mt 1:21 430,
437, 452, 1507, 1846, 2666, 2812; Mt 1:23 497,
744
-------------------------------------------
Or Matthew 1:18-25
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 conceive and bear a son,
and they shall name him Emmanuel,
which means “God is with us.”
When Joseph awoke,
he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him
and took his wife into his home.
He had no relations with her until she bore a son,
and he named him Jesus.
-------------------------------------------
Commentary on Mt 1:18-25
This
passage is from the beginning of St. Matthew’s story of the nativity of Jesus.
Here we see Joseph being told by the angel that he should bring Mary into his
home as wife and that the paternity of the child is the Holy Spirit. He is also
told to name the child Jesus. The story ends with Joseph accepting the role and
the command of the angel. “The natural genealogical line is broken, but the
promises to David are fulfilled. Through Joseph's adoption, the child belongs
to the family of David. Matthew sees the virginal conception as the fulfillment
of Isaiah 7:14.” [7]
CCC:
Mt 1:16 437; Mt
1:18-25 497; Mt
1:20 333,
437, 486, 497; Mt 1:21 430,
437, 452, 1507, 1846, 2666, 2812; Mt 1:23 497,
744
-------------------------------------------
Children’s Homily:
Has anyone heard a poem that
starts out “'Twas the night before Christmas?”
That’s tonight, isn’t it? And
does anyone remember who the children, who were all “nestled all snug in their
beds,” were expecting? It was St.
Nicholas! And he arrived in a
spectacular way didn’t he?
Now here’s a question that’s
really hard. Does anyone know why St.
Nicholas, whose feast day was three weeks ago on December 6th, would
be coming around on Jesus’ birthday? Who
can tell me what St. Nicholas is best remembered for? He came to children late at night and gave
them gifts. There is a long story about
why he gave them the gifts, but St. Nicholas (who was a Bishop by the way, and
God probably made him a Cardinal because his suit is red and not purple)
started giving his gifts a long time ago (even before your grandma and grandpa
were born).
Why do you think his habit of
giving gifts to children happens on Christmas now? Who else gave gifts at Christmas? The three wise men, the magi, came to Jesus
and gave gifts, didn’t they? We are
going to celebrate that part of the Christmas story in a little over a week
from now.
Who else gave a gift on
Christmas? God gave a gift. He had his angels come and tell a whole bunch
of people he was giving a gift. Does anyone
know who he told first (this is trick question, now)? It wasn’t the shepherds. It wasn’t the magi, it wasn’t even the old
prophets, although they knew the gift would be given. I’ll give you a hint. The Archangel Gabriel
told someone first. It was the Virgin
Mary that was told first, and she had to know first because she was the one who
would actually deliver the gift to the whole world.
Who listened to the Gospel
tonight? The Archangel Gabriel also told
someone else about the present. Who was that?
Joseph had to know because he had to take care of his new wife who was
St. Mary, and he was also going to have to take care of the gift that was the
baby Jesus while he was growing up.
Think of how great that would have been, to spend all that time with
Jesus while he was growing up.
Isn’t that wonderful? It is not only Jesus' birthday, but he was
the birthday present as well. So what better
time for St. Nicholas to bring gifts than on the night when we remember God’s
great gift to us.
There’s another part to this
story as well. It’s a birthday and like all birthdays we should give gifts to
the person whose birthday we celebrate.
What do you think Jesus would like as a gift? Remember now, Jesus has the whole world, so
what do you think we can give him that he would like? It’s pretty hard to find something he doesn’t
already have isn’t it? Let me give you a
few ideas of what he would like.
He would like to get a card
from you with your very own prayer on it.
That would be something you could give from your heart and that’s what
he really likes (if he had a refrigerator in heaven he’d put it up with a magnet
and leave it there).
He would like you to do
something nice for your mom and dad, or even your brother or sister. He would especially like it if you did
something nice for a person who didn’t really like you. That’s the way Jesus is, he loves everyone.
There are lots of ways we can
give gifts to Jesus and he likes to get them all year long. And guess what? A long time ago, people started to notice
that when they gave gifts to Jesus, they seemed to get gifts in return. I’m
pretty sure that’s where the song came from.
You know: “he sees you when you’re sleeping, he knows when you’re awake
…”
Tonight, we say Happy
Birthday to Jesus (only we usually just say Merry Christmas). It should be a wonderful celebration because
it’s when God gave all of us the greatest gift of all, and remember he expects
us to share it!
Adult Reflection:
The birthday of the Lord has
arrived at last. Our long vigil of Advent is drawing to a close and the great
celebration of the Christmas season begins. The great plan of God takes a giant
leap as he reveals himself to us, incarnate in the Christ Child. All of those
who have been instrumental in the Lord’s great work line up behind this moment.
From the very dawn of creation when Adam and Eve first walked upon the earth
and fell from grace this moment has been prayed for. God was forced to wash sin
away in the great flood, and this Child of God who comes to take away the sin
of the world was prayed for.
Moses who led the Hebrew
people out of cruel bondage in Egypt, who released them from the power of sinful
men was but a glimpse of him who rests in the manger. He leads us beside the
still waters and brings us safely to his home in heaven. It was Moses who
brought those ancient Hebrews the Law, and this Infant Christ gives us the new
law of love. Moses parted the Red Sea; Jesus unlocks the gates of heaven.
Abraham and his descendants
Isaac and Jacob established the people of God in the land the Father had
promised. This child leads us by the hand to the new Promised Land in the
heavenly kingdom. The great patriarchs of the Jewish people saw only the law
and the prophets; this little one comes to fulfill all these things in
marvelous ways.
We see in the long line of
his genealogy the plan of God unfolding. Generation upon generation has looked
for the face of God; seeking the peace and consolation only the Living God can
bring. Now, in our remembrance of the clear night when the morning star lights
up the heavens and the earth fairly leaps with joy, we recall the child who
comes. He comes like the tiny grain of sand that starts an avalanche of
majestic proportions, an avalanche of which we have become a part. For tonight
it is enough for us to bask in the joy of his coming and the peace he wishes
upon us.
Merry Christmas – our Savior
is born!
Pax
[1]
Catechism links are taken from the
Homiletic Directory, published by the Congregation for
Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, 29 June 2014.
[2]
The picture used is “Nativity” by El Greco 1603-05.
[3]
S.S. Commemoratio[4]
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 republication is not authorized by USCCB and is
for private use only.
[5]
Fire of Mercy Heart of the Word Volume I, Erasmo Leiva-Merikakis, Ignatius
Press, San Francisco, CA, © 1996 p. 120.
[6] The Gospel of Matthew, © 2010 Curtis Mitch
and Edward Sri, Baker Academic, Grand Rapids, MI, p. 33
[7]
NAB footnote on Matthew 1: 18-25.
No comments:
Post a Comment