THURSDAY OF THE THIRD WEEK OF ADVENT - 2020

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS 

Wisdom of the Most High,
ordering all things with strength and gentleness,
come and teach us the way of truth.

GENESIS 49:2,8-10

My Soul's Beloved,

Jacob had 12 sons and before his death, he called all his sons around him to give each of them his final blessing. One blessing, in particular, inspired by God, would have eternal consequences. Why was Judah, the fourth son, chosen to receive authority and power over the rest of his siblings from that time forward and forever? Because he was God's choice. From his line would come, David, another unlikely choice for kingship, and yet who can question God's choice? He chooses who He will, He blesses who He wills, and He can do whatsoever He wills.

From the seed of King David, You were destined to come, the Prince of Peace, the Messiah. The Savior and Ruler of the world, the universe, and the heavens before whom all nations, rulers, kings, leaders, people of every race, language, and culture, would pay homage, would reverence, and worship. The Lion of Judah, the King of Kings, the Son of God, and the Son of Man would come to rule the nations with a royal scepter - an unlikely King born of a Virgin, in a stable, wrapped in swaddling clothes and placed in a manger in Bethlehem. A tiny little Baby, born among the sheep and cattle, the donkey and the ox, the poorest of the poor. Only God could conceive of such a preposterous plan and yet - God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.

PSALM 72:1-4,7-8,17

My Soul's Beloved,

To You God has given all authority, all dominion, all power and You will judge the world and all its people for You have conquered death. You alone are worthy for You took upon Yourself the punishment that was ours, paying the price of our iniquity. There is no more righteous judge than You.

You came into the world so all people everywhere can have hope, can enjoy peace, the poor would have in You a powerful defender, and all God's children would receive the salvation that comes from You alone.

All who walk with You, all who know You, all who are united with You, all the members of Your Body walk in confidence with their head held high in the midst of a sinful, unjust, cruel world for they know they walk with God.

To You, Beloved, the Father has given the Name that is higher than every other. At Your Name, every knee in heaven and on earth and under the earth shall bow, and every tongue will confess to the glory of God that You O Lord, our Savior, and Redeemer are our King and Lord forever and ever.

MATTHEW 1:1-17

My Soul's Beloved,

In the last days approaching the celebration of Your birth, Christmas, the Church invites us, through the Gospel of Matthew, to look at Your genealogy. And as we go look at Your ancestry we see how God's promise, His Covenants with His chosen people, beginning with Abraham is slowly and surely fulfilled. The list culminates with this verse Jacob was the father of Joseph the husband of Mary; of her was born Jesus who is called Christ. Born of the power of God, the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit over the Virgin Mary who conceived and bore the Son of God and the Son of Man.

Four pagan women are included in this list, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba, and Tamar. - they are pagans, gentiles, indicating that You came not only for the people of Israel but for all people everywhere. They are not just pagan women, but some have sinned gravely indicating that You came to bring salvation to all. Each of these women when touched with grace became faith-filled and towering examples of what God can do with the most wretched of sinners. Rahab was a prostitute, Ruth, a pagan widow, Bathsheba committed adultery with King David, and Tamar sinned by playing the harlot.

You came from a line of patriarchs and kings, You came to a people in exile who had neither prophet nor king for centuries. You came bringing salvation and hope and as a light to the nations.

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.