CHRIST HEALS OUR FAMILY TREE

20151217 CHRIST HEALS OUR FAMILY TREE

Readings at Mass

First reading

Genesis 49:2,8-10 ©

Jacob called his sons and said:

‘Gather round, sons of Jacob, and listen;

listen to Israel your father.

Judah, your brothers shall praise you:

you grip your enemies by the neck,

your father’s sons shall do you homage,

Judah is a lion cub,

you climb back, my son, from your kill;

like a lion he crouches and lies down,

or a lioness: who dare rouse him?

The sceptre shall not pass from Judah,

nor the mace from between his feet,

until he come to whom it belongs,

to whom the peoples shall render obedience.’

Psalm

Psalm 71:1-4,7-8,17 ©

In his days justice shall flourish, and peace till the moon fails.

O God, give your judgement to the king,

  to a king’s son your justice,

that he may judge your people in justice

  and your poor in right judgement.

In his days justice shall flourish, and peace till the moon fails.

May the mountains bring forth peace for the people

  and the hills, justice.

May he defend the poor of the people

  and save the children of the needy.

In his days justice shall flourish, and peace till the moon fails.

In his days justice shall flourish

  and peace till the moon fails.

He shall rule from sea to sea,

  from the Great River to earth’s bounds.

In his days justice shall flourish, and peace till the moon fails.

May his name be blessed for ever

  and endure like the sun.

Every tribe shall be blessed in him,

  all nations bless his name.

In his days justice shall flourish, and peace till the moon fails.

Gospel Acclamation

Alleluia, alleluia!

Wisdom of the Most High,

ordering all things with strength and gentleness,

come and teach us the way of truth.

Alleluia!

Gospel

Matthew 1:1-17 ©

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.

CHRIST HEALS OUR FAMILY TREE

SCRIPTURE READINGS: GENESIS 49:2, 8-10; MATTHEW 1:1-17

Christmas is just eight days away.  With Christ’s coming, creation would be given a new lease of life as Christ comes to redeem us.  Indeed, creation has been destroyed by sin. The celebration of Christmas is to confess that Christ our Saviour and our King will restore humanity to its intended goal, which is that we all share in the life of God, being created in His image and likeness.

In the light of what Christ our Saviour, the Light of the World, would do for us, the liturgy begins by retracing the family tree of Jesus.  In the first reading from the book of Genesis, we have the remote prophecy of Jacob which foretold the rise of Judah’s preeminence over the other brothers.  Just before Jacob’s death, he blessed and prophesied that Judah, who saved Joseph from murder by his other brothers (Gen 37:26), would eventually gain supremacy over the other brothers.  From Judah’s descendents would come the future messianic king, as brought out in the image of the lion and the scepter. (Confer Rev 5:5).  His kingship would be strong and unassailable as a lion and would last forever (Gen 49:10).

Accordingly, we know from the family genealogy in the gospel that King David came from the tribe of Judah (2 Sm 7:13-16), with whom God made an eternal covenant, promising that his dynasty would last forever.  From the Davidic dynasty would come the Messiah who would conquer all enemies of Israel.

This prophecy of course was fulfilled by Christ Jesus who showed Himself to be the Messiah and our Saviour and King by putting all enemies under His feet by His death on the cross and by His resurrection.  Jesus, then, is the king, the prophet and the priest that recapitulates the whole waiting of Israel for a messiah that could fulfill all the three roles.  Thus, it was important for St Matthew in his genealogy to trace Jesus’ family tree to the house of David, of the tribe of Judah through Joseph, His foster father (Mt 1:17) “the husband of Mary;

of her was born Jesus who is called Christ.”

By so doing, it puts to rest any doubt about the incarnation of God in the world.  Jesus’ coming to earth is not a myth or the result of some speculative cosmological theories.  On the contrary, His coming took place through the human family which has its own history, its holiness and sinfulness, its success and failures.  Jesus was truly incarnated and shares our history like us all, except that He was born without original sin.  Jesus truly is in solidarity with the human race and suffers with us in all things except sin.   The humanity of Jesus should never be doubted or discounted if our salvation is to be real because what is not assumed cannot be saved.  Only because Jesus is the perfect man, could He empower us to be perfect in Him.  Only because Jesus is the Son of God, could He make us all sons and daughters in Him.  As St John would later say, “To all who accepted him, he gave power to become children of God, to all who believe in the name of him.” (Jn 1:12)

But more significantly is that the genealogy brings out the fulfillment of the divine plan of God.  The division of the genealogy of Jesus Christ into three divisions of fourteen generations illustrates the perfect plan of God for our salvation.  “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.”  These three divisions recount Israel’s election as the People of God, her fall from grace as a result of infidelity and finally, her restoration to grace through Christ the Messiah foretold by the prophets.  Indeed, salvation is not a patch-up work of God as a result of the sin of man.  But God in His wisdom from all eternity had foreseen that man would reject Him, but in His love for us, He would never allow creation to be destroyed by sin, for He would continue to overcome sin and death by love.  Just as it was His love that created the world, so also it would be His love that would make Him give up His life for us on the cross to save us from sin and death.

Interestingly, also in our observation is the painful and non-apologetic listing of the family tree of Jesus that is not all that perfect.  Indeed, Jesus did not come from a perfect line of holiness in His family’s history.  Not all His ancestors were holy people.  Indeed, there was the citation of four women in His lineage who did not live holy lives.  The mention of Tamar is hardly edifying for she sought justice by using deception. (Cf Gen 38).  Rahab and Ruth both were non-Jews, one of whom was a prostitute.  The other woman, Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah was an adulteress (2 Sm 11).  Of course, the list of kings also includes the bad, cruel and inept kings as well.  David himself, although a great king, certainly was not a good moral example because of his adulterous affair with Bathsheba.  But some of the other kings were much worse than King David, for at least the latter repented. 

What, then, is the message for us?  None of us has a perfect family tree either.  This should be a source of consolation for us and hope as well. Our parents, grandparents and forefathers certainly were not all good people.  Much as we would like to boast of our ancestors, yet we know that they were all broken in their own ways.  They too came from a sinful family and had their own fair share of sins and failures in their lives. This should not be surprising because we all share in the sin of Adam.  Because of our fallen nature, we also commit personal sins in imitation of him.

Our sins not only bring negative consequences to our lives but they also affect others around us, especially our loved ones.  We suffer from all kinds of illnesses, mental, emotion and physical.  We also experience spiritual disorders ranging from self-centeredness to the destruction of others.  The effect of sins will have its repercussion on our family long even after we are gone.  Scripture says, “He punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation” (Ex 34:7). Indeed, sin is both contagious and hereditary.  Our sins affect and contaminate the whole family tree.  Others will also sin by following our bad examples or inherit our negative traits, psychological and emotional defects that we pass on to them biologically, socially or psychologically.   Hence, sin increases because of the sin of Adam.  “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned—“ (Rom 5:12)

But thanks be to Jesus Christ!  He has come to heal our fallen nature by giving us a new life in baptism, forgiving our sins through repentance and healing us through His love and in the power of the resurrection.  God in His mercy has not left us to our hopelessness and brokenness but has come to restore our sonship in Him.  Regardless of our past or our family’s past, we are confident that God will not condemn us because of our sins or the sins of our forefathers.  By His coming, He will carry all our infirmities in His body and bear the curse for all our sins.   Christ Jesus our Saviour and King will set us free from our past and heal all our wounds that come from a sinful upbringing.

What is left for us now, as we prepare for the coming of Christ, is that we make use of the means of healing that the Lord has given to us, especially in the sacrament of reconciliation.  On our part too, we must seek humility to acknowledge our part in the sufferings of humanity and the estranged relationships in our lives.  We must ask for the grace of reconciliation by seeking forgiveness from those whom we have hurt, and give forgiveness to those who have hurt us.  This is the only way to break the curses of the sins of our family tree, for St Paul reminds us that “In your anger do not sin”.  Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold. (Eph 4:26) … And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.  Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. (Eph 4:30-32)

And finally, let us be more conscious in what we do and say because we can, through our words and actions, bring people to Christ and be restored, or drive them further away from Christ and cause them to be even more wounded by our lack of compassion and exemplary life.  Our faithful witness to Christ’s love can bring about the healing of humanity through our forgiveness, tolerance and compassion.  Consider therefore what spiritual heritage you are passing down to your children, your spouse, your siblings, your family, community and church.  Faith is inherited, not so much taught.

Written by The Most Rev William Goh

Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore

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