17/12/2024

Today the reading of the genealogy of Joseph takes us all back to the Old Testament. Matthew who records his personal recollections of Jesus either in the language that they spoke together or in the more formal Hebrew, is still a Jew who has lived with the Son of God.

 I, who am able to go back only three generations in my personal family tree am not too bothered about where I have come from for I do not see how my genes, my DNA, have any importance for my soul which is the new being that is the image and likeness God creates for each of us at the moment of physical conception.

By some of the Jews, Jesus is thought to be the Messiah whose coming is to herald a glorious age when the whole world will bow down to the perfection that is the birthright of God's chosen and gifted ones. Matthew who is writing his memoirs of his time spent with the living Jesus sometime after the twin shocks of Jesus' death and Resurrection and then the appalling destruction of the Temple.

At this moment, there are those who disagree with the above viewpoint but all agree that Matthew (or whoever) is writing for the benefit of the first Christians who are still mainly the Jews of the Old Testament and can only accept the Good News as such when it is positioned within the history of their Covenant with IAMIAM. It is the Resurrection and promised return that has captivated the minds and souls of the the first believers; some knew nothing of his life.

The first disciples had learnt by seeing, touching the resurrected Christ that he is what he has always been but other new believers wanted to know how the "blasphemer" could possibly be "the Messiah". The legal authenticity of Christ's place in the stream of Jewish humanity is thus the first thing Matthew proves before he begins his narrative.

Arguments, arguments and more arguments have beset the Church since the very beginning. Peter the foundation stone was worried about the place of John within his ministry and very soon the  question of how it could be possible for Jesus to be "True man and True God" split the infant church with divisions that are still evident in the sects who for centuries and still today share control of  the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

Dear Lord, help me to be totally committed to your revelations of yourself recorded in the scriptures and let that commitment remain humble thanks in your presence in my heart. Help me learn from the recorded words of the Church Fathers how easy it is to follow pride into false belief and ,submerged in one's own being, ignore you who have created us to live in this world according to your will by doing no harm to anyone which includes sinners like me. If we are to see peace on earth each one of us is to live our lives without infringement of the Law given to Moses and confirmed by the death on the cross which leads to the 100% confirming Resurrection that Jesus true man, (Son of God and Son of Mary) and True God(IAMFATHERSONHOLYSPIRIT) still lives for us. May my prayers become part of the stream of love that began with Mary's "yes" and continues from sinners and faithful on earth, faithful in Heaven and Sinners who have accepted justice, tempered with Mercy, in Purgatory. Let all our personal shades be lifted that your Love may shine upon us also in this world as it does in heaven. Save us by your Grace.