Wednesday of the Third Week of Advent – December 17

Jesus Christ, “Son of Man”

Liturgical Cycle: A | Lectionary Cycle: II

Introduction

The liturgical readings of today call our attention to Christ in his human reality: human like us in everything – except for sin, clarifies St Paul – a descendant of sinners, who, as Church Fathers stress, are even singled out in Matthew’s family tree of Christ, a man born of a woman, a baby in a crib, a child growing up to manhood, a man walking the roads of Palestine, who could weep and be angry, had friends, had a sense of humor, attended marriage feasts. Indeed, he was fully human, God in human form.

Opening Prayer

Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
your Son came among us as one of us,
a human being among other people,
simple, accessible,
yet your human face
and the measure of what a human person is.
Lord, make us discover ourselves in his mirror:
that we are born to be free,
to be unselfish, available, committed.
Free us from our selfishness,
our cowardice and attitudes of conformism,
that we may become a bit
what you want us to be, like your Son,
Jesus Christ our Lord.

First Reading

Genesis 49:2, 8-10

Jacob called his sons and said to them:
“Assemble and listen, sons of Jacob,
listen to Israel, your father.

“You, Judah, shall your brothers praise
–your hand on the neck of your enemies;
the sons of your father shall bow down to you.
Judah, like a lion’s whelp,
you have grown up on prey, my son.
He crouches like a lion recumbent,
the king of beasts–who would dare rouse him?
The scepter shall never depart from Judah,
or the mace from between his legs,
While tribute is brought to him,
and he receives the people’s homage.”

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 72:1-2, 3-4ab, 7-8, 17

R. (see 7) Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace for ever.
O God, with your judgment endow the king,
and with your justice, the king’s son;
He shall govern your people with justice
and your afflicted ones with judgment.
R. Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace for ever.
The mountains shall yield peace for the people,
and the hills justice.
He shall defend the afflicted among the people,
save the children of the poor.
R. Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace for ever.
Justice shall flower in his days,
and profound peace, till the moon be no more.
May he rule from sea to sea,
and from the River to the ends of the earth.
R. Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace for ever.
May his name be blessed forever;
as long as the sun his name shall remain.
In him shall all the tribes of the earth be blessed;
all the nations shall proclaim his happiness.
R. Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace forever.

Alleluia Verse

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
O Wisdom of our God Most High,
guiding creation with power and love;
come to teach us the path of knowledge!
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel

Matthew 1:1-17

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.

Prayers of the Faithful

– For the Jewish people, who gave us Jesus our Savior, that God may bless them and give them peace, we pray:

– For people who have erred, that they may not give up on themselves but keep seeking reconciliation with God and neighbor, we pray:

– For all of us, that we may keep growing in humanity in the likeness of Christ, we pray:

Prayer over the Gifts

God, our Father,
your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior,
gives himself to us
in the simplicity of a piece of bread
and a cup of wine.
May we learn from him
to give ourselves in all simplicity.
Do not allow us to be resigned
to evil and misfortunes in the world,
but challenge us to be responsible with Jesus
for our brothers and sisters
and with him to exist for others,
today and every day, forever.

Prayer after Communion

Loving Father,
because Jesus, our Lord and Savior,
became one of us long ago,
we can believe that he is still one of us today,
sharing our destiny, going all the way with us.
Accept us, then, in your Son as we are:
stumbling and fumbling and plodding,
yet full of goodwill

and hoping in a future of justice and reconciliation,
For Christ is our Lord forever.

Blessing

A theme dear to the Church Fathers is that Christ became one of us as a human person to make us children of God and to show us in himself what it means to be a son or daughter of God. May God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

REFLECTIONS

Desire of the Nations

We now enter the second half of Advent. Our joy in anticipation of receiving the Lord intensifies and is captured in a series of O Antiphons that mark the evening prayers in the Liturgy of the Hours. These seven O Antiphons from the hymn O Come, O Come, Emmanuel reflect the various attributes of the Savior who comes. Who does this Immanuel, wisdom-made-flesh, belong to? Being “the desire of all the nations” (cf. Hag 2:7), he belongs to everyone – as is implied by the genealogy of Christ in today’s gospel. In his genealogy, we find people of the chosen race, pagans, men, women, adulterers, murderers, kings, slaves, ordinary people; in short, all saints, all souls, and all sorts. No one is excluded, unless one wants to exclude oneself. And that is the good news. O Come, let us reach out to everyone to share this good news!

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God’s Mercy in the Genealogy of Jesus

The genealogy of Jesus in Matthew’s Gospel reveals profound truths about His identity and mission. Jesus is presented as the "Son of David" and "Son of Abraham," fulfilling the Jewish hope for a Messiah and extending blessings to all nations (Gn 12:3). This lineage proclaims that Jesus’ mission transcends boundaries, embracing Jews and Gentiles alike.

Matthew highlights five women in this genealogy: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba, and Mary. Their inclusion is striking in a patriarchal society where men typically dominate genealogical records. Each woman’s story involves irregularities or struggles, yet their courage and faith became part of God's salvific plan. Tamar and Rahab, Canaanites, took bold steps to ensure justice. Ruth, a Moabite widow, exemplified loyalty and faithfulness. Bathsheba endured suffering and betrayal but remained central to God’s purposes. Mary, a young Jewish woman, accepted God’s will with humility despite societal risks.

These women remind us that God’s grace works through imperfect and unexpected circumstances. Their stories challenge us to move beyond rigid interpretations of purity or tradition and recognise God’s ability to bring redemption through unconventional means. In contemporary contexts, this invites us to embrace inclusivity and mercy in our communities and ministries.

In the Catholic Church today, this genealogy calls us to reflect on the richness of diversity within the Body of Christ. As Pope Francis urges, the Church must continue being a “field hospital,” welcoming the marginalised and offering hope. For us in Hong Kong, this may mean standing in solidarity with the vulnerable and trusting in God’s providence amid uncertainties.

Through Jesus, history finds its fullness, and God’s mercy is made manifest. May we, like Mary, respond to God’s call with openness and trust, becoming vessels of His blessings to the world.

"May his name endure forever… and all nations call him blessed" (Ps 72:17).