An account of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham.  Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Aram, and Aram the father of Aminadab, and Aminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of King David. And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah, and Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asaph, and Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah, and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amos, and Amos the father of Josiah, and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon. And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Salathiel, and Salathiel the father of Zerubbabel, and Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, and Abiud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor, and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud, and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah

 

Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: "Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel," which means, "God is with us."

 

Introductory Prayer: Oh God, you sent your blessed mother into the world to prepare a place for you Son. May I discover in Mary's birth and life the infinite merits of your redemptive plan in which you gave us the purest model of Christian discipleship.

 

Petition: Mary, Mother of Christ and my Mother, have me grow in my readiness to serve Christ.

  

1.  Mary's Greatness Apart from the Geneology. Poets, orators and, of course the saints, have expressed their wonders of God choosing to become man and while Jesus Christ remains for us the central figure in salvation history, that history cannot be understood apart from Mary's own entrance into the world. We know only the barest essentials of Mary: that her parents where Joachim and Ann, that Mary resided in Nazareth and that she accepted the greatest gift of all that of being God's mother. God prepared this humble woman for greatness. While He associated her to a noble line of birth through her betrothed, her real greatness derived itself from that singular grace which preserved her from the corruptions of original sin. The Nativity of Mary brought the beauty of the Immaculate Conception into the public eye.

 

2.  The Beauty of Mary and Joseph's Contemplation of Mary.  In the luminous example of the Immaculate Conception you find the greatest degree of purity God has ever assembled in a human creature. There is beauty in purity. It was this beauty of purity that Joseph was perhaps so captivated by. And when he discovered that Mary was expecting, he discovered that he was also part of this mysterious Divine Plan that he could not fathom had it not been for divine assistance. Before the mystery was revealed to him, Joseph looked to separate himself from it out of all humility and respect just as the Church's liturgy clearly separates what is profane from what is holy. Yet, God brings him back to Mary, to take her as his wife and to guard the mystery of redemption just as it unfolded.

 

3.  The First Tabernacle.  God, in choosing to send his only Begotten Son to us through Mary, permitted her to receive an infinite dignity: infinite in the sense that nothing greater could be given to a human being. Her dignity lies in her title and no other woman of noble birth could lay a similar claim to it: Mary is the Mother of God. Having carried Jesus in her womb during several months, her expectation to hold that child grew.

 

Conversation: Lord God, you prepared Mary as a worthy vessel to bring to the world your Son. So in my Eucharistic visits and adorations, permit me to grow in joyful expectation to receive Christ's promises just as you did after receiving Gabriel's message.

 

Questionnaire

 

1.  Out of respect for the great mystery of God's love, Mary provided herself with no justifications. Do I prefer to let God work more in human situations in order to forgo the image I have of self? What is stopping God from truly working in me?

 

2.   Does my understanding of Mary lead me to a devotion which strives to imitate her purity of heart and mind? What means do I use to put this into effect?

 

3.  Since true devotion to Mary is also Christ-centered, do I have a word for Mary in my visits to the Eucharist and my Eucharistic adoration? How else do I show my love for Mary? Can I do more?