Homily For Saturday the Third Week of Advent Year A, 17th December, 2022

Readings Gen.49:2.8-10, Ps. 72, Matt.1:1-17

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

CAN MY WAY OF LIFE BE LINKED TO THAT OF CHRIST AND HIS GENEALOGY

Advent season as we know is divided into two parts the first which runs from the first Sunday until 16th of December dwells on the second coming of Christ, the eschatological aspect of Advent. While the second aspect which focuses on the first coming of Christ at Bethlehem runs from today 17th -24th December. Hence, the best way to begin this second aspect of advent is by reflecting on the genealogy of Jesus Christ our Saviour as we have it in our Gospel passage today.

From this genealogy of Jesus, we can observe that generations come, generations goes, great men and women came and passed on, new generations continue to spring up as God continue to unveil his plan for humanity. Just as he revealed to Jacob in our first reading today when he gathered all of his sons and their own families, and said his parting words as he was about to die. He blessed all of his children, some more than others, and from among all of the children, Judah stood out to be the one who received a more favourable blessing.

This shows how the Lord had revealed through Jacob what he was going to do for the people of Israel and for humanity. For Judah's kingship over all Israel was given to David, who became the rightful king and God’s chosen one, and God promised that David’s house will rule over Israel forever which is evident in the genealogy of Jesus.

Dear friends, this is our own generation, but the question that comes to mind is: our genealogy to what extent can it be traced to that of Christ? Can my way of life be linked to that of Christ and his genealogy? The things we are doing now to what extent have they been influenced by the events of the passed generations and to what extent are they going to influence the future generations. Therefore, let us use this great opportunity of Advent season to open our hearts, our minds and our whole beings for the Lord. Let us return to the Lord and focus our attention on him as we renew our faith in him and play our role in his plan of redeeming humanity.

LET US PRAY: Lord God, as we open our hearts to embrace your coming, may you continue to watch over us and guide us in our journey of faith and as we struggle with the ugly situation in our world today, may the Holy Spirit, teach us what to do today, how to do them, when to do them and give us the grace to do them properly. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. May God bless and guide your ways today and always.