Message of Abbot Paul - Saturday 17th December 2022

O Sapientia, quae ex ore Altissimi prodiisti, attingens a fine usque ad finem,

fortiter suaviterque disponens omnia:

veni ad docendum nos viam prudentiae.

 

O Wisdom, coming forth from the mouth of the Most High,

reaching from one end to the other mightily,

and sweetly ordering all things:

Come and teach us the way of prudence.

​Today we embark on the second part of our Advent journey, the days marked by the great O Antiphons, after which each day is named. The antiphon is sung with the Alleluia before the Gospel at Mass and with the Magnificat at Vespers. Each one begins with a Messianic title of Jesus, the Christ, taken from the prophecies of the Old Testament, emphasising the meaning of the title and then asks Jesus to come and fulfil anew what that title reveals of his mission. Today, recalling that Jesus is Divine Wisdom, we ask that he come and teach us something of his wisdom and holy prudence. The antiphons were probably composed in the 5th century and spread rapidly throughout the Western Church and are still sung today.

 

​Our Gospel reading today is the genealogy of Jesus according to Matthew, (Mt 1: 1-17). Matthew, unlike Luke, who goes back to creation, Adam and Eve, begins with the history of Israel, and with Abraham, our faither in faith. He begins by saying: “A genealogy of Jesus Christ, son of David, son of Abraham.” To get a flavour of how it works, let’s read the first section of three, the fourteen generations from Abraham to David. Notice the women who are mentioned.

“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.”

Matthew brings his genealogy to an end, writing;

“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.”

 

​Matthew is careful to tell us that although Mary was the mother of Jesus, who is the Christ, and that Joseph was her husband, nevertheless Joseph was not the father of Jesus. Following on from the genealogy, Matthew’s infancy narrative begins with the annunciation of the angel to Joseph, where all is made clear. Let us pray today that people throughout the world, who are preparing to celebrate Christmas, will come to recognise and know that the Babe in the manger is indeed God incarnate, our Saviour and our Lord. Amen.