Fr Kevin Kilgore

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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.

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Over the last number of years, many have used DNA test kits – like 23andMe – to learn more about their ancestry. Such advanced science didn’t exist at the time of Christ. Rather, people traced their history orally.

In today’s Gospel, for example, Matthew traces the lineage of Jesus Christ all the way back to Abraham, who lived thousands of years before in order to teach his listeners several important lessons.

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First, Matthew uses Christ’s lineage to demonstrate that God acts in history. Jesus did not strut onto the world stage as an unimpressive newcomer; his birth was the fruit of long-awaited anticipation.

The story begins with Abraham. God makes him a promise that he’d be the father of many nations, as numerous as the stars in the sky. Then the lineage moves to David, who serves as king during the climax of Israel’s power. 

Next Matthew moves to the darkest period of Israel’s history, the Babylonian exile, when the Davidic throne is reduced to dust. Finally, out of the ashes, arises Christ, the true, eternal king of Israel.

Forty-two generations over the span of two-thousand years reveal that God acts in history with purpose. And through his Spirit, God is still active in our lives today.

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Secondly, God is a God of inclusion.

In this first paragraph of Matthew’s Gospel, five of the people named in the genealogy of Jesus are women. All of them, with the exception of Mary, are not Jewish; they’re Gentiles. 

This reveals that from the beginning, God’s plan of salvation included men and women, his mission was to save everyone – not just Israel, and the Lord still relies upon men and women to accomplish his will today.

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Finally, God works through ordinary, sometimes sinful, people. Several of those listed in Christ’s genealogy were sketchy characters – from con artists to prostitutes. Yet, through it all, God’s will is done.

It’s no different today. We do not have to be perfect to be instruments of God’s grace.

As we prepare for his coming at Christmas – and at the end of time – may we offer our hearts and bodies like Mary to accomplish his will. In so doing, we become yet another generation of God’s blessed, extended family.

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Image credits: (1) The Jerusalem Gift Shop (2) 23andMe (3) We Dare to Say

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Gospel: Matthew 21: 23-27

When Jesus had come into the temple area,
the chief priests and the elders of the people approached him
as he was teaching and said,
“By what authority are you doing these things? 
And who gave you this authority?” 
Jesus said to them in reply,
“I shall ask you one question, and if you answer it for me,
then I shall tell you by what authority I do these things. 
Where was John’s baptism from?
Was it of heavenly or of human origin?” 
They discussed this among themselves and said,
“If we say ‘Of heavenly origin,’ he will say to us,
‘Then why did you not believe him?’ 
But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ we fear the crowd,
for they all regard John as a prophet.” 
So they said to Jesus in reply, “We do not know.” 
He himself said to them,
“Neither shall I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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“We do not know” can be a valid answer to certain questions of faith. 

None of us knows when the world will end; how many people will be saved; what the resurrection will be like in its entirety; the extent of divine judgment; what heaven is like; or what the face of God the Father is like. 

While we may have inklings of knowledge, at times “we do not know” is a fair answer.

But not always.

Sometimes we must decide. 

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For example, before a child is baptized, the parents and godparents are asked questions which demand an answer. 

“Are you ready and able to raise this child in the Catholic faith?”

“Do you believe in God, the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth?”

“Do you believe in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church?”

“We do not know” is not a sufficient answer.

Either “I do” or “I don’t.” … “I am,” or “I’m not.”

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In today’s Gospel, Jesus asks the high priests and religious elders a question that demands a clear answer: “Where was John’s baptism from? Was it of heavenly or of human origin?”

It’s a catch-22, because Jesus has implicitly linked himself with John. If they say that John’s baptism was of divine origin, then they are also acknowledging Christ’s divine mission. But if they deny it, then they’ll lose the support of the crowds.

So, they retreat into the non-committal area of, “We do not know.” 

Such a public embarrassment only fuels their urgent need to rid themselves of Christ. In less than 72-hours, they’ll have him arrested and paraded before Pontius Pilate.

Then Pilate and the rest of the crowds will have to answer the same question: “Who is this man, Jesus? Is he of human or divine origin?”

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In the end, it’s a question we all must answer. “We do not know” is insufficient. Yet words are not really necessary, either.

Who do we say Jesus is?

May our decisions reflect that answer today.

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Image credits: (1) Solo Practice University (2) Christ and the Pharisees, Ernst Zimmerman (3) Graciousquotes.com

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Gospel: Luke 3: 10-18

The crowds asked John the Baptist,
“What should we do?”
He said to them in reply,
“Whoever has two cloaks
should share with the person who has none. 
And whoever has food should do likewise.”
Even tax collectors came to be baptized and they said to him,
“Teacher, what should we do?”
He answered them, 
“Stop collecting more than what is prescribed.”
Soldiers also asked him,
“And what is it that we should do?”
He told them,
“Do not practice extortion, 
do not falsely accuse anyone, 
and be satisfied with your wages.”

Now the people were filled with expectation, 
and all were asking in their hearts 
whether John might be the Christ.
John answered them all, saying, 
“I am baptizing you with water,
but one mightier than I is coming.
I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of his sandals.
He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
His winnowing fan is in his hand to clear his threshing floor
and to gather the wheat into his barn, 
but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”
Exhorting them in many other ways, 
he preached good news to the people.

The Gospel of the Lord.

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I became a third-grade teacher in Newark immediately after graduating from college. Every week, I’d give my students a spelling test… and they hated them. Sometimes, I’d throw out a strange word for them to spell like bedlam.

B-E-D-L-A-M. 

For extra credit, they would not only have to spell the word correctly, but also define it.

Bedlam, “a noisy scene of uproar and confusion.”

Much like Mr. Kilgore’s third-grade classroom on a hot Friday afternoon.

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The word bedlam is derived from the centuries-old mental institution, Saint Mary’s of Bethlehem in London.

It was once a highly a regarded asylum, a safe haven for the troubled, affectionately known as Bethlehem.

However, after years of neglect, the facility deteriorated into a shell of what it once was. It then became referred to, in the gargled language of its residents, as Bedlam.

For lack of proper care, Bethlehem had become Bedlam.

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In today’s Gospel, people are lining up to be baptized by John the Baptist in the desert. 

Imagine each of them standing idly, shuffling their feet, acknowledging by their mere presence that some part of their life had gone from, “Bethlehem to bedlam,” from order to disorder.

That’s what sin does by its very nature. It saps our joy; looks good today, but turns bad tomorrow; it separates; tarnishes; ruins the good within.

Gazing upon the vulnerable, wayward crowd, John first baptizes them in his fire-and-brimstone style preaching: “You brood of vipers,” he says, “who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?”

John’s warning them that his baptism is not magic. If they are dunked in the Jordan River, but return to their old way of life, then they’ll be no different than a venomous group of snakes fleeing a grass fire. The poison of sin would still be brewing within them. 

In order to get rid of it, they must also be inwardly changed.

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This prompts their question to John in today’s Gospel: “What should we do?”

So, he gives them practical advice based upon each person’s profession. 

If you’re a tax collector, then stop stealing from the poor, charging more than what’s required. If you’re a soldier, then do not abuse your office, lording your authority over others. If you have two cloaks, then give one away.

Take the grace from this day and go home.

Go home to your family, to your neighbors, to your colleagues at work and amend your life. The crowds were not being asked to move to the desert; this was a moment of grace. 

What John – and ultimately God – wanted from them was to return to the ordinariness of their lives changed.

Imagine the lump in the throats of those tax collectors the next time they knocked on their neighbor’s door. How humbly soldiers would’ve put on their uniforms. Or the turn in the stomachs of the wealthy the next time they passed by the poor. 

These were the areas in their own lives where Bethlehem had become bedlam.

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What changes might I need to make this Advent? Where has Bethlehem become bedlam in my own life?

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John concludes his sermon in the desert by telling the crowds that the Messiah will come and baptize them, not with water, but with fire and the Holy Spirit.

That fire would forever burn away all of the “chaff” – the bedlam – in their lives, allowing them to become freer, more joyful people. 

On this Gaudete Sunday, we rejoice that our Savior is on his way. He is coming to bring us salvation, turning bedlam into Bethlehem.

Sin into grace.

Despair into hope.

Death into life. 

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Image credits: (1) Mother of God Church (2) The New York Times (3) Pinterest