The First Reading is taken from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah 7:10-14. In today's prophecy, Isaiah gives us the most important detail concerning the Messiah, Christ. He was to be God as well as man. This is what Christ was, as he claimed and as he proved by his miracles and by his resurrection.
The Second Reading is taken from the Letter of St. Paul to the Romans 1:1-7. In today's reading, we have the opening verses of that Epistles. In it, he calls himself a servant of Christ, an Apostle, set apart (chosen) to preach the gospel of God. This gospel is the news of the Incarnation, through which and by which, all are called to follow Christ, and become his brothers and sisters, and thus children of God destined to be saints in heaven.
The
Gospel of this Sunday, from the
Gospel of Matthew 1:18-24 begins in a typical Hebrew fashion, by giving the genealogical table of Jesus, who was born of Mary. He does not mention the Annunciation, nor Mary's problem of preserving virginity while becoming a mother. But the revelation given to Joseph, Mary's betrothed, which Matthew here describes, brings out the fact of the virginal conception of Jesus, and his messianic mission of salvation. Matthew then adds that Christ was the Messiah, to be born of a virgin, of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke, seven centuries later.
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