ADVENT, DECEMBER 17th

ADVENT, DECEMBER 17th

Gen. 49:2,8-10/Ps. 72:1-2,3-4ab/Matt.1:1-17 At first glance of today’s Gospel, the genealogy of Jesus can seem little more than a list of names. Yet, in Advent, the Church invites us to linger over it because it reveals something deeply consoling about God’s way of saving us. Matthew shows us that Jesus is fully human, rooted in…

FR. PETER AKOMANYI

17th Dec 2025

2–3 minutes

Gen. 49:2,8-10/Ps. 72:1-2,3-4ab/Matt.1:1-17

At first glance of today’s Gospel, the genealogy of Jesus can seem little more than a list of names.

Yet, in Advent, the Church invites us to linger over it because it reveals something deeply consoling about God’s way of saving us.

Matthew shows us that Jesus is fully human, rooted in real history, born into a family line marked by both promise and failure.

He is truly descendant or heir of David and of Abraham, the fulfilment of God’s ancient promise. In the first reading, Jacob prophesies that the sceptre will not depart until the one to whom it belongs comes.

That promise finds its completion in Jesus, the long-awaited One, the King who comes not with violence or power, but with humility, mercy, and self-giving love. In Him salvation history reaches its fulfilment.

The genealogy also gently points to a mystery.

Joseph stands in the line of descent, yet Jesus’ true origin is in God. He is Emmanuel, God-with-us, entering our broken human story not from a distance, but from within.

What is striking, too, is the kind of people who appear in this family tree. Many were deeply flawed-sinners, outsiders, people with complicated and painful histories.

Jesus did not descend from a line of Saints. Yet God worked patiently and faithfully through all these imperfect lives to bring his Son into the world.

This is where the genealogy becomes deeply personal for us. Our own family stories and personal journeys are not without brokenness, sin, and failure.

Advent reminds us that God is not discouraged by these realities. If we open our lives to him, he can weave even our weaknesses into his saving plan. As Saint Paul assures us, all things work together for good for those who love God.

As we draw closer to Christmas, today’s Gospel invites us to trust that God is at work in our history, just as he was in the long and winding history that led to the birth of Jesus.

The Lord who comes to us at Christmas is not afraid of our humanity. He enters it, redeems it, and fills it with hope. Let us welcome him with faith, humility, and a heart ready to be transformed.

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FR. PETER AKOMANYI

Rev. Fr. Peter Akomanyi Tawiah is a priest of the Catholic Diocese of Damongo. Savannah Region – Ghana, West – Africa. I was ordained a priest on 11th June,2022 at St. Anne’s Cathedral, Damongo by Most Rev. Peter Paul Y. Angkyier, Catholic Bishop of Damongo. My first assignment as a Parochial Vicar is St. Peter’s Catholic Church, Lingbinsi – Daboya. Much of my ministry is spent in serving most especially the deep rural stations of the parish, the poor and vulnerable, promoting devotion to praying the Holy Rosary, the Youth and those interested in becoming Catholic through the sacrament of Christian Initiation. My zeal for such an area of primary evangelization, is to ensure the spreading of the Word of God to a people who are still largely not Christianized. So I consider the work of evangelization and promotion of human development as my main call to mission in this part of the country (Lingbinsi – Daboya, Ghana ).