The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham:

 

Abraham begot Isaac.  And Isaac begot Jacob.  And Jacob begot Judas and his brethren.  And Judas begot Phares and Zara of Thamar.  And Phares begot Esron.  And Esron begot Aram.  And Aram begot Aminadab.  And Aminadab begot Naasson.  And Naasson begot Salmon.  And Salmon begot Booz of Rahab.  And Booz begot Obed of Ruth.  And Obed begot Jesse.  And Jesse begot David the king. 

 

And David the king begot Solomon, of her that had been the wife of Urias.  And Solomon begot Roboam.  And Roboam begot Abia.  And Abia begot Asa.  And Asa begot Josaphat.  And Josaphat begot Joram.  And Joram begot  Ozias.  And Ozias begot Joatham.  And Joatham begot Achaz.  And Achaz begot Ezechias.  And Ezechias begot Manasses.  And Manasses begot Amon.  And Amon begot Josias.  And Josias begot Jechonias and his brethren in the transmigration of Babylon.

 

And after the transmigration of Babylon, Jechonias begot Salathiel.  And Salathiel begot Zorobabel.  And Zorobabel begot Abiud.  And Abiud begot Eliacim.  And Eliacim  begot Azor.  And Azor begot Sadoc.  And Sadoc begot Achim.  And Achim begot Eliud.  And Eliud begot Eleazar.  And Eleazar begot Mathan.  And Mathan begot Jacob.  And Jacob begot Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.

 

So all the generations from Abraham to David, are fourteen generations.  And from David to the transmigration of Babylon, are fourteen generations:  and from the transmigration of Babylon to Christ are fourteen generations. (Matthew 1: 1-17)

            
     Thus begins the Gospel According to St. Matthew: with a genealogy.  Why does Matthew do this?  It is easy to pass over a passage like this quickly, putting its presence in the scriptures down as nothing more than a manifestation of some ancient preoccupation with lineages.  But there is nothing in scripture that is mere surplusage.  “All scripture, inspired of God, is profitable to teach, to reprove, to correct, to instruct in justice, that the man of God may be perfect, furnished to every good work.”  (II Timothy 3:16-17)

      So what profit is there in this genealogy with which Matthew begins his gospel?  There is much profit, as it turns out, and I’m going to talk about one of the things that can be learned from it.

     What is to be learned is that Jesus has a genealogy.  That may seem like something that would go without saying, but it hasn’t always been so.  In the early days of Christianity there were some people who got it into their heads that Jesus wasn’t a real man, that he didn’t have a real body, and that he didn’t really die on the cross.  Of course, if Jesus didn’t really die on the cross, then he didn’t really rise from the dead, and so those who were holding to this line were calling into question the very centerpiece of apostolic preaching.  The proponents of this doctrine apparently gained enough of a following that St. John the Apostle felt compelled to address the issue in his first epistle: 

      Nowadays it may seem that it is more common for people to deny Jesus’ divinity than his humanity, and so one might wonder if we’re talking about something that is of purely historical interest.  Of course, one who denies Jesus’ divinity “dissolveth Jesus” every bit as much as one who denies his humanity.  But the point I want to make here is that the scriptures warn us not to forget Jesus’ humanity because doing so will prevent us from understanding two very important things.

     The first is that Jesus has walked our path.  He experienced the troubles and sorrows of human life, and was even tempted.  It is true that he never succumbed to temptation, but he was, as a man, presented with the allurements of sin.  As St. Paul said when speaking of Jesus as our high priest, “For we have not a high priest, who can not have compassion on our infirmities: but one tempted in all things like as we are, without sin.”  (Hebrews 4:15)  We must remember this, because when we approach God in prayer we need not feel that we are presenting our petitions before some remote deity who has no experiential appreciation of the sorts of things we experience as human beings.

     The second thing to understand is that when Jesus ascended into heaven, he did so as a man.  Still, his glory is so resplendent that St. Paul was blinded by the sight of him.  (Acts 9:8)  This must be remembered, because it tells us something of the glory awaiting those who obey him.  As St. John puts it, “Dearly beloved, we are now the sons of God; and it hath not yet appeared what we shall be.  We know, that, when he shall appear, we shall be like to him: because we shall see him as he is.”  (I John 3:2)  That is a good thing to look forward to.

  
     Mike Huckabee's appearance at the San Antonio megachurch of strident anti-Catholic John Hagee has made timely a discussion of the plight of the Catholic voter in the United States. This is not to say that religion shouldn't be kept out of political debate. To say that I take a certain position on a particular issue because I am a Catholic is singularly uninformative in a political discussion with someone who is not Catholic, even if it is true. Like everyone else, in political discourse I am obligated to provide reasons in support of my positions. My opponents, of course, cannot legitimately refute political and social positions that I take on the ground that I am Catholic; they must support their opposition with reasons.  At the same time it is quite legitimate for one's religion to inform even his political opinions. Just as there is no religious test for holding public office, there is no religious test for voting. And no one is required to state his reasons for voting one way or the other, nor should he be.

     Up to now I've been willing to listen to those who have suggested that the private insurance companies ought to be given a stake in whatever universal health coverage plan is developed for the United States. No more. Cigna Corporation has just given us a definitive illustration of what it means for medical decision making to be driven by the profit motive.

      Nataline Sarkisyan is in God's hands now, hands infinitely more merciful than she encountered in this life. But for us, as a nation, there is a decision to be made. And what we must do is clear. We must abolish forever the profit motive from medical decision making. We must have universal, single-payer health coverage in the United States.

      Remember Nataline Sarkisyan!

     One wonders just how unwitting it was, since India is well known as the child labor capital of the world, where 20 percent of the economy is based on child labor. After all, it is a business practice of GAP to subcontract large production orders to businesses in the developing world, where children’s working in subhuman conditions is common. But now they are acting surprised that it has been going on.

     Now this sort of thing really is a stench in the nostrils of the civilized world, and it ought to be clear to everyone that something should be done to stop it. That something should be directed at the incentive that makes international companies behave this way in the first place.

     In Orlando, Florida it is unlawful to knowingly sponsor, conduct, or participate in the distribution or service of food at a large group feeding at a park or park facility owned or controlled by the City of Orlando within the boundary of the city’s “Greater Downtown Park District” without a Large Group Feeding Permit issued by the City Director of Families, Parks and Recreation or his/her designee. The Orlando city code defines a “Large Group Feeding” as an event intended to attract, attracting, or likely to attract twenty-five or more people, including distributors and servers, in a park or park facility owned or controlled by the city. City licensed or contracted concessionaires, lessees, or licensees are excluded from the definition.

     Whatever the original intent of this law, which was just enacted in 2006, it has found implementation against a man who was feeding the homeless. According to a news report on wftv.com, 21-year-old Eric Montanez was thrown in jail for doing just that. Leaving aside the question of what the city’s leaders would rather have 21-year-olds doing within their jurisdiction, one has to wonder about such an expenditure of city resources. Although the arrest affidavit said that Mr. Montanez was specifically arrested because he tried to conceal his identity by throwing his ID, the fact remains that undercover officers were involved who counted the number of homeless served, and even took as evidence some of the stew that was served.
    
     Whether it was because the jury didn’t believe that the prosecution had met its burden of proof, or because of the law’s inherent repugnance, Mr. Montanez was acquitted. Notwithstanding the result the Orlando Police Department promises to continue enforcing the ordinance. That, of course, is the police department’s job. One wonders, however, why the Orlando City Council doesn’t appear to think it to be its job to remove this stench from the city’s codebook.

     “Give to him that asketh of thee,” said Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount. He also said, “Amen I say to you, as long as you did it not to one of these least, neither did you do it to me.” This has always been understood to require performance of the “corporal works of mercy,” which include feeding the hungry. Since this law will continue to be enforced, those who are prosecuted under it in the future will be able to, along with Eric Montanez, take comfort in something else Jesus said: “Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”