Breaking the Word

GOSPEL READING: LUKE 1:57-66

He will be called John.

Birth of a child was a celebration in those days. Celebration reached its peak because a barren woman gave birth to a son. Relatives and friends gathered around the family to celebrate. The celebration was centred on the idea that God had shown mercy. Birth of every child was divine action. God was praised and thanked for the birth of a child.

Naming of the child was again an another occasion in which God’s divine action was celebrated. It was all the more in the case of John because the name was given from God. It was not a social event. They were not naming him after his father or his forefathers. Name was a divine revelation. In this triple celebration Zacharias praised and blessed God for his divine intervention; for his covenant; for his promise and for his revelation.

நற்செய்தி வாசகம்: லூக்கா 1:57-66

அதற்கு யோவான் எனப் பெயரிட வேண்டும்.

பெயரிடுவதில் இறைதிட்டம் வெளிப்படுத்தப்படுகிறது. இது சமுதாய நிகழ்வைவிட சிறந்தது. அது ஒரு இறை வெளிப்பாடு. பெயரும் பணியும் இறை வெளிப்பாடே.

GOSPEL READING: MATTHEW 1:18-24

Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home.

Betrothal was as good as marriage for Jewish people. Betrothal was the legal side of the marriage and in fact it was the covenant. And there was no turning back from this covenant. Betrothal was binding them until death. Joseph felt so delicate because of the legal side of the situation. Mary would be considered a woman in adultery and thus condemned to death by stoning.

Joseph receives a revelation from God. The revelation brings out the mystery behind the birth of Jesus and also the direction for him to go about. Revelations often give the divine plan and also the direction for the human cooperation. A believer accepts to cooperate whereas a non-believer goes on to doubt and question the revelation. Joseph followed the directions and thus confirmed his faith.

நற்செய்தி வாசகம்: மத்தேயு 1:18-24

யோசேப்பே, தாவீதின் மகனே, உம்மனைவி மரியாவை ஏற்றுக்கொள்ள அஞ்ச வேண்டாம்.

‘யோசேப்பும் மரியாவும் மணஒப்பந்தமானவர்கள். யூத கலாசாரத்தில் மணஒப்பந்தம் இன்றைய திருமணத்திற்கு இனையானது. கூடிவாழ்வதைத்தவிர மற்ற எல்லா சட்டங்களும் மணஒப்பந்தத்தில் நிறைவு பெறுகிறது. இறைவெளிபாட்டில் இறைதிட்டமும் மனித செயல்பாட்டுக்கான வழிமுறைகளும் கொடுக்கப்படுகின்றன.