Genesis 49:2, 8-10 / Matthew 1:1-17
In Singapore, whenever we talk about salad, we think of the Western variety, eg, Caesar's salad, etc.
But there is also the local salad, and we call it "rojak", and there is the Chinese, Indian and Malay variety, each being very distinct.
Take for example, the Chinese rojak, it has ingredients that are of different flavours, from sweet to sour, from strong to bland, from fragrant to bitter.
Yet, all these ingredients combine together to give a flavour that is uniquely Chinese rojak, and which is quite tasty, going by general appeal.
When we look carefully at the genealogy list given in the gospel, we may find that it is like some kind of rojak.
Indeed, we are presented with a mixture of saints and sinners, of kings and peasants, of men and women.
Yet, from this rojak list of people, which is a genealogy list, we find Jesus Christ at the end of it.
We can only conclude that God uses all sorts of people, even though it may seem that it is not possible by human logic, to work wonders and to show His saving love for us.
The gospel reminds us that each and every one of us has a role to play in God's plan of salvation.
The Church, which seems like a "rojak" mixture of people, may leave us scratching our heads and raised eyebrows.
But yet God uses the Church as the sign of salvation, and so all of us, as well as each of us has a role to fulfill.
May we, the "rojak" Church, give the world a taste of God's saving love.