Advent Reflection

Carry the Word with you by Mike Monday of the Third Week of Advent, Cycle 1 First reading of the day: Numbers 24:2-7, 15-17a When Balaam raised his eyes and saw Israel encamped, tribe by tribe, the spirit of God came upon him, and he gave voice to his oracle: The utterance of Balaam, son of Beor, the utterance of a man whose eye is true, the utterance of one who hears what God says, and knows what the Most High knows, of one who sees what the Almighty sees, enraptured, and with eyes unveiled: How goodly are your tents, O Jacob; your encampments, O Israel! They are like gardens beside a stream, like the cedars planted by the LORD. His wells shall yield free-flowing waters, he shall have the sea within reach; his king shall rise higher, and his royalty shall be exalted. Then Balaam gave voice to his oracle: The utterance of Balaam, son of Beor, the utterance of the man whose eye is true, the utterance of one who hears what God says, and knows what the Most High knows, of one who sees what the Almighty sees, enraptured, and with eyes unveiled. I see him, though not now; I behold him, though not near: A star shall advance from Jacob, and a staff shall rise from Israel. Gospel reading of the day: Matthew 21:23-27 When Jesus had come into the temple area, the chief priests and the elders of the people approached him as he was teaching and said, “By what authority are you doing these things? And who gave you this authority?” Jesus said to them in reply, “I shall ask you one question, and if you answer it for me, then I shall tell you by what authority I do these things. Where was John’s baptism from? Was it of heavenly or of human origin?” They discussed this among themselves and said, “If we say ‘Of heavenly origin,’ he will say to us, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’ But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ we fear the crowd, for they all regard John as a prophet.” So they said to Jesus in reply, “We do not know.” He himself said to them, “Neither shall I tell you by what authority I do these things.” Reflection on the readings: Both of the readings invite the hearers of the prophetic word to consider how we see Jesus. Balaam sees clearly that Jacob will yield a son who will be a great king over the nations. In the gospel, when the chief priests and the elders of the people refuse to see God's hand in the work Jesus is doing, Jesus asks them if they can at least see God's hand in the work that John did. Full of calculation and guile, they claim they do not know. The readings ask us to take a stand, to say whether we are for Jesus or against him, but a noncommittal shrug of our shoulders, such as the one the chief priests and elders gave, does not engage the Lord. http://cacina.wordpress.com/2014/12/14/carry-the-word-with-you-14/