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| “St. John of the Cross” by Cesare Gennari, c. 1680’s |
Readings and Commentary:[3]
Reading 1: 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.
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Commentary on Nm 24:2-7, 15-17a
This section of the Book of
Numbers deals with the Israelite encounters in Moab. Within this context are
set four Oracles of Balaam, a seer called by the Moabite King Balak to curse
Israel (Numbers 22:5).
God’s intervention and ultimate conversion of Balaam causes the curses to
become blessings.
This passage contains parts of the third and fourth oracles. The
third oracle (v.2-7 above) sees the ultimate victory of Israel. This victory
can be also seen as the final victory of the faithful in the New Jerusalem. The
fourth oracle (v. 15-17a above) foresees the victory of Israel over its
neighbors. The imagery, “A star shall advance from Jacob, and a staff shall
rise from Israel,” is also seen as predicting the rise of the star that heralds
the coming Messiah.
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm
25:4-5ab, 6 and 7bc, 8-9
R. (4) Teach me your ways, O Lord.
Your ways, O LORD, make known
to me;
teach me your paths,
Guide me in your truth and
teach me,
for you are God my savior.
R. Teach me your ways, O
Lord.
Remember that your
compassion, O LORD,
and your kindness are from of
old.
In your kindness remember me,
because of your goodness, O
LORD.
R. Teach me your ways, O
Lord.
Good and upright is the LORD;
thus he shows sinners the
way.
He guides the humble to
justice,
he teaches the humble his
way.
R. Teach me your ways, O
Lord.
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Commentary on Ps
25:4-5ab, 6 and 7bc, 8-9
Psalm 25 is an
individual lament. The sinful psalmist prays that “Your ways” be made known.
This request directs us to repentance and ultimately justice. In the first
strophe of this hymn, we hear support for our belief that God answered the
prayers of our ancient ancestors. Their trust was justified. The song continues
as an individual prayer asking for guidance and salvation.
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Gospel: 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.”
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Commentary on Mt
21:23-27
Jesus has made
his triumphant entry into Jerusalem and has purged the temple of
money-changers. He now encounters the chief priests in the first of five
controversies. Referring to his purging the temple, they ask: “By what authority are you doing these
things?”
The exchange of
question and counter question that follows exposes the Jewish leadership as
being incompetent to fulfill one of their basic duties, discerning true and
false teachers. When asked about John the Baptist, they reply, “We do not know.” By their inability to
decide about John, the most prominent figure in their day, they display their
incompetence and free Jesus from submitting to their judgment. (“Neither shall I tell you by what authority I
do these things.”)
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Reflection:
Scripture gives us some
interesting points to ponder. In numbers
we meet a rather obscure figure in Balaam.
He is, according to ancient texts, a mystic and seer. When the Israelites conquer the neighboring
Amorites, the King of Moab, Balak, summons Balaam and asks that he put a curse
on the Israelites so the fate of the Amorites does not befall Moab. Ultimately God turns the intent of Balaam to
his own purposes, and his curses become a blessing; so much so that in his
final oracle, God shows him a glimpse of a distant future. A star rises in the
east, one that three kings will see in Persia and follow to a small town called
Bethlehem.
From Balaam’s story we not
only see a distant image of that star, but something even greater. We see how nothing is impossible for
God. We see how even the plans of God’s
enemies can be turned to blessings. In
seeing this, we are given one more reason to have hope and peace in the face of
seemingly overwhelming situations. God,
indeed, is our shield and our rock. We
rejoice in the knowledge that He is always with us.
In the Gospel from St.
Matthew, we find the Messiah, predicted by that ancient star, already well into
his ministry on earth. He has taken up
his role and authority and gone from itinerant preacher to God’s authority on
earth. At the very heart of religious
authority in Jerusalem, he challenges those responsible for presenting God’s
face to the people. He challenges them
and finds them incompetent. They are
unable to see what all of the people in the region have easily grasped: St.
John the Baptist was a great holy man sent by God with an important
message. In fear they cannot expose
their lack of faith. Worse, the fear
they feel is not that they have failed in their most sacred task, but that they
will lose power if they confess what they must know to be true.
With an emotion as close to
contempt as the Lord of Love can show, Jesus rejects their authority and
resigns himself to the knowledge that those in power cannot bear to look at the
light. He understands the consequences
of their failed faith as do we. We see
his authority, his majesty, and his power.
We rejoice in the knowledge that he promised to come again so that everyone
might be saved by the loving hand of God.
On this day of rejoicing we
pray that Christ might have authority over our hearts and minds as we go about
our daily tasks. We pray that his light
and peace might shine out from us so that all we meet might see in us the light
of the distant star he brings and be drawn to its warmth.
Pax
[2]
The Picture is “St. John of the Cross” by Cesare Gennari, c. 1680’s
[3]
The readings are taken from the New American Bible with the exception of the
Psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for
English in Liturgy (ICEL). This
re-publication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.
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