Who are you, Lord, to tell me how to live my life?
By what authority do you say what is right and what is wrong? Am I not like You? Built in Your image? Can’t I be the ruler of my own destiny?
Monday’s readings, in this Third Week of Advent, are vivid reminders of the eternal struggle that takes place in our hearts. As we live our lives we are faced with many challenges, many temptations, many opportunities to turn our backs on God and do what WE feel like doing.
Faced with such temptations, we often rationalize our desires to do what feels good, rather than what is right. We begin to challenge God and His wisdom. We begin to question the teachings of the Church.
We become like Balac, the king of Moab, who in our first reading today has begged the highly-respected Balaam to place a curse on God’s chosen people – to curse them for living under the Law of Moses; and ultimately to destroy them.
How often do we ponder temptation in our lives and struggle with a desire to curse what we know is right so that we can feel good about doing what we want?
But Balaam encounters an angel of the Lord on his way to Balac – thanks in part to a stubborn ass who is given the ability to speak. And when he arrives, he is given three chances to curse Israel, but refuses. Instead, he points out the virtues of Israel and its community of tents, where they waited to enter the Promised Land.
“They are like gardens beside a stream, like the cedars planted by The Lord.”
So too are our lives when we embrace God and choose the right path. When we fight back the deadly sins and embrace the virtues of a Christian life, we build our tents by the stream of living water. We prepare for our own entrance into our Promised Land … Heaven!
But back to our story from the Book of Numbers. Balaam goes further on Mount Phogor, the site of the third attempt by Balac to obtain a curse. He foretells of the rise of God’s people and the destruction of their enemies. He becomes a prophet of the coming of our Savior …
“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.”
In this Advent season, the message seems clear. Christ is coming. He is the Truth, the Life and the Way into eternal life and salvation. Balac did not get the message. Many kings and “wise men” have also failed to get the message. Many people today still do not get the message.
Today’s Gospel reminds us that even Jesus, who worked miracles while walking the earth, was put to the test by the religious authorities. The chief priests and elders. Looking to rationalize this Jesus, they seek to persuade His followers that He was a fraud.
We, too, become like those who question the authority of Jesus whenever we seek to rationalize our own sinful behavior and demand to have control over our own lives. This is my life. This is my decision. I shall choose what I want, not what is true and right.
“By what authority…”
The “wise men” of our day continue to ask that question. Among themselves, they have become quite good at finding their own answers. Not so good at finding the truth.
As Christians we know the Truth because He has been revealed to us. So blessed are we to be invited to this table.
And blessed are we when we allow God into our hearts, unconditionally, so that He can continue to prepare us for the coming of our Salvation.
