The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to contemplate the difference between our understanding of secular authority and the authority of Love that is visible in humility and action.
Authority in Care
The reading from the Book of Numbers is from Balaam’s Oracle concerning the Israelites.
* [24:17] A star…a scepter: some early Christian writers, as well as rabbinic interpreters, understood this prophecy in messianic terms. So, for example, Rabbi Akiba designates Bar Kosiba the messiah in the early second century A.D. by calling him Bar Kokhba, i.e., son of the star, alluding to this passage. Although this text is not referred to anywhere in the New Testament, in a Christian messianic interpretation the star would refer to Jesus, as also the scepter from Israel; cf. Is 11:1. But it is doubtful whether this passage is to be connected with the “star of the Magi” in Mt 2:1–12.1
Psalm 25 is a prayer for Guidance and for Deliverance.
* [Psalm 25] A lament. Each verse begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Such acrostic Psalms are often a series of statements only loosely connected. The psalmist mixes ardent pleas (Ps 25:1–2, 16–22) with expressions of confidence in God who forgives and guides.2
In the Gospel of Matthew, the Authority of Jesus is questioned.
* [21:27] Since through embarrassment on the one hand and fear on the other the religious authorities claim ignorance of the origin of John’s baptism, they show themselves incapable of speaking with authority; hence Jesus refuses to discuss with them the grounds of his authority.3
Nancy Shirley asks how does anyone find that courage to do the “right thing” no matter what the consequences? Where does that inner strength live in each of us and how do we harness it? Our psalm conveys the answer if we are willing to open our hearts and trust.
This past week, I found myself needing to have a challenging discussion. I felt it was “the right thing” to do, however difficult it may be. I always pray to my guardian angel to fortify me in these situations. However, I had reinforcements this time – one of my friends who knew this was going to happen gave me an early Christmas present, a bracelet with the inscription: “God is in her. She will not fall.” It was all I could do to not tear up (as I am as I write this). I immediately put it on!4
Don Schwager quotes “John the Baptist's authority came from heaven,” by Hilary of Poitiers (315-367 AD).
"Prior to this, the Pharisees had seen many things more worthy to be called great miracles, but now they were deeply troubled and asked Jesus to identify the authority by which he performed these works. The great mystery of the future is included in the consequences of present deeds. They felt the urge for special questioning, then, because the prefiguration of every danger was made known in this event. The Lord replied that he would tell them by what authority he did these works if only they would also reply to his question about whether they considered John the Baptist to have come from heaven or from man. They hesitated while pondering the dangers of responding. If they confessed John to have come from heaven, they would be convicted by that very confession for not believing in the authority of a heavenly witness. They were afraid to say that he was merely from man, however, because of the large crowd of people who believed John to be a prophet. So they answered that they did not know (they did in fact know him to be from heaven) because they feared that they might be convinced by the truth of their own confession. But they told the truth about themselves, even though it was their intention to deceive; it was only through their infidelity that they did not know John the Baptist to be from heaven. And they could not have known that John the Baptist was from man, because he was not." (excerpt from commentary ON MATTHEW 21.10)5
The Word Among Us Meditation on Numbers 24:2-7, 15-17 comments that Balaam wasn’t looking at the Israelites for who they were at that moment. He saw them as who they would become. And that’s why this is such a hope-filled passage. This is the way God always looks at us. He doesn’t see sins; he sees the blood of his Son washing us clean. He doesn’t see weaknesses and failures; he sees his children clothed in the strength and dignity of Christ. As he looks down from heaven, he sees us spotlessly pure and filled with his Spirit.
So what can you do today to respond to this amazing truth? You can praise God that he has adopted you as his son or daughter. You are precious in his sight, chosen and beloved from before time began. You are a member of God’s own family, and you have great dignity and honor. Nothing can rob you of your place in God’s house; nothing can convince him to disown you or abandon you. So marvel today in who you are—and in who you are destined to become! “Father, I stand in awe and praise you for your power and incomparable love.”6
Friar Jude Winkler shares some of the back story of Balaam and the connection to Jesus' birth. Cleverness as a survival virtue was highly valued in the ancient world. Friar Jude reminds us that failure to respond may make us ignorant of the wisdom of God.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, reminds us that Jesus is our model for what it means to live from our hearts.
This is the simple religious knowing that the West is going to have to rediscover, both on the Right and on the Left. It’s always a whole-body knowing. Since the Enlightenment and argumentative Reformation we have situated our “knowing” in the mind, illustrated by Descartes’ notorious “I think therefore I am.” The mind is good but it’s only a part of what Jesus recommended: “You must love the Lord your God with your whole heart, with your whole soul, and with your whole mind” (see Matthew 22:37). That’s full-body knowing! That is devotion.7
Fr. Richard invites us to pray for the ability to be more loving with modern mystic Howard Thurman (1900–1981).
I want to be more loving in my heart! It is often easy to have the idea in mind, the plan to be more loving. To see it with my mind and give assent to the thought of being loving—this is crystal clear. But I want to be more loving in my heart! I must feel like loving; I must ease the tension in my heart that ejects the sharp barb, the stinging word. I want to be more loving in my heart that, with unconscious awareness and deliberate intent, I shall be a kind, a gracious human being. Thus, those who walk the way with me may find it easier to love, to be gracious because of the Love of God which is increasingly expressed in my living. “I want to be more loving in my heart!” [1]7
Three aspects of walking with Jesus, piety, study, and action, open our hearts to the Spirit and the authority of Love.
References
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