3rd MONDAY OF ADVENT - Gospel (Matthew 21:23-27) - THE WORD OF GOD FOR EVERYONE
- NHA CHUA CHA
- 5 days ago
- 4 min read
FIRST READING - Num 24:2-7, 15-17a
"A star shall advance from Jacob."
A reading from the Book of Numbers
2 When Balaam looked up and saw Israel encamped, tribe by tribe, the spirit of God came upon him, 3 and he recited his poem:
The oracle of Balaam, son of Beor,
the oracle of the man whose eye is true,
4 The oracle of one who hears what God says,
and knows what the Most High knows,
Of one who sees what the Almighty sees,
in rapture[a] and with eyes unveiled:
5 How pleasant are your tents, Jacob;
your encampments, Israel!
6 Like palm trees spread out,
like gardens beside a river,
Like aloes the Lord planted,
like cedars beside water;
7 Water will drip from their buckets,
their seed will have plentiful water;
Their king will rise higher than Agag[b]
and their dominion will be exalted. 15 Then he recited his poem:
The oracle of Balaam, son of Beor,
the oracle of the man whose eye is true,
16 The oracle of one who hears what God says,
and knows what the Most High knows,
Of one who sees what the Almighty sees,
in rapture and with eyes unveiled.
17 I see him, though not now;
I observe him, though not near:
A star shall advance from Jacob,
and a scepter[a] shall rise from Israel,
That will crush the brows of Moab,
and the skull of all the Sethites,
GOSPEL OF THE DAY - Mt 21:23-27
"Where was John’s baptism from?"
✠From the Gospel according to Matthew
23 When he 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?[a] And who gave you this authority?” 24 Jesus said to them in reply, “I shall ask you one question,[b] and if you answer it for me, then I shall tell you by what authority I do these things. 25 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?’ 26 [c]But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ we fear the crowd, for they all regard John as a prophet.” 27 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.[d]
3rd MONDAY OF ADVENT - Gospel (Matthew 21:23-27)
THE WORD OF GOD FOR EVERYONE
Dear people of God,
The Word of God in today's Gospel recounts the story of the chief priests and the elders of the people who came to question Jesus about the authority by which He taught and performed miracles in the Temple.
Through the actions of these religious leaders who questioned God, He desires to tell all of humanity: do not follow a hypocritical, deceitful, and unjust way of life; do not live arrogantly and unjustly towards others in this generation anymore; let us walk on the path of righteousness and the path of light.
God shows humanity that those Jewish leaders could not answer Jesus' question: "I shall ask you one question, and if you answer it for Me: Where was John's baptism from? Was it of heavenly or of human origin?”
The chief priests and the elders of the people were unable to answer because of the pride, arrogance, and wickedness within themselves.
Thus, they gradually withdrew, because if they answered "of heavenly origin”, God would rebuke them, and if they answered "of human origin”, the people would condemn them.
Through this image, God calls all of humanity to stop living unjustly, to return to the straight and peaceful path; to stop comparing and calculating, do not condemn, do not be arrogant; to stop being hypocritical; be true to yourself; to bear witness to the truth, stop bearing false witness; not to walk the path of darkness but to seek the path of truth, and to courageously reject the path of darkness, abandon the path of arrogance.
God lets all of humanity know that if anyone is living in hypocrisy and deceit, considering themselves "superior," believing they possess all the knowledge, and then condemning, belittling, criticizing, and finding faults with others, then that person is a fool in the eyes of God.
For in this world, only God is Almighty, All-perfect, and Absolute Good, and He sees all things in the human heart.
Only in God’s light, only on the path of truth that God has given to humanity, only on the path of God's love is there truth, and only God is worthy of all honor.
Therefore, God calls all of humanity:
To courageously abandon the arrogant way of life, to renounce the "self-centered" way of life.
To be self-abased, to humble ourselves before God and walk on the path of God's light, which is to fear God above all things and to love our neighbors as ourselves.
To put God's word into practice; do not refute God's word, do not try to analyze or calculate God's Word with the limited human mind.
God makes known to humanity that only those who walk on the path of truth, on the path of righteousness, on the path of the light God has given to humanity, will inherit eternal happiness in the Kingdom of Heaven hereafter.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
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