MONDAY OF THE THIRD WEEK OF ADVENT Gospel (Mt 21:23-27) - THE WORD OF GOD FOR EVERYONE

“By what authority are you doing these things? And who gave you this authority?” (Mt 21:23)

FIRST READING - Nm 24:2-7, 15-17a

A reading from the Book of Numbers

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 OF THE DAY - Mt 21:23-27

From the Gospel according to Matthew

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.”

MONDAY OF THE THIRD WEEK OF ADVENT Gospel (Mt 21:23-27)

THE WORD OF GOD FOR EVERYONE

Dear People of God,

The Word of God in today's Gospel recounts the story: where the Jewish leaders asked Jesus about what authority he had to teach and perform miracles in the Temple.

Through the incident of the leaders questioning God, He wanted to tell all humanity: Do not follow the hypocritical, insincere, and unrighteous ways of life; do not be arrogant and unjust towards people in this generation; walk on the path of righteousness and the path of light. God showed humanity that the Jewish leaders could not answer Jesus' question: "Where was John’s baptism from? Was it of heavenly or of human origin?” " The Jewish leaders could not answer because of pride, arrogance and wickedness that were within them. Therefore, they gradually withdrew, because if they answered from heaven, they would be found faulty by God, and if they answered from men, they would be condemned by the people. Through that image, God calls on all mankind: do not live unjustly anymore; return to the path of righteousness and peace; do not calculate, do not condemn, or boast; do not be hypocritical anymore; live true to yourself; bear true witness, do not bear false witness anymore; do not walk on the path of darkness but seek the path of truth; have the courage to eliminate the path of darkness, eliminate the path of arrogance. God lets all mankind know that: if those who are living in hypocrisy, to think of oneself as "I am", to think of oneself as having all the knowledge, and then to condemn, to show off, to criticize, and to find fault with others is a fool before God. Because in this world, only God is omnipotent, omniscient, and absolute, and He sees everything in the human soul. Only in God's light, only in the path of truth that God gives to humanity, only in God's path of love is there truth, only in God's humanity is it worthy of being honored by everyone.

Therefore, God calls all humanity:

Be courageous to abandon the arrogant lifestyle, "I am" this or that.

Bow down in humility, humble yourself before God and walk in the light of God, which is to fear God above all things and love your neighbor as yourself.

Put God's words into practice; do not refute God's words, do not consider and calculate His words with the limited minds of humans. God lets humanity know that only those who walk on the path of truth, walk on the path of righteousness, walk on the path of light that God gives to humanity, will enjoy happiness in the eternal Kingdom of Heaven in the future.

Thanks be to God. Amen.

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