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.
Numbers 24:17
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?” Matthew
21:23
Piety
“And you, child, will be called prophet of
the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to
give his people knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because
of the tender mercy of our God by which the daybreak from on high will
visit us to shine on those who sit in darkness and death’s shadow, to guide our
feet into the path of peace.” Luke
1:76-79
Study
Although we are approaching Christmas, the Gospel
readings harken to Lent and the challenges that the Pharisees make to Jesus’
authority. They think that have set an
intellectual trap but Jesus is there to turn the theological tables.
The Pharisees see Jesus. Yet they fail to understand Jesus. They think he is just a great teacher and are
trying to find out where he gets his authority to speak with such
eloquence. Yet before Jesus falls into the
trap that has been set, he agrees to answer the Pharisees if they will answer
one question for him.
However, the intellectual hijinks that
follows leaves the Pharisees embarrassed and unsure of whether John’s baptism
was of human origin or divine origin.
The notes to the NAB explain: “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.”[i]
The stalemate continues and will not end
until at the foot of Pilate’s courthouse. Not now. Not yet.
Action
Nicole Sotelo turns to today’s saint – St.
John of the Cross – to make sense out of the barrage of violence and terrorism
in the world. She writes in the National Catholic Reporter:
When my own fears
rise, I turn to St. John of the Cross as my guide: a man who knew the brutality
of violence. He was also a man who entered into the dark night of the soul in
order to find a path that pointed him towards dawn. [ii]
In dealing with the Inquisition, St. John had
challenges like we face today.
For nine months John endured torture. For
nine months he also prayed.
There, in the
middle of his long night, John encountered God, that he called the Beloved. He
later wrote, "Oh, night that joined Beloved with lover, Lover transformed
in the Beloved!"
In these
transformational encounters with the Divine, John found the courage not to
succumb to the violence or respond with violence. Rather, in union with God, he
felt encouraged to move beyond his present circumstances.
Who will guide your feet on the path of peace this Advent? John the Baptist and John of the Cross stand ready.
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