December 14, 2009
Memorial of
I see him, though not now; I behold him, though not near: A star shall advance from Jacob, and a staff shall rise from
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? 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?" Matthew 21: 23-25a
Piety
Lord our God, in a world of injustice, war and exploitation, in which more and more people have the means to live but not many reasons to live for, you promise us a star to follow, Jesus, your Son. God, keep in us the hope alive that he will come today and that, if we are willing to take the demands of the Gospel seriously, we can become indeed a new people completely renewed in Christ, our Savior for ever and ever. (Opening Prayer from Carmelite study for today’s liturgy.)
Study
These Pharisees are a curious bunch…in how they act and in what they seek from Jesus. Because they thought that Jesus threatened their standing and authority, they tried to trap Jesus into making statements which would indict him. However, Jesus turned the tables on them through a simple rhetorical trick – answering a question with a question.
The notes in the New American Bible explain that “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.”
These priests and elders are not concerned with what Jesus is teaching, they just want to see his credentials – his diploma, his letter of introduction, his badge. Perhaps Jesus does not want to waste time because he knew that no matter what evidence of authority he provided, they would still doubt his standing.
This interaction compares with Jesus’ encounter with Nicodemus. Although Nicodemus came under cover of darkness to meet with Jesus one on one, the answers he got were not filled with much more detail either about the “how” and “why” of Jesus’ ministry. After Jesus told Nicodemus about being born of the Spirit, the Pharisee did not understand this as a literal statement and asked “How can this be?” Jesus answered and said to him, "You are the teacher of
So Jesus opts out of trying to convert the skeptics. Rather than discussing how and why he does what he does, Jesus just gets back to work praying, teaching and performing signs of healing and love.
These are indeed apt readings for the feast day of
The central theme of his teaching, which has made him renowned both within and without the Catholic Church, concerned the union through grace of man with God, through Jesus Christ: he described a spiritual journey from the very beginning up to the most sublime level, which consists of the stages of the purgative way, the illuminative way and the unitive way or, in other words, the stages for beginners, for the proficient and for those who are close to perfection. As
Action
At what level are we operating in our relationship with Jesus? Can we use this Advent season to advance along our spiritual journey?
