WHO GAVE YOU THIS AUTHORITY…

Numbers 24:2-7,15-17

2 And Balaam lifted up his eyes, and saw Israel encamping tribe by tribe. And the Spirit of God came upon him,3 and he took up his discourse, and said, “The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor, the oracle of the man whose eye is opened,
4 the oracle of him who hears the words of God, who sees the vision of the Almighty, falling down, but having his eyes uncovered:5 how fair are your tents, O Jacob, your encampments, O Israel!
6 Like valleys that stretch afar, like gardens beside a river, like aloes that the LORD has planted, like cedar trees beside the waters.7 Water shall flow from his buckets, and his seed shall be in many waters, his king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted.

15 And he took up his discourse, and said, “The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor, the oracle of the man whose eye is opened,16 the oracle of him who hears the words of God, and knows the knowledge of the Most High, who sees the vision of the Almighty, falling down, but having his eyes uncovered:17 I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not nigh: a star shall come forth out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel; it shall crush the forehead of Moab, and break down all the sons of Sheth.

Matthew 21:23-27

23 And when he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him as he was teaching, and said, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” 24 Jesus answered them, “I also will ask you a question; and if you tell me the answer, then I also will tell you by what authority I do these things.
25 The baptism of John, whence was it? From heaven or from men?” And they argued with one another, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ 26 But if we say, ‘From men,’ we are afraid of the multitude; for all hold that John was a prophet.” 27 So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.  

MEDITATION

THE PROPHET BALAAM a non Israelite diviner received a vision of the descent of God’s Spirit upon the people of Israel whereupon their eyes were opened because they were ready to receive the word of God. Balaam furthermore prophecy that a star shall be borne to Israel also referred to as Jacob the forefather of the Jewish people. Balaams vision can said to be a typological account of the first coming of Christ in view of the fact that the Jewish hierarchy did not recognize neither did they accept Him as their King.

THE GOSPEL READING: The temple chief priests approach Jesus who was busy teaching His followers and students in the temple shortly after He unceremoniously evicted the traders, Jews and non Jews who desecrated the temple. Their visit was for all intends and purposes a ruse to hide the fact that they have lost their moral and spiritual authority over the Hebrew people. The chief priests interrogation of Jesus and their refusal to answer His question is, ipso facto, an approval of the desecration of the temple and the disapproval of Christ’s intervention to reconsecrate the house of God. 

The Season of Advent reminds and order us to allow the Church who has been given the authority to bind and loose (Mt 18:18;Jn 20:21-24), to reconsecrate ourselves to Christ in and through the Holy Sacraments of healing and deliverance. We are called to ‘clean-up our act’ and allow Christ to have authority over our; body, hearts, minds, actions and conscience, so we may be pure and in a state of grace as we await and long for His second coming!  

LET US PRAY:Psalms 25:4-9

4 Make me to know thy ways, O LORD; teach me thy paths.5 Lead me in thy truth, and teach me, for thou art the God of my salvation; for thee I wait all the day long.6 Be mindful of thy mercy, O LORD, and of thy steadfast love, for they have been from of old.7 Remember not the sins of my youth, or my transgressions; according to thy steadfast love remember me, for thy goodness’ sake, O LORD!8 Good and upright is the LORD; therefore he instructs sinners in the way.
9 He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way.

Author. Henry R SYLVESTER 
Note: The daily scripture readings are taken from the Roman Missal which the Catholic Church use in the daily Celebration of the Holy Eucharist throughout the world.Some weekly readings may differ because of the celebration of local feast days.