THIRD WEEK OF ADVENT
MONDAY
Numbers 24:2-7,15-17
Matthew 21:23-27
Today’s first reading is a rather unfamiliar text from the Book of Numbers. We hear one of the oracles of the prophet Balaam.
How fair are your tents, O Jacob!
How fair your dwelling, Israel!
Like valleys that stretch afar,
like gardens by the banks of a river,
like aloes planted by the Lord,
like cedars beside the waters.
The poetic language has resonances with the Psalms. It’s likely that the Book of Numbers was edited during the period of exile in Babylon. Balaam’s oracle reassures Israel that deliverance it as hand:
A hero rises from their stock, he reigns over countless peoples.
This text finds a place in our Advent liturgy as Christian writers interpret this as a reference to Christ. This idea is further reinforced a few verses later:
I see him-but not in the present,
I behold him- but not close at hand:
a star from Jacob takes the leadership,
a sceptre arises from Israel.
What’s special about Balaam is that he is a Gentile. He is held up for us here as an example of one who interprets the signs and acknowledges the coming of the Messiah.
You might be starting to feel a sense of urgency with your Christmas preparations. I always imagine that I have slightly more time than I actually do. The challenge each year is to be open to those glimpses of the Messiah in the ordinariness of our lives.
The invitation to recognise Christ is writ through monastic living. Some of the structures in the monastery directly facilitate this. The Abbot, for example, holds the place of Christ in the monastery. St Benedict’s chapter on the Qualities of the Abbot is a very sobering read. The qualities outlined are Christ-like in their rigour and compassion:
‘He must so accommodate and adapt himself to each one’s character and intelligence that he will not only keep the flock entrusted to him from dwindling, but will rejoice in the increase of a good flock.’
The Abbot is to lead by example too:
‘…he must point out to them all that is good and holy more by example than by words, proposing the but demonstrating God’s instructions to the stubborn and the dull by a living example.’
Everyone in a monastery can learn from the example of others. We are each called to image Christ for each other. Sr Aquinata Bockmann osb, who has taught the Rule for many years, challenges her students to become themselves ‘a living commentary on the Rule.’
Whatever our path in life, we are called to be channel’s of Christ’s love and light.
How can you recognise Christ this week?
Photo by Hartmut Tobies on Unsplash