Reflection on Today's Readings, Monday of 3rd Week of Advent, Year C, and the Memorial of St. Lucy, December 13th, 2021 Texts: Numbers 24: 2-7, 15-17a; Ps. 25:4—9; Matthew 21:23-27 Today's gospel acclamation reads: Let us see, O Lord, your mercy, and grant us your salvation (Ps. 85:8). Those words express what the people of God in today's first reading enjoyed: the mercy of God. Balaam was hired to curse them but the Spirit of God took over Balaam and he blessed them instead. During Advent what we ask for is the mercy of God. As we follow His path during Advent we pray in the words of Today's psalm, "Remember your compassion, O Lord, and your merciful love, for they are from of old. In your merciful love remember me, because of your goodness, O Lord." The Lord is good and so He will always have mercy on us who follow His path. We need to journey with Him in the wilderness and desert of life; we need to camp with Him in the wilderness and desert of life, that we might receive His mercy. The road might be lonely, uneasy, slippery, full of thorns and stumps, we must be ready to move on. We seek in vain the mercy of God when we do not follow his path. We must be ready to follow His path to obtain His mercy. His path is the path of truth. God begins to show us His mercy by teaching us His ways. This is clear in today's psalm; the author prayed that God should show him His ways and teach him His path in remembrance of His mercy. Hence, it begins with prayer to be taught the path of God and followed by prayer to God to remember His compassion and merciful love. Then, it ends by telling us God's ways and those who are taught the ways. The ways of God are goodness and uprightness. It is said, "Good and upright is the Lord". The sinners are taught the ways of God. God shows His ways to sinners in demonstration of His mercy. When we are humble, He guides us to make the right judgment in life and teaches us His ways. This calls us once again to humility. In the words of the psalm: "Good and upright is the Lord; he shows the way to sinners. He guides the humble in right judgement; to the humble he teaches his way." Pride was the problem of the chief priests and the elders of today's gospel reading. They were challenging Jesus' authority, not whether what He was teaching was the truth or not. They knew He was teaching the truth but their pride hindered them from accepting it. We have to be humble to acknowledge the truth. Truth is acknowledged on the basis of salvation. This is clear in today's psalm: "O Lord, make me know your ways. Teach me your paths. Guide me in your truth, and teach me; for you are the God of my salvation." The truth is desired because it leads to salvation.
Lord our God, show us your mercy, that we might be saved. Amen.
Fr. Andrew Olowomuke
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