Balaam and Donkey
Greetings on this the Monday of the Third Week of Advent
Readings: Nm 24:2-7, 15-17a; PS 25:4-5ab, 6 and 7bc, 8-9; Mt 21:23-27
Summary
The utterance of one who hears what God says,
and knows what the Most High knows,
Of one who sees what the Almighty sees,
enraptured, and with eyes unveiled.
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.
Reflection
Balaam is a mystery. He is both held in a somewhat positive light and then in a very negative light. He has the role of a non-Hebrew diviner, yet an Oracle of the Lord. His story is one of fantastical events with angels and a donkey speaking to him and also receiving instruction from the Lord four times. He obeys the Lord yet it is hard to pinpoint why other than to say he was frightened of the power given him and the power of the one who gives power.
He was no prophet. A prophet has sympathy. A sympathy with God and a sympathy for God (The Prophets, p. 401, Abraham Heschel, Harper Perennial). He had but a moment in time, remembered for all time. He had a divine spark but this spark was lost in the darkness. What followed was superstition or complete oblivion (IBID, p. 605). Abandoning the straight road, they have gone astray, following the road of Balaam, the son of Bosor, who loved payment for wrongdoing, but he received a rebuke for his own crime: a mute beast spoke with a human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness (2 Ptr 2:15-16).
His sparks:
- One who hears what God says, and knows what the Most High knows.
- 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.
His darkness:
- Payment for wrongdoing.
- Madness (of a sort).
It is a fascinating subtext to the gospel portion today.
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?”
Personal Reflection
They discussed this among themselves and said,
“If we say ‘Of heavenly origin,’ he will say to us,
‘Then why did you not believe him?’
But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ we fear the crowd,
for they all regard John as a prophet.”
So they said to Jesus in reply, “We do not know.”
He himself said to them,
“Neither shall I tell you by what authority I do these things.
These were SO CLOSE to the Lord but so very far!
The warning of Balaam is a warning to all of us – and given as example for today’s gospel. If we evaluate our relationship with the Lord on the basis of advantage, alliance and acquisition we will lose the spark given us. Or more accurately, we will stomp out the spark given. What follows is superstition or complete oblivion.
When I encounter the Lord I must keep my focus on the sympathy.
- Sympathy with the Lord and all humans. Feel and sense and understand the way the Lord does, “a common feeling“.
- Sympathy for the Lord and all humans. Feel and sense the sorrow for misfortune, “comfort and console“.
Maranatha! for me and for everyone!
Then everything will be OK.
Sacred Readings full text: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/121624.cfm
Peace be with you,
Deacon Gerry