From the responsorial psalm: “Your ways, O LORD, make known to me; teach me your paths, Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my savior. Teach me your ways, O Lord.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 21:23-27)

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?”

Jesus is teaching in the temple when the chief priests and elders approach and question him. He responds with another question. The chief priests and elders deliberate among themselves as they face a dilemma. Through his questioning, Jesus reveals their hypocrisy and the complexities they wrestle with in recognizing divine authority, setting the stage for the continuing conflict that would lead to Jesus’ passion and death. Ultimately, the leaders say, “We do not know.” This reflects their inability to see the truth about John and Jesus.

God, help me see clearly in these remaining days of Advent that true authority rests in Jesus Christ your Son. The false authority of consumerism and innumerable media distractions would have me believe I can have at will a joyous Christmas season, and these falsehoods put Christmas ahead of Advent and not the other way. Give me the grace to recognize my true longing for Jesus, who comes as a child in a manger and definitively at the Second Coming on a cloud of glory with the authority to bring a new heaven and a new earth. Come, Lord Jesus, come!

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.