Homily – Monday of the 3rd Week of Advent “A Star Shall Rise”

The first reading today is striking.
A pagan prophet — Balaam — is made to speak one of the clearest Advent prophecies in the Old Testament:

“A star shall come forth from Jacob;
a sceptre shall rise from Israel.”

Balaam is not part of Israel.
He is not looking for the Messiah.
Yet God uses him anyway.

That matters.

It tells us something essential about Advent:
God’s plan of salvation is larger than human expectations.
The Messiah will not belong to one group’s control.
He cannot be managed, manipulated, or contained.

And that leads us straight into the Gospel.

In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus enters the Temple.
He teaches openly.
And immediately the authorities challenge Him:

“By what authority are you doing these things?”

This is the same question Balaam’s prophecy already answers.

The star rises by God’s authority.
The sceptre appears by God’s choosing.
Not by human permission.

The problem is not that the leaders ask a question.
The problem is that they ask it without openness.

Jesus exposes this by asking them a simple counter-question about John the Baptist:
Was his authority from heaven or from men?

They refuse to answer — not because they don’t know,
but because the truth would cost them something.

And this is the real tension of Advent.

Advent confronts us with a King whose authority does not come from power, position, or approval.
It comes from God alone.

The star rises whether we like it or not.
The sceptre stands whether we accept it or not.

Jesus does not ask permission to save.
But He does ask for honesty.

The leaders cannot answer Jesus because they are afraid —
afraid of losing control,
afraid of being wrong,
afraid of what obedience would demand.

So they say nothing.

And silence, in this case, is not humility —
it is refusal.

There is a quiet warning here for us.

It is possible to stand in the Temple,
to know the Scriptures,
to see the signs,
and still resist God’s authority.

It is possible to admire the star —
but refuse to follow it.

Advent asks us something very simple and very demanding:
Will I let Christ have authority over my life?

Not just in theory.
Not just at Christmas.
But over my choices, my priorities, my sins.

Because Christ’s authority is not oppressive.
It is saving.

The sceptre Balaam foretold is not a weapon.
It is the rule of mercy.
The star does not blind us —
it leads us.

As we draw closer to Christmas,
the Church places this question before us gently but firmly:

Do I want a Messiah who fits my expectations,
or the One God has sent?

The leaders wanted to judge Jesus.
Advent invites us to trust Him.

The star has risen.
The King is near.

The only question left is not by what authority He comes —
but whether we will let that authority save us.