Star Crossed

Seeing miracles as signs of God’s love

12/14/2020

Numbers 24:2-7, 15-17A When Balaam raised his eyes and saw Israel encamped, tribe by tribe, the spirit of God came upon him, and he gave voice to his oracle: The utterance of Balaam, son of Beor, the utterance of a man whose eye is true, 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: How goodly are your tents, O Jacob; your encampments, O Israel! They are like gardens beside a stream, like the cedars planted by the LORD. His wells shall yield free-flowing waters, he shall have the sea within reach; His king shall rise higher, and his royalty shall be exalted. Then Balaam gave voice to his oracle: The utterance of Balaam, son of Beor, the utterance of the man whose eye is true, 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.

A miracle is where man’s search for God meets God’s search for man. In his book, Miracles, C. S. Lewis wrote: “There comes a moment when people who have been dabbling in religion (man’s search for God!) suddenly draw back. Supposing we really found Him? We never meant it to come to that! Worse still, supposing He had found us?” It may sound odd to say God “searches for us.” Doesn’t God see and know everything? Psalm 139:2 reminds us of God’s omniscience: “Lord, you know when I sit and when I stand.”

And yet, there is a kind of hide and seek game that people play when they are falling in love. You want to tell the person you love them, but you are not so sure. You hope they love you, but you are not so sure. So, you send signals and signs of that love – smiles, nervous laughter, notes and gifts – to express that elusive love until the breakthrough moment when one person declares: "I love you!” Worlds collide, life is changed, and history is rewritten. Religion is not so much a “research” as it is a “romance” between us and God. A miracle is the marvelous moment when we both declare, “I love you.” A miracle is when we finally see God’s love and we believe it.

Have you heard about the rare Christmas star that will appear for a week this year? On December 21, 2020 the two largest planets in our solar system, Jupiter and Saturn, will look like a “double planet” for the first time since the Middle Ages, more exactly, since March 4, 1226. According to the legendary German astronomer Johannes Keplar, the “star of Bethlehem” that led the Magi to Jesus on the first Christmas may have been an even more rare alignment of three planets – Jupiter, Saturn and Venus.

My point is not a scientific one but a spiritual one, that is, to see religion more as a “romance” rather than as a “research,” a matter more of the heart and less of the head. God and humanity are literally star-crossed lovers and God sends us subtle signals from our solar system – the alignment of the planets – to tell us he loves us. But those signs do not become truly miracles until we likewise tell him we love him. A miracle is when God’s search for man meets man’s search for God.

Today’s first reading is taken from Number 24, and the unlikely prophesy of the pagan prophet Balaam. The setting for the story is the end of the 40 years wandering of the Israelites in the desert and they are getting close to the Promised Land. First they must cross through Moab, their feared enemy. The Moabite king Balek hires the prophet Balaam to curse Israel so Moab can defeat them in battle. Every time Balaam opens his mouth to utter a curse, however, he ends up pronouncing a beautiful blessing. He does that four times. Balaam’s fourth and final blessing is what we read in Num. 24:17, “A star shall advance from Jacob, and a staff shall rise from Israel.”

I was reading a Catholic scripture commentary on this verse and the scholar said: “It is doubtful whether this passage is to be connected with the ‘star of the Magi’ in Mt. 2:1-12.” I had to smile when I read that. Why? Because that scripture scholar was approaching religion (bible study) more as “research” rather than as a “romance.” Scientists are always suspicious about falling in love because it skews their objectivity and their impartiality. And they are exactly right. Someone who falls in love is no longer impartial because they care deeply; they are not dealing with objectivity but with subjectivity, the deepest part of themselves. Miracles only happen when man’s search for God meets God’s search for man, and we fall hopelessly in love and we believe and trust.

December 14 is the feast day of the great Carmelite doctor and spiritual mystic, St. John of the Cross. St. John saw God’s miracles everywhere because he was madly in love with God. John captured that romance with God in a 31-stanza poem called The Spiritual Canticle. Amazingly, St. John composed his canticle, his love poem, in 1577, while imprisoned by the Carmelites in Toledo, Spain. John saw God’s love for him even in jail. When you fall in love, everything is a miracle, everything reminds you of your lover. John famously said: “In the twilight of our life we will be judged on how much we loved.” That is, if our search for God finally met God’s search for us, and we saw miracles.

Praised be Jesus Christ!