Monday – 3rd Week of Advent A
On this third Monday of Advent Year A, we come to a beautiful set of readings from the Book of Numbers and from the Gospel of Matthew. In the Book of Numbers, we come to a passage which belongs to Israel’s final stage of the wilderness period, which traditionally dates back to the thirteenth century before Christ, or even earlier, depending on one’s dating of the Exodus. Now Israel is encamped on the plains of Moab, east of the Jordan River, just opposite of Jericho, and they are no longer a loose group of escaped slaves, but a large organized tribal confederation, visibly settled tribe by tribe.