To Whom Am I Listening?

 In today's first reading, Numbers 24: 2-7, 15-17a,  Balaam was sent by the authorities of his nation to curse Israel.  As he approaches the Israelite camp, "the spirit of God came upon  him" and he blesses Israel. He does not curse them. He gave voice to the following oracle:  "the utterance of Balaam, son of Beor, the utterance of a man whose eye is true, and knows that 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 in her, and his royalty shall be exalted....I see him, though not near: a star shall advance from Jacob, and a staff shall rise from Israel" --a prophesy of the coming Messiah!

Am I, are you, open to the Spirit of God? Do you, do I, see what God sees when we look upon other people, other nations, other races, other cultures?  Do you, do I, hear God's voice and speak God's words? Do we do what God expects of us or do we follow what we believe others want of us?  

In today's Gospel, Matthew 22: 23-27, the chief priests and the elders of the people are sent to Jesus and are expected to trap Him. Following other people's expectations, they interrogate  Jesus, questioning His authority to be doing what He is doing. Jesus knows that they are trying to trap Him and find something for which they can arrest Him and put Him to death--that is what their rulers have sent them to do.  Jesus responds to their questions with asking them His own questions. He sets a trap into which they themselves fall!

When you and I are following other people's expectations, doing what we believe others want of us, we easily fall into a trap and trip ourselves up! To whom am I listening ? The voice of Jesus, the whispering directives of the Holy Spirit, or the voices of others?