Spanish 
Thoughts from CA Schneider
The bakcground of Balaam: Because of his fear of the Israelites, Balak, the king of Moab, sent for Balaam, an ungodly prophet/magician, to curse the people of God. God speaks to Balaam and tells him not curse His people, but, after a second request, Balaam is lured by the riches Balak offers him and concedes to go.
Balaam begins his journey on his donkey to see Balak, but God sends an Angel to stand in his way, with sword drawn. The donkey sees the Angel, but Balaam does not. The donkey turns off the road into a field and Balaam strikes her to turn back to the road. Further down the path, the Angel appears again, and the donkey avoids him by moving against a wall and crushing Balaam’s foot. Again, Balaam strikes the animal. Finally, the third time the Angel appears, the donkey has no other recourse than to lie down under Balaam, and again he strikes the poor creature. Now the Lord allows the donkey to speak: “What have I done that you have struck me three times?”
Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the Angel of the Lord standing in the way with His drawn sword in His hand; and he bowed his head and fell flat on his face. And the Angel of the Lord said to him, “Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out to stand against you, because your way is perverse (contrary) before Me. The donkey saw Me and turned aside from Me these three times. If she had not turned aside from Me, surely, I would also have killed you by now, and let her live.” And Balaam said to the Angel of the Lord, “I have sinned, for I did not know You stood in the way against me. Now therefore, if it displeases You, I will turn back.” (Numbers 22: 31-34)
Sometimes we do something and we’re not successful. Then, we look for someone who is guilty, whom we can blame. It is easy to find someone - “Oh, that is the guilty one.” Yet, God says, “Don’t you see that I didn’t want you to go this way, that I want you to go a different way? Just trust me. Follow the way I indicate to you.”
So, our lesson from Balaam is:
- Trust Me, says the Lord, you will reach the goal that I have prepared for you.
- And, you will reach this goal without having to be unjust towards your neighbor and, you will have peace in your heart.
Let us trust God and remember that He loves us. Whatever the way He has chosen for us, even though it may often times seem funny, unjust, or difficult (when we’d rather it be easy!), we have one certainty: God wants us to enter His kingdom, and His way always has the same end—to be with Him! Go this way—in the love for God and in the love for our neighbor—and we will reach our goal!