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Perfection does not consist in consolation, but rather in the submission of the will to God alone, submission above all in things that are hard and bitter.”
- Henry Suso
(How have your
sufferings and hardships helped to form your character and development? Pray the grace to be faithful during times of struggle.)
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DT 10:12-22; PS 147:12-13, 14-15, 19-20
MT
17:22-27
As Jesus and his disciples were gathering in Galilee,
Jesus said to them,
"The Son of Man is to be handed over to men,
and they will kill him, and he will be raised on the third day."
And they were overwhelmed with grief.
When they came to Capernaum,
the collectors of the temple tax approached Peter and said,
"Does not your teacher pay the temple tax?"
"Yes," he said.
When he came into the house, before he had time to speak,
Jesus asked him, "What is your opinion, Simon?
From whom do the kings of the earth take tolls or census tax?
From their subjects or from foreigners?"
When he said, "From foreigners," Jesus said to him,
"Then the subjects are
exempt.
But that we may not offend them, go to the sea, drop in a hook,
and take the first fish that comes up.
Open its mouth and you will find a coin worth twice the temple tax.
Give that to them for me and for you."
USCCB lectionary
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Reflection on the Scripture |
"The Lord, your God, shall you fear, and
Him shall you serve." —Deuteronomy 10:20
If you go to church, you will usually be exhorted to love and serve the Lord (Dt 10:12). In a good church, you will even be told to love God "with all your heart and all your soul" (Dt 10:12) by keeping His commandments (Dt 10:13). However, there's still something missing.
Before we can love, serve, and obey the Lord fully, we must fear Him (Dt 10:12). The fear of the Lord is not only the beginning of wisdom (Ps 111:10); it is also the beginning of loving God with all our hearts.
When we were baptized and confirmed, we received the fear of the Lord. By a life of faith, we deepen our fear
of the Lord as we are awed by His presence, love, and power. As we immerse ourselves more deeply in Scripture, we are moved to humbly tremble at His Word (Is 66:2). By grace, our delight becomes the fear of the Lord (Is 11:3). In the Spirit, a reverent fear can overtake us (Acts 2:43) to the point that we are submissive to each other (Eph 5:21). As we make "steady progress in the fear of the Lord," we enjoy "the increased consolation of the Holy Spirit" (Acts 9:31), Who produces a great love in
our lives (see Gal 5:22).
Prayer: Father, renew my Baptism and Confirmation. May I fear You more deeply.
Promise: "He is your Glory, He, your God, Who has done for you those great and terrible things which your own eyes have seen." —Dt 10:21
Presentation Ministries
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Theological Gems from Emile Merch's Theology of the Mystical Body - selected by Jim and Tyra Arraj
Book V: In Christ
Chapter 16: Nature and Notes on the Church 479. The Church is the continuation of Christ, for it is His mystical body.
488. This visible man was God who was giving Himself, and that those to whom the Father gave the grace that "drew" them
could in some way discern immediately the glory of God shining in the face of a man, the glory which the Father sheds over His only-begotten Son.
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