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To holy people the very name of Jesus is a name to feed upon, a name to transport. His name can raise the dead and transfigure and beautify the living. - John Henry (Cardinal) Newman
(Biblically, to invoke the “name” of someone is to call upon their person. Take time this day to
invite Jesus into your activities.)
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Ez 1:2-5, 24-28c; Ps 148:1-2, 11-12, 13, 14
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 |
“But that we may not offend them, go
to the sea, drop in a hook, and take the first fish that comes up.”
When the collectors of the temple tax come around, Jesus has more important things on his mind, specifically his impending passion and death. He instructs Simon to pay the tax even though they are not actually obliged to pay. The demands of the imperfect systems within which we live often bother us. Some may even be unjust. But,
rather than buck the system, it is sometimes better to ask: “Do I want to be right, or do I want peace?” As we remain focused on the kingdom, God will supply amply, even miraculously, for all of our needs.
“For wisdom, patience and trust, we pray.”
- preacherexchange.com
mycatholic.com
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Theological Gems from Emile Merch's Theology of the Mystical Body - selected by Jim and Tyra Arraj
Book III: Christ
Chapter 11: Nature of the Redemption
300. You are suffering as much as ought to be your contribution to the complete passion of Christ, who has suffered as our head, and who now suffers in His members, that is, in us. Each of us, in his little way, is paying into this common treasury what he owes. (St. Augustine)
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