Monday of the 19th Week in Ordinary Time -
Matthew 17:22-27
In this Gospel, Jesus speaks shocking words to His
disciples. He says to them: “The Son of
Man will be handed over to men, and they will kill him, and he will be raised
up on the third day.” Naturally the
disciples were shocked and their hearts were flooded with grief! They were devastated!
Then Jesus and the disciples traveled on to Capernaum. When they arrived there, the tax collectors approached
Peter and asked him: “Does your teacher pay the temple tax?” Peter replied in one word: “Yes.” Clearly, the tax collectors were trying to
discredit Jesus.
Peter then entered the house where Jesus was. Jesus approached Peter and asked him: “What
is your opinion, Simon? From whom do the
royalty of the earth demand tolls or taxes?
Is it from their subjects or from foreigners?” Peter replied: “From foreigners.” Jesus then
commented: “Thus, the subjects are exempt.
However, we do not want to offend them.”
Jesus then instructed Peter to go to the sea and drop a hook into the
sea. Jesus told Peter: “When you haul in
a fish, open its mouth and there you will he find a coin there. The coin will be worth twice the temple
tax. Give the coin to the temple to pay the
tax for me and for you.”
What is the message that Jesus is speaking to us in today’s
Gospel? Is He telling us to go fishing
and see if we can find a coin in the mouth of a fish? I suspect not. I suspect that Jesus wants us to meet our
obligations. If we do not do so, we are
not fulfilling what we have promised to do.
And most likely, there will be a consequence for our lack of
trustworthiness. We must do what we say we will do; thus we will not be a bad example to others.
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