The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today provides an opportunity to compare the treatment of aliens as required by the Mosaic Law and Jesus practice to North American tendencies today.
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| For aliens |
The reading from Deuteronomy about the Lord’s Majesty and Compassion refers to our duty to aliens.
* [10:16] Circumcise therefore the foreskins of your hearts: cf. 30:6; Jer 4:4; Rom 2:29. The “uncircumcised heart” (Lv 26:41; Jer 9:25; Ez 44:7, 9) is closed and unreceptive to God, just as “uncircumcised ears” (Jer 6:10) are closed to the word of the Lord, and “uncircumcised lips” (Ex 6:12, 30) are a hindrance to speaking on behalf of the Lord.1
In Psalm 147, God speaks through the thunder of nature and the word of revealed law.
* [147:15–19] God speaks through the thunder of nature and the word of revealed law, cf. Is 55:10–11. The weather phenomena are well known in Jerusalem: a blizzard of snow and hail followed by a thunderstorm that melts the ice.2
In the Gospel from Matthew, Jesus agrees to pay the Temple Tax intended for aliens.
* [17:24–27] Like Mt 14:28–31 and Mt 16:16b–19, this episode comes from Matthew’s special material on Peter. Although the question of the collectors concerns Jesus’ payment of the temple tax, it is put to Peter. It is he who receives instruction from Jesus about freedom from the obligation of payment and yet why it should be made. The means of doing so is provided miraculously. The pericope deals with a problem of Matthew’s church, whether its members should pay the temple tax, and the answer is given through a word of Jesus conveyed to Peter. Some scholars see here an example of the teaching authority of Peter exercised in the name of Jesus (see Mt 16:19). The specific problem was a Jewish Christian one and may have arisen when the Matthean church was composed largely of that group.3
Angela Maynard has come to two conclusions during this summer of reflection.
We were put on this earth to care for each other—no matter what!We will be where we are supposed to be—God is the one in control.My focus now is to ‘trust the process”. Jesus knew what was ahead, as did his disciples. I don’t know what is ahead. Most of us don’t. But should that really matter?
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:114
Don Schwager asks “Who likes to pay taxes, especially when you think they might be unreasonable or unjust?”
Jesus and his disciples were confronted by tax collectors on the issue of tax evasion. When questioned about paying the temple tax, Jesus replied to his disciples: We must pay so as not to cause bad example. In fact, we must go beyond our duty in order that we may show others what they ought to do. The scriptural expression to give no offense doesn't refer to insult or annoyance - rather it means to put no stumbling block in the way of another that would cause them to trip or fall. Jesus would not allow himself anything which might possibly be a bad example to someone else5
The Word Among Us Meditation on Matthew 17:22-27 comments that though paying the tax is a good thing, Jesus puts it in a new light. As children of the Father whose Temple it is, both Peter and Jesus are free from the tax. Yet Jesus pays it anyway! He doesn’t want to present an unnecessary obstacle to his fellow Jews.
Of course, Jesus didn’t pay the Temple tax just to show Peter how much he loved him. He was also setting an example: go and do likewise. Be patient with the people around you.
Do you have a friend or family member who is struggling with their faith? Are you close to someone who is not living out a particular teaching of the Church? Don’t give up on them, and by all means don’t condemn them! Be as kind and generous with them as you can. The last thing you need is to become a stumbling block on their journey to Jesus.6
Friar Jude Winkler explains how the Law was a gift to the Israelites when pagan neighbours lived in terror of the gods. Homilies today have an opportunity to connect to our mistreatment of aliens. Friar Jude notes that demographics of the early Church favoured Paul’s treatment of Law over Matthew’s.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, asks “Why are so many people from different cultures, countries, ethnicities, educations, and religions saying very similar things today?” This really is quite amazing, and, to my knowledge, has no precedent in human history. Call it the collective unconscious, globalization, or the One Spirit of God. We seem to be evolving and experiencing more widespread transformation. The things we used to argue about or use as reasons to dismiss one another now so often seem boring, limited, historically bound, and prejudicial.
But many Christians have used Paul’s writings in a contentious, dualistic, and either-or way. We used his strong metaphors to blame, hate, and separate because that is what the unconverted self prefers. The ego loves to take sides, and the longer and more vigorously it justifies its side, the more it feels like this is surely truth. Soon my truth easily morphs into the truth and even the only truth. We end up not with orthodoxy but with egocentricity. This is invariably what happens when we have not been exposed to perennial philosophy, when we are not taught how to distill the big patterns out of the momentary arguments where everyone takes sides, when we cannot distinguish the small, separate self and the self created by God and one with God, from all eternity.7
Our connection to all people is recognized in the ancient texts of Jewish-Christian tradition. Our attitude and treatment of aliens needs a conversion or circumcision of our heart to be in harmony with the will of God.
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