The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to clear out the misconceptions and myths that may be restricting our mission of care and compassion that is the work of God.
The Reading from the Book of Deuteronomy exhorts us to be witness to The Lord’s Majesty and Compassion.
* [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. (Deuteronomy, CHAPTER 10 | USCCB, n.d.)
Psalm 147 is a hymn to praise the Creator
* [Psalm 147] The hymn is divided into three sections by the calls to praise in Ps 147:1, 7, 12. The first section praises the powerful creator who restores exiled Judah (Ps 147:1–6); the second section, the creator who provides food to animals and human beings; the third and climactic section exhorts the holy city to recognize it has been re-created and made the place of disclosure for God’s word, a word as life-giving as water. (Psalms, PSALM 147 | USCCB, n.d.)
In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus addresses Payment of the Temple Tax.
* [17:22–23] The second passion prediction (cf. Mt 16:21–23) is the least detailed of the three and may be the earliest. In the Marcan parallel the disciples do not understand (Mk 9:32); here they understand and are overwhelmed with grief at the prospect of Jesus’ death (Mt 17:23).
* [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.
* [17:24] The temple tax: before the destruction of the Jerusalem temple in A.D. 70 every male Jew above nineteen years of age was obliged to make an annual contribution to its upkeep (cf. Ex 30:11–16; Neh 10:33). After the destruction the Romans imposed upon Jews the obligation of paying that tax for the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus. There is disagreement about which period the story deals with.
* [17:25] From their subjects or from foreigners?: the Greek word here translated subjects literally means “sons.”
* [17:26] Then the subjects are exempt: just as subjects are not bound by laws applying to foreigners, neither are Jesus and his disciples, who belong to the kingdom of heaven, bound by the duty of paying the temple tax imposed on those who are not of the kingdom. If the Greek is translated “sons,” the freedom of Jesus, the Son of God, and of his disciples, children (“sons”) of the kingdom (cf. Mt 13:38), is even more clear.
* [17:27] That we may not offend them: though they are exempt (Mt 17:26), Jesus and his disciples are to avoid giving offense; therefore the tax is to be paid. A coin worth twice the temple tax: literally, “a stater,” a Greek coin worth two double drachmas. Two double drachmas were equal to the Jewish shekel and the tax was a half-shekel. For me and for you: not only Jesus but Peter pays the tax, and this example serves as a standard for the conduct of all the disciples. (Matthew, CHAPTER 17 | USCCB, n.d.)
Margo Minnich comments that Ignatian spirituality compels us to love as God loves, requiring us to enter into solidarity with others, including the orphan, the widow, and the stranger.
Solidarity is not sympathy or pity. In fact, we cannot live in solidarity with those we pity. Rather, solidarity is proximity, commitment, and sharing in benefits and burdens that life provides. It means opening our lives to those who God loves.
Ignatian spirituality further requires that we seek justice. This is not justice sought out of charity or pity. It is justice born of our solidarity and relationship with others.
In this way, the widow, the orphan, and the alien from scripture are not merely symbols, but people we meet every day. The single parent struggling to pay rent. The refugee waiting to find safety. The elderly woman eating alone at a nursing home. Ignatius would ask: Who is suffering today and how am I being called to solidarity with them? (Minnich, n.d.)
Don Schwager quotes “Jesus speaks of his death and resurrection,” by Origen of Alexandria (185-254 AD).
"I think we have an obligation to examine this, too: that Jesus was delivered into the hands of men, not by men into the hands of men but by powers to whom the Father delivered his Son on behalf of us all. In the very act of being delivered and coming under the power of those to whom he was delivered, he "destroyed him who had the power of death." For "through death he destroyed him who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and delivered all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong bondage." (excerpt from COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 13.8) (Schwager, n.d.)
Friar Jude Winkler reflects on the texts of today. God chose the Jewish people and they are instructed to respond with generosity especially to the poor by following God’s example. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus' prediction of His Passion cites “Son of Man” from Daniel 7 and the songs of the suffering servant from Isaiah. Referring to the temple tax, Jesus asks who do we take taxes from? He cites “foreigners” and even though, tells Peter to fish and pay the tax. Friar Jude concludes with the phrase “May God bless”.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, explores how Paul’s mystical encounter with the risen Christ led him to embrace paradoxical thinking.
Not only was Paul’s way of thinking changed by his mystical experience, his way of being in the world was also transformed. Suddenly this persecutor—and possibly murderer—of Christians is Christ’s “chosen vessel,” sent “to carry my name before the gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel” (Acts 9:15). This dissolves the strict line between good and bad, between in-group “Jews” and out-group “gentiles.” The paradox has been overcome in Paul’s very person. He now knows that he is both sinner and saint, and we too must trust the same. These two seeming contradictions don’t cancel one another. Once the conflict has been overcome in ourselves, we realize we are each a living paradox and so is everyone else. We begin to see life in a truly spiritual way.
Perhaps this is why Paul loves to teach dialectically. He presents two seemingly opposing ideas, such as weakness and strength, flesh and spirit, law and grace, faith and works, Jew and Greek, male and female. Dualistic thinking usually takes one side, dismisses the other, and stops there. Paul doesn’t do that. He forces us onto the horns of the dilemma and invites us to wrestle with the paradox. If we stay with him in the full struggle, we’ll realize that he eventually brings reconciliation on a higher level, beyond the essential struggle where almost all of us start. [1] (Rohr, n.d.)
We seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit as we try to approach our relationship with the people in our environment “circumcized” by our tendency to misunderstand how the celebration of tradition may take us away from living as disciples of Christ.
References
Deuteronomy, CHAPTER 10 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved August 11, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/deuteronomy/10?12
Matthew, CHAPTER 17 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved August 11, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/17?22
Minnich, M. (n.d.). Daily Reflection. Creighton Online Ministries: Home. Retrieved August 11, 2025, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/daily-reflections/daily-reflection-august-11-2025
Psalms, PSALM 147 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved August 11, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/147?12
Rohr, R. (n.d.). Daily Meditations — Center for Action and Contemplation. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved August 11, 2025, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/meeting-the-risen-christ/
Schwager, D. (n.d.). Not to Give Offense. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved August 11, 2025, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2025&date=aug11
No comments:
Post a Comment