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| “Boy with a Basket of Fish “ by Giacomo Ceruti, 1720’s |
Reading 1: Deuteronomy 10:12-22
Moses said to the people:
“And now, Israel
but to fear the Lord, your God, and follow his ways exactly,
to love and serve the Lord, your God,
with all your heart and all your soul,
to keep the commandments and statutes of the Lord
which I enjoin on you today for your own good?
Think! The heavens, even the highest heavens,
belong to the Lord, your God,
as well as the earth and everything on it.
Yet in his love for your fathers the Lord was so attached to them
as to choose you, their descendants,
in preference to all other peoples, as indeed he has now done.
Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and be no longer stiff-necked.
For the Lord, your God, is the God of gods,
the Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome,
who has no favorites, accepts no bribes;
who executes justice for the orphan and the widow,
and befriends the alien, feeding and clothing him.
So you too must befriend the alien,
for you were once aliens yourselves in the land of Egypt
The Lord, your God, shall you fear, and him shall you serve;
hold fast to him and swear by his name.
He is your glory, he, your God,
who has done for you those great and terrible things
which your own eyes have seen.
Your ancestors went down to Egypt
and now the Lord, your God,
has made you as numerous as the stars of the sky.”
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Commentary on Dt 10:12-22
Moses reminds the Tribes of the articles of the Covenant under which they are bound; to love and serve the Lord. He does so because the Lord God is above all that is. He goes on to tell them that God created the universe and selected the children of Israel
Key to this passage is the statement “Circumcise your hearts…”. We note that during this period circumcision was not practiced by the Hebrews as they were nomadic. But once installed in the Promised Land the tradition was reestablished and has inclusive significance into the faith community. The term applied here enjoins the tribes to mark themselves visibly as attached to God.
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 147:12-13, 14-15, 19-20
R. (12a) Praise the Lord, Jerusalem
Glorify the Lord, O Jerusalem
praise your God, O Zion.
For he has strengthened the bars of your gates;
he has blessed your children within you.
R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem
He has granted peace in your borders;
with the best of wheat he fills you.
He sends forth his command to the earth;
swiftly runs his word!
R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem
He has proclaimed his word to Jacob,
his statutes and his ordinances to Israel
He has not done thus for any other nation;
his ordinances he has not made known to them. Alleluia.
R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem
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Commentary on Ps 147:12-13, 14-15, 19-20
Psalm 147 is a hymn of praise and one of the closing books of the Psalter. These strophes are from the third section (each section offering praise for a different gift from God to his special people). This section focuses of the gift of the Promised Land with Jerusalem
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Gospel: Matthew 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.”
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Commentary on Mt 17:22-27
Jesus begins this passage with his second Passion Prediction. It is followed by a unique exchange between Jesus and Peter regarding the payment of the temple tax. (Each Jewish male over 19 was required to pay a half shekel tax for temple upkeep before 70 AD). While this section probably addresses an issue within the early Church about whether Jewish Christians should pay such a tax, we look at the miraculous means by which the Lord proposed that tax be paid and note that it was not just for himself but Peter, the Rock upon which he built his Curch, as well.
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Reflection:
Today’s scripture is very complex theologically. We reflect today upon Christ’s instruction to Peter and how Peter was to go and purchase a fish. We note that the fish was an early Christian symbol for Jesus. And inside that fish would be a coin that would pay for not only the Lord’s temple tax but Peter’s as well. The price he paid was in essence for all of us.
There is no way of telling if we should assume there was a practical meaning for the early Church as it related to the temple or post 70 AD when he Romans reintroduced the tax to pay for the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus. We can however be assured, especially as this discourse immediately follows the Lord’s prediction of the passion, that the price he paid for us was extreme and for all time.
If there were one like Moses here today, he would be standing in front of us (as Moses did with the tribes) reminding us that we are called to be the Lord’s chosen people. We were redeemed by His blood and that through him our tax was paid. Moses would tell us, as he told those ancient forefathers to “circumcise our hearts” become visibly attached to the faith we profess and the faith we were given with so high a price.
Today we pray that we are worthy to be called Christian, followers of the Lord, the Only Son of God who, for our sins, paid twice the tax that we might have life.
Pax
[2] The picture used is “Boy with a Basket of Fish “ by Giacomo Ceruti, 1720’s
[3] The readings are taken from the New American Bible with the exception of the Psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for English in Liturgy (ICEL). This re-publication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.
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