**God bless Pope Benedict and give him the help he needs to preach to the world.**

In the footsteps of St. Peter!

An Amen to your prayer!

Monday, August 13, 2007

Meditation
Matthew 17:22-27

Imagine if one of these tax collectors had another chance to talk with Jesus after he had miraculously paid the Temple tax. He might have said something like this: “You’re paying the tax because you don’t want to offend anyone? But you’ve already offended lots of people! You and your disciples picked grain on the Sabbath, you healed a man on the Sabbath, and you claimed to have forgiven a man’s sins! Why be so careful about observing this law?”

To explain himself, Jesus might just have given him the first commandment: “Love God with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself.” Even though paying the tax seems like pretty cautious behavior for a radical who was turning all of Jerusalem upside down, it’s just demonstrating again that whatever Jesus does, he does out of love.

Jesus probably hoped that this tax collector would realize that there is nothing wrong—and everything right—with doing good on the Sabbath, and especially with freeing a man from his sins. On the other hand, he might also have seen that for Jesus not to pay the Temple tax would be against everything that he stood for. He came as one of us. He came to go through everything we do: pain, suffering, even taxes!

The fact that the Son of God would obtain a coin to pay a religious tax should teach us to be a little more humble ourselves. Like his companion Peter, we are full citizens of God’s kingdom. We have amazing privileges as his sons and daughters. We can experience freedom, healing, and deliverance, and we can look forward to an eternity of joy with our Lord.

But we’re also human! While we are living in this world, we must respect and love those who don’t know Jesus, as well as those who act contrary to his commandments. In all that we do, we should show neither arrogance nor carelessness. On the contrary, we should “shine like stars . . . in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation” (Philippians 2:15). It’s our humility and obedience, as much as our willingness to witness to our faith directly, that will bring Christ to others.

“Lord, may I always remember that I have no righteousness apart from you. Give me a spirit of meekness, that I may truly be a witness of your love!”

Deuteronomy 10:12-22; Psalm 147:12-15,19-20

One Bread, One Body

<< Monday, August 13, 2007 >>

Pope St. Pontian
St. Hippolytus

Deuteronomy 10:12-22

Psalm 147

Matthew 17:22-27

View Readings

LESSON PLAN

"For fear of disedifying them go to the lake, throw in a line, and take out the first fish you catch. Open its mouth and you will discover there a coin worth twice the temple tax. Take it and give it to them for you and Me." —Matthew 17:27

Jesus, ever the great Teacher (Mt 9:11), used "any and every" means (Phil 1:18) to teach people about God's mercy and to lead them to repent. Jesus taught by using:

parables, simple stories with great meaning (Mt 13:4-50),
discourses packed with God's revelation (e.g. Mt 5-7),
dramatic stories (Lk 10:25-37; 15:11-32),
miracles and signs,
questions to make people think (e.g. Mt 16:15; 17:25),
His own examples of charity (e.g. Jn 13:3-10), and
jokes. Jesus' practical joke in today's Gospel surely made the tax collectors think and the disciples laugh!

Jesus "learned obedience from what He suffered" (Heb 5:8). Therefore, He taught us what He had learned. He delivered His signature lesson, that is, His teaching on suffering, from the podium of the cross. This teaching made people speechless (Is 52:15), broke open the hardest hearts, and has led millions upon millions of people throughout history to receive the mercy and salvation of God. "It is precisely in this that God proves His love for us: that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Rm 5:8).

Prayer: Jesus, may I accept Your grace to teach many thousands of people about Your merciful, saving love.

Promise: "He sends forth His command to the earth; swiftly runs His word!"—Ps 147:15

Praise: Pope St. Pontian was exiled to the mines during yet another Roman persecution of the Church. Harsh treatment and inhuman conditions led to his death as a martyr. "Happy now are the dead who die in the Lord!" (Rv 14:13)

Compline -- Night Prayer

Compline (Night Prayer)

O God, come to my aid.
O Lord, make haste to help me.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen. Alleluia.

This is an excellent moment for an examination of conscience. In a communal celebration of Compline, one of the penitential acts given in the Missal may be recited.

A suitable hymn may be inserted at this point.

Psalm 85 (86)
A poor man's prayer in time of trouble
Lord God, you are full of mercies, patient and true.
Turn your ear to me, Lord, and hear me, for I am poor and destitute. Keep my life safe, for I am faithful; O God, save your servant, who trusts in you. Take pity upon me, O Lord, for I call to you all the day long. Make your servant’s heart glad, for to you, O Lord, I have raised it. For you, Lord, are gentle and mild: you are kind to all those who call on you. Let your ears hear my prayer, O Lord! Turn to the voice of my pleading! In my time of trouble I call on you, for you, O Lord, will hear me. No other god is like you, O Lord, and nothing compares with your works. All people – all nations you made – will come and worship before you; they will give glory to your name. For you are great, you work wonders: you alone are God. O Lord, teach me your paths, and I will come to your truth. Make my heart simple and guileless, so that it honours your name. I will proclaim you, Lord my God, and give you praise with all my heart. I will give glory to your name for ever, for your great kindness is upon me: you have rescued me from the deepest depths. O God, the proud rise against me, in the meetings of the powerful they seek my life: they do not keep you in their sight. And you, Lord, are a God of compassion, full of mercies, patient and true. Look upon me, have mercy upon me, give your strength and protection to your servant your servant, the child of your handmaid. Give me a sign of your goodness, let my enemies see it and be confounded; because you, O Lord, have helped me and given me comfort. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Lord God, you are full of mercies, patient and true.

Reading	1 Thessalonians 5:9-10
God chose that we should receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us; so that, asleep or awake, we should still live with him.

Short Responsory	?
Into your hands, Lord, I commend my spirit. - Into your hands, Lord, I commend my spirit. You have redeemed us, Lord, God of faithfulness. - Into your hands, Lord, I commend my spirit. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. - Into your hands, Lord, I commend my spirit.

Canticle	Nunc Dimittis
Keep us safe, Lord, while we are awake, and guard us as we sleep, so that we can keep watch with Christ and rest in peace.
Now, Master, you let your servant go in peace. You have fulfilled your promise. My own eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all peoples. A light to bring the Gentiles from darkness; the glory of your people Israel. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Keep us safe, Lord, while we are awake, and guard us as we sleep, so that we can keep watch with Christ and rest in peace.

Prayer
Let us pray. Give our bodies rest, Lord, to restore them; and let the seeds sown by our labours today grow and yield an eternal harvest. Through Christ our Lord, Amen.

May the almighty Lord grant us a quiet night and a perfect end.

A M E N

An antiphon to Our Lady should be recited here.

Yet, another timely Reading as directed by the Holy Spirit. A Godly nation welcomes aliens and Jesus tells us to follow the laws less we offend. Is that not so here in America? Do we not welcome the stranger, yet demand that they follow the rule of law? America does not have a problem with law abiding foreigners. America has problems with law breakers and especially with criminal illegal aliens. Many politicians and politically motivated journalists don’t “get it”.

Agree that a lot of people don’t get it when it comes to people coming to and assimilating in the United States.

From: Deuteronomy 10:12-22

A Further Call to Faithfulness

(Moses said to the people,) [12] “And now, Israel, what does the LORD your
God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways,
to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with your
soul, [13] and to keep the commandments and statutes of the LORD, which I
command you this day for your good? [14] Behold, to the LORD your God
belong heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth with all that is in it; [15] yet
the LORD set his heart in love upon your fathers and chose their descendants
after them, you above all peoples, as at this day. [16] Circumcise therefore
the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn. [17] For the LORD
your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the
terrible God, who is not partial and takes no bribe. [18] He executes justice
for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and
clothing. [19] Love the sojourner therefore; for you were sojourners in the land
of Egypt. [20] You shall fear the LORD your God; you shall serve him and
cleave to him, and by his name you shall swear. [21] He is your praise; he
is your God, who has done for you these great and terrible things which your
eyes have seen. [22] Your fathers went down to Egypt seventy persons; and\
now the LORD your God has made you as the stars of heaven for multitude.

*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:

10:12-16. With divine teaching skill, the sacred writer emphasizes the
special love the Lord is showing Israel: the Lord of heaven and earth has
“set his heart in love” on them (v. 15; cf. 7:7). It would be difficult to
express more tenderly God’s love for his people (cf. the note on 7:7-16).

An uncircumcised heart (v. 16) is a hard heart, insensitive to God’s calls
because it is closed in on itself. This is an image often used in both Old
and New Testaments (cf. e.g., 30:6; Jer 4:4; Acts 7:51; Rom 2:29). Christian
tradition sees circumcision of the heart as a figure of Baptism: “Now those
whose hearts are circumcised live and are circumcised by the new Jordan,
which is the baptism forgiveness of sins. [...] Jesus our Savior worked this
circumcision a second time through circumcision of heart of all those who
believe in Him and are cleansed in baptism. [...] Joshua, the son of Nun,
led the people into the promised land; Jesus, our Savior, promised the land
of life to all those who were ready to cross the true Jordan, who believed
and who allowed the foreskin of their heart to be circumcised” (Aphraates,
“Demonstrationes”, 11).

10:17-22. It is easy to appreciate the beauty and majesty of this passage;
it is filled with profound respect for the greatness of God and with tenderness
towards the needy. Deuteronomy makes many appeals (e.g., 14:29; 16:11, 14)
on behalf of orphans, widows and strangers (vv. 18-19). This concern for the
weak is a recurring theme in Holy Scripture (cf., e.g., Mal 3:5; Jas 1:26-27).

*********************************************************************************************
Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

From: Matthew 17:22-27

Second Prophecy of the Passion; the Temple Tax

[22] As they were gathering in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man
is to be delivered into the hands of men, [23] and they will kill Him, and He\
will be raised on the third day.” And they were greatly distressed.

[24] When they came to Capernaum, the collectors of the half-shekel tax went
up to Peter and said, “Does not your Teacher pay the tax?” 25] He said, “Yes.”
And when he came home, Jesus spoke to him first, saying, “What do you
think, Simon? From whom do kings of the earth take toll or tribute? From
their sons or from others?” [26] And when he said, “From others,” Jesus said
to him, “Then the sons are free. [27] However, not to give offense to them, go
to the sea and cast a hook, and take the first fish that comes up, and when
you open its mouth you will find a shekel; take that and give to them for Me
and for yourself.”

*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:

24-27. “Half-shekel”, or “didrachma”: a coin equal in value to the annual contri-
bution every Jew had to make for the upkeep of the temple—a day’s wage of a
laborer. The shekel or stater which our Lord refers to in verse 27 was a Greek
coin worth two didrachmas.

Jesus uses things great and small to get His teaching across to His disciples.
Peter, who is to be the rock on which He will found His Church (Matthew
16:18-19), He prepares by letting him see His dramatic Transfiguration (17:1-8);
now He gives Peter another inkling of His divinity through an apparently unim-
portant miracle. We should take note of Jesus’ teaching method: after His
second announcement of His passion, His disciples are downhearted (Matthew
17:22-23); here He lifts Peter’s spirits with this friendly little miracle.

26. This shows how conscientiously our Lord fulfilled His civic duties. Although
the half-shekel tax had to do with religion, given the theocratic structure of Israel
at the time, payment of this tax also constituted a civic obligation.

*********************************************************************************************
Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.