Piety
Let us pray: Thank you, God of all. Thank you for the beauty of the earth. Thank you for lifting me up close to you and calling me to yourself. Thank you for giving me friends in Cursillo and friends in spirit like Maximillian Kolbe. Thank you for filling my spirit with your grandeur. Thank you, God, that I might share you with those I meet today. Thank you, God for helping me bring a friend to you.
Study
http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/081406.shtml
"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."
God knows his own: foreigners or subjects. In the Old Testament readings we see images of God which raise our awe, our incredulousness. This God is almost beyond imagining. We are all called (Let the kings of the earth and all peoples, the princes and all the judges of the earth, Young men too, and maidens, old men and boys, Praise the name of the LORD,) to know and follow God alone, for his name alone is exalted. There is joy in knowing and praising the One God. We are called to praise joyfully and fully.
Then a somber note is sounded in the Gospel. Jesus, again, is not recognized by the world. In fact, rather than offered praise, He will be subjected to torture and death. His disciples are rightly grieved but they are mistaken in that they do not recognize the bigger picture: He is their friend, their teacher but He is so much more and he cannot be overcome by human machinations. They are His subjects and they will receive the joy and gladness He offers to His own. He knows them.
In Jesus’ day, the Jews were “foreigners” to the occupying forces of the Roman empire. Hence they are subject to the taxes. Jesus calls to us to realize to whom we are truly “subjects”. Today is the memorial of St. Maximillian Kolbe. During World War II, Fr. Kolbe was one of many “foreigners” imprisoned by the occupying Nazi’s. He offered to take the place of a man chosen to be executed by the guards at Auschwitz. He was captive yet not subject to the Nazis. God called him to courage and he, filled with faith and love, paid the human price of martyrdom. God knew Fr. Maximillian as His own.
There are supernatural, breathtaking and awesome elements to these descriptions of God and of God’s son but there are also homey, every-day elements in Jesus’ conversation with his disciples. A census tax. Not supernatural. Rather mundane and part of every government since the first homo erectus picked up a club and put a laurel leaf wreath on his own head. We live in the mundane, the everyday. The mundane is colored, highlighted and given grandeur by the reality of God and the presence of Jesus. Are we able to see, experience and share moments of Jesus in our lives?
To what are we called? At what do we point to in our lives and know that we are, indeed, joy filled, awe-struck and faith-inspired subjects of God? Can we pay the taxes expected of us as foreigners without losing our real identity and losing sight of where our real homage, attention, action and joy should be? To what are we paying attention instead of looking for the face of God? To what are we subject: vanity about our looks? blind, unquestioning patriotism? acquiring more of and the best of things? ambition in our career at the expense of family and friends? comfort at the expense of our environment and the needs of others?
Action
If you have to “pay a tax” today, do so cheerfully. Look for the opportunity to do something unbidden and unrecognized for someone else.
DeColores
Beth DeCristofaro
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