Monday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time
August 9, 2021
Monday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 413
Reading I
Moses said to the people:
“And now, Israel, what does the LORD, your God, ask of you
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 seventy strong,
and now the LORD, your God,
has made you as numerous as the stars of the sky.”
Responsorial Psalm
- (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.
Alleluia
- Alleluia, alleluia.
God has called you through the Gospel
to possess the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
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.”
Readings for the Optional Memorial of Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, virgin and martyr
Reflection: DUAL CITIZENSHIP
We live in the world, but are set on a world to come. While we are on the earth, we follow the rules and regulations of civil society and abide by them. The Persian kings had made provision for worship in the temple and the Jewish community pledged to provide for regular worship out of its own resources. All people, rich or poor, every male twenty years or older began to pay half shekel a year to the temple. This was equivalent to two days wages of an ordinary labourer. It was within what even a poor person could afford to contribute. The passion prediction and the incident of paying the temple tax gave the disciples two clear indications of Jesus' identity. Jesus proclaimed himself to be the 'son of man', which was a reference to Daniel's vision of a heavenly being who was given “Dominion and glory and kingdom, that all peoples, nations and languages should serve him” (Daniel 7:14). Jesus compares himself with the children of kings who are not obligated to pay taxes to their father. A king neither pays taxes nor demands it from his family members. Strictly speaking Jesus did not have to pay the temple tax for the upkeep of the temple as he was the Son of him whose temple it was. Jesus was the Son of man and so he was destined to reign over all people forever. He is also the Son of God. Although our loyalty is to be to our real King Jesus, yet we are asked to follow Jesus' example and cooperate with authorities and be good and responsible citizens. As a good Christian, do I follow the civil regulations, pay my dues and make my contribution to leave this a better world?