Good News Reflection
Monday of the 19th Week in Ordinary Time
August 13, 2007

Today's Readings:
Deut 10:12-22
Ps 147:12-15, 19-20
Matt 17:22-27
http://www.usccb.org/nab/081307.shtml


The Lord of unfair situations

The miracle in today's Gospel reading -- paying taxes with the help of a
fish -- is an example of how Jesus likes to deal with unfair situations. Did
Jesus already have money for paying the temple tax? Maybe he did -- how much
was in that purse that Judas carried for the group? Perhaps it held only
enough to buy the apostles food for that day, but this is not the
explanation that Jesus gave for the miracle.

Jesus told Simon Peter to go fetch the tax payment from a fish because he
wanted to teach a lesson. He addressed the unfairness of demanding from your
own people what should have been asked of others.

Have you ever been called upon to do extra work because someone else didn't
do his or her job? Perhaps you're over-involved in ministries at church
because there are not enough volunteers. Or maybe your kid is too lazy to
take out the trash, and you end up doing it yourself to prevent a stinky
overflow.

How much unfair, extra demands do we have to deal with? A lot, sometimes
every day, right? In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus told us to go the extra
mile and do what we shouldn't have to do. He certainly practiced what he
preached when he paid the temple tax. Why should God have to pay for his own
worship? But he did. Why? To avoid "offending" or
"disedifying" those who
demanded the tax.

Jesus was (and is) just as concerned for those who are unfair as for those
who are treated unfairly. He wants to build up ("edify"), not tear
down,
anyone and everyone.

Note that the way he did it not only protected the tax collectors from being
disedified, but he also protected himself from being disedified as well as
his companions. The tax money did not come from his pocket, nor Peter's, nor
Judas' purse. God supplied a miracle that met the needs of everyone.

Will he do the same for you today? Of course he will. He cares about YOU as
much as he cared about Peter. Instead of trying to find a way out of an
unfair situation, instead of demanding justice, turn to God. To be
Christ-like, ask Jesus to provide a solution that will edify everyone. And
then expect the unexpected.

This takes a great deal of trust. How did Peter feel on the way to the lake?
Did he doubt Jesus while he was fishing? Knowing how easily he wavered at
other times, I think he questioned the Lord's sanity. Yet, he did as Jesus
had directed him to do. That's our example. We need to go fishing with God
and be ready to find what does not belong in the fish's mouth. THAT is the
perfect and most loving way to deal with unfairness.

Note to pastors, church staff, and ministry leaders:
Prepare for Wednesday's Holy Day. Preview and order now the reflection on
the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary:
catholicdr.com/calendar/August/assumption.htm



© 2007 by Terry A. Modica

I tell you again and again, my brethren, that on no account may any class of
people despair, thinking that God has not called them. Christ suffered for
all. What the Scriptures say of him is true: "He desires everyone to be
saved and to come to knowledge of the truth." - Saint Augustine



We must suffer our imperfections in order to have perfection. I say suffer,
not love or pet; humility feeds on this suffering. - Saint Francis de Sales