Gospel: Matthew 17: 22-27
The conversation between Jesus and the collectors of the Temple tax is incomprehensible to us, as we all pay taxes in our day. No one is exempt from them as they were in Jesus' day. Jesus seems indifferent on the question of paying the tax, and he pays it only to avoid causing offense. But should not every believer be willing to support the upkeep of the Temple?
The greater temple in the mind of Jesus is the human person, made in the image of God and a temple of the Holy Spirit. It is within each person that true worship is offered in spirit and in truth, not in a building. It is the building of the Temple that should be supporting the temples God has made - human persons, not the other way around. True worship is that of the Good Samaritan who used oil and wine to care for one in need; his was greater worship than the priest and Levite.
Do our faith institutions place a priority on the care of the human person? Or are they more like pyramid schemes to support the buildings and lifestyles of the clergy? Today Jesus asks us to reflect well on this matter and to give priority to the temple God made in his own image and likeness.
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