DAILY HOMILIES #temple tax

Aim for perfection. It is better to avoid offending others than insisting on your rights. Some wars are not worth fighting. You may be right, but sometimes, it is wiser to make peace than to stoke the fires of war. Jesus could have argued with the tax collectors or forced them to believe in His Divinity, but He chose the more convincing option: He worked a miracle to pay the tax. He did something only God could do: ask Peter to catch a fish with a coin.

This attitude of Jesus teaches us a great lesson: Even if we are right, there is no need to offend anyone. It is not enough to do what is right; we must refrain from sending the wrong message to those who may need help understanding us. Like Jesus, who presented himself for baptism even though he was sinless, we must strive to fulfil all righteousness. Hence, even though we do not belong to this world, we cannot evade the payment of taxes.

There is an extent that our pursuit of justice becomes a vice. Sometimes, it is best to shift ground. What will it profit you if you destroy the whole world just to prove you are right? Be like Jesus; allow peace to reign.

Jesus asked Peter to get a shekel from a fish in the sea. Jesus, not minding his double citizenship (being God and Man) still obeyed the law. Is it not a great contradiction that while we Christians obey the civil authorities just to maintain our status as double citizens in foreign nations, we complain about keeping God’s commands?