Daily Gospel Reflection
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August 12, 2024
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.”
It must have been difficult for the disciples to hear, for a second time, that Jesus would be put to death. They do not grasp the significance of Christ being raised on the third day; this was not the messiah many had expected.
Things do not improve when they arrive at Capernaum, Jesus’ home base. Peter is approached about paying the temple tax and replies in the affirmative, apparently without thinking, for the tax was for foreigners and not Jews living in Israel. Jesus instructs Peter to pay the tax even though he is not bound to do so so as not to cause an offense, and then Peter retrieves the coins for the tax from a fish!
How often are we like Peter—moments of clarity followed by times of confusion? What does following the Son of Man have to do with paying taxes or tithing? Jesus, God becoming man, was in the world but not of the world. He was not about taxes or politics, be they secular or religious. Should we be any different? Should I try not to offend but to be inclusive and give to others what is their due?
Aquinas tells us that to love is to will the good of the other as the other. The Franciscan order, in particular, focuses on the incarnation as not only a means to salvation but Jesus’ example of how to love completely. To be in the world is to attend to day-to-day life issues. Yet to be Christian, indeed Christ-like, is to be more.
To be Christian is to love as he did, an act of the will for the good of the other, as we meet that other in our daily lives. As the gospel ends, so it is with us; he is there to provide. We will have everything we need, even if that is found in a fish’s mouth!
Prayer
God of love and life, you were handed over to men to be tortured and killed, but death was not the end. You rose on the third day. We know that throughout our lives there are times of resurrection but also times of grief. Help each of us, our families, and those we love to never forget the promise of your resurrection. We ask that you continue to send us saintly women and men who are witnesses of your rising so that we may be inspired to grow into the saints that you are calling us to be. Amen.
Saint of the Day
St. Jane Frances de Chantal was faithful to every role she played in life: wife, mother, citizen, and religious sister.
She was born in 1572 in France; her father was president of the parliament of Burgundy. At her Confirmation, Jane took the name Frances, and she married an officer in the French military when she was 20. He had a large estate that had fallen into disrepair since his mother died; Jane immediately established regular order among the staff.
The couple had seven children, three of whom died soon after birth. After eight years of marriage, her husband was shot in the thigh during a hunting accident. He survived for nine days, enduring painful surgeries from an incompetent doctor. When he died, Jane was left a widow at the age of 28.
Jane was devastated, and fell into depression for months until she was persuaded to carry on for the good of her children. She prayed that God would show her a holy guide who could help her discover what she was to do with the rest of her life. During one period of prayer, she had a vision of a man whom she did not know. Later, when she witnessed St. Francis de Sales preaching in her town, she recognized him as the man from her vision.
St. Francis would visit her father’s home frequently, and over the course of sharing meals with him and her family, Jane came to trust his wisdom. She turned to him for direction, and he encouraged her to attend to her responsibilities—to pursue holiness in her role as mother and a woman in the world.
She kept a strict schedule, dedicating much time to prayer and the care and education of her children, and she also visited sick people who lived in her neighborhood, sometimes staying up the whole night to sit with them as they lay dying.
When her children were teenagers, St. Francis encouraged Jane to establish a new religious community of sisters and helped her open a convent for the Sisters of the Visitation of Mary in 1610. St. Francis envisioned the order to be active in the world, serving others, and to be a place for women to go if they had not been accepted by other orders.
Humility was declared as a founding value for the new community, and won over people who doubted the new order or opposed its growth. Convents sprung up throughout France, 65 in all, and when she opened a convent in Paris, Jane came to know another great holy man, St. Vincent de Paul. (St. Jane is pictured with St. Vincent in this stained glass window from the chapel in Geddes Hall.) St. Vincent said that Jane was one of the holiest people he had ever met.
Jane experienced much grief and loss in her life. Nearly all of her children died before she did, and she grieved the death of her great friend and mentor, St. Francis de Sales. She was confronted with temptation and periods of dryness in prayer, and met many obstacles in her work. Through it all, she remained humble and faithful. “Destroy, cut, burn whatever opposes your holy will,” she prayed.
She died at the age of 69 and was buried next to St. Francis de Sales in the original convent they established. Her relics rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica and she is pictured there in stained glass windows; one window shows her distributing bread to the poor.
St. Jane Frances de Chantal, you sought God even through depression and were led to serve others—pray for us!