Monday,
August 14, 2017
19th Week in Ordinary Time
1st Reading: Dt 10:12-22
Gospel: Matthew 17:22-27
(…) When they returned to Capernaum, the Temple tax collectors came to Peter and asked him, “Does your master pay the temple tax?” He answered, “Certainly.”
Peter then entered the house, but immediately Jesus asked him, “What do you think, Simon? Who pay taxes or tributes to the kings of the earth: their sons or the other people?” Peter replied, “The others.” And Jesus told him, “The sons, then, are tax-free. But so as not to offend these people, go to the sea, throw in a hook and open the mouth of the first fish you catch. You will find a coin in it, take it and let it pay for you and for me.”
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience)
Teacher asks, “What is the capital of the Philippines?” Student replies: “No more capital, only debts!” Corruption? We are all in this together. Many politicians pilfer, and they do the pilfering directly because they have access to funds. Workers for government who cannot pilfer much because they don’t have access to public funds cheat our country by their least work output. Workers on road repairs are classic examples. With how slow they work even as the public is watching, we are tempted to revise the road sign from “Slow down, men working” to “Slow men working down”.
Ordinary people do it indirectly by cheating on their taxes. And they use the pilfering of politicians as excuse to evade taxation. Valid excuse? No! Today’s Gospel reminds us that it is our duty to support the government, taxation being its lifeblood. Moreover, the sin of others can never justify infraction of the law. Corruption was also prevalent in biblical times, but Jesus did not exempt himself from paying taxes. Yes, today’s Gospel refers to a different kind of tax (Temple tax). But the same principle holds true as to payment of taxes today: “Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar…”
Followers of Jesus are supposed to be good citizens. This is because their marching order is to love one another. Since government is for the delivery of services to citizenry, it is an offense against the law of love to evade tax payment. It is a deprivation of the State of its lifeblood since taxation is the lifeblood of the State.
We justify tax evasion by pointing to how the politicians pocket our money. Politicians excuse their inefficiency by pointing to how we fail to pay our tax duties religiously. We are like Adam and Eve. When the Lord asked Adam to account for his disobedience in paradise, he pointed to Eve. Eve, in turn, pointed at the snake. Too bad for the snake, it had no fingers, and no one to point a finger at! – (Atty.) Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM
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