Monday, August 12, 2013 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)
A teacher asks the class what is the capital of the Philippines. A student stands up with this reply: “Ma’am, the Philippines has no more capital, only debts!”
The Inquirer Editorial last week laid down some reasons why many prospective investors to the Philippines end up as mere prospects. “Since 2003, the ASEAN Regional Business Outlook Survey of the American Chambers of Commerce has been identifying areas of concern where member firms were either dissatisfied or extremely dissatisfied. For the Philippines, investors were extremely dissatisfied with corruption all through the years of their surveys” (Inquirer Editorial, 06 August 2013).
When we think of corruption we immediately think of politicians as if we haven’t indirectly pilfered from government coffers through tax evasion. We must be clear about this: corruption of public officials cannot absolve us from supporting this government from which we draw support and protection. This is a demand of justice. The system in Jesus’ time was even more corrupt, yet Jesus paid taxes and required others to do the same. He said: “Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar…”
Corrupt politicians on the other hand justify their inefficiency by our failure to fatten their pork through tax evasion. It’s this vicious circle that binds this country to huge foreign debts. We are like Adam and Eve passing the buck even though there were no other people in paradise to blame but them. Adam pointed to Eve and Eve pointed to the snake. If the snake had fingers, the tree would have taken the blame for there was no one else the snake could point its finger at. The student was not exaggerating; we have more debts than capital. By the time the Philippines completely runs out of capital, we will be as quick to exculpate ourselves. The bad news is that there won’t be enough trees to take the blame! – Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM. Email:dan.delosangeles@gmail.com. Website: www.frdan.org.
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