Biographical Information about St. Boniface[1]
Readings for the Memorial of St. Boniface[2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Commentary:
Reading 1 Tb 2:9-14
We hear in this next installment from Tobit how the Prophet became blind. This would have been viewed as a punishment from God by members of the community. The once wealthy Tobit has come to a point were his wife works as a weaver. Tobit in either his pride or his suspicion tells his wife to give back a goat given to her as a bonus. In her response his wife provides the moral lesson of the story as she points out that charitable deeds and virtuous acts begin in the home.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 112:1-2, 7-8, 9
R. The heart of the just one is firm, trusting in the Lord.
We continue Psalm 112 from yesterday as well. This hymn of praise and thanksgiving, in this selection commends the people faithful to the Law of Moses. The one who is blameless in the eyes of God does not fear from his community or others since the Lord is his protector.
Gospel Mk 12:13-17
The Pharisees and Herodians come to Jesus with a dispute. Is it right for Jews to pay a tax to Caesar? If he sides with the Herodians (who would want the tax to be paid) he would be trapped because he was authorizing tribute to one who claimed to be a god, violating Jewish Law. If he sided with the Pharisees against the Herodians, he would be in conflict with civil law and be taken before the Roman Authorities.
Jesus saw the trap and avoided it using the first ever argument for the separation of Church and State by the famous statement: “Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.”
Reflection:
Scripture today, in all three of the passages used, pointes to the need for constant vigilance on our part to insure that we are following God’s laws. In the reading from Tobit we find a truly applicable scenario. Tobit has his sight taken from him in a rather disgusting fashion when birds defecate in his eyes while he is sleeping. This, for a proud and once powerful man, must have been especially humiliating.
Then, Tobit’s wife, who has been forced to work since he was deprived of his wealth in their exile to Nineveh, gets a bonus, a goat. The prideful and condescending Tobit tells her to take it back it must be stolen. The domestic argument concludes as his wife dutifully reminds him that his acts of charity (he was certainly not charitable to her) and virtue (again his actions were not virtuous with her) should start at home. With the exception of the type of bonus and the source of his medical problem, this same kind of thing could have happened today.
In the Psalm Response we hear exhortations about stay faithful to God’s Law supporting the lesson from Tobit. And in the Gospel, the Lord neatly avoids a trap laid by the Pharisees and Herodians by using a graven image approach to get out of a now win question. He uses the Law, both civil and Mosaic to provide a reasonable solution.
Yes, today we are called to follow God’s Law at home and at work or school or in our social environment. I should be constantly before us because by our scrupulous adherence to it we identify ourselves as Christian – further spreading the word through our actions.
Pax
Readings for the Memorial of St. Boniface[2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Commentary:
Reading 1 Tb 2:9-14
We hear in this next installment from Tobit how the Prophet became blind. This would have been viewed as a punishment from God by members of the community. The once wealthy Tobit has come to a point were his wife works as a weaver. Tobit in either his pride or his suspicion tells his wife to give back a goat given to her as a bonus. In her response his wife provides the moral lesson of the story as she points out that charitable deeds and virtuous acts begin in the home.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 112:1-2, 7-8, 9
R. The heart of the just one is firm, trusting in the Lord.
We continue Psalm 112 from yesterday as well. This hymn of praise and thanksgiving, in this selection commends the people faithful to the Law of Moses. The one who is blameless in the eyes of God does not fear from his community or others since the Lord is his protector.
Gospel Mk 12:13-17
The Pharisees and Herodians come to Jesus with a dispute. Is it right for Jews to pay a tax to Caesar? If he sides with the Herodians (who would want the tax to be paid) he would be trapped because he was authorizing tribute to one who claimed to be a god, violating Jewish Law. If he sided with the Pharisees against the Herodians, he would be in conflict with civil law and be taken before the Roman Authorities.
Jesus saw the trap and avoided it using the first ever argument for the separation of Church and State by the famous statement: “Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.”
Reflection:
Scripture today, in all three of the passages used, pointes to the need for constant vigilance on our part to insure that we are following God’s laws. In the reading from Tobit we find a truly applicable scenario. Tobit has his sight taken from him in a rather disgusting fashion when birds defecate in his eyes while he is sleeping. This, for a proud and once powerful man, must have been especially humiliating.
Then, Tobit’s wife, who has been forced to work since he was deprived of his wealth in their exile to Nineveh, gets a bonus, a goat. The prideful and condescending Tobit tells her to take it back it must be stolen. The domestic argument concludes as his wife dutifully reminds him that his acts of charity (he was certainly not charitable to her) and virtue (again his actions were not virtuous with her) should start at home. With the exception of the type of bonus and the source of his medical problem, this same kind of thing could have happened today.
In the Psalm Response we hear exhortations about stay faithful to God’s Law supporting the lesson from Tobit. And in the Gospel, the Lord neatly avoids a trap laid by the Pharisees and Herodians by using a graven image approach to get out of a now win question. He uses the Law, both civil and Mosaic to provide a reasonable solution.
Yes, today we are called to follow God’s Law at home and at work or school or in our social environment. I should be constantly before us because by our scrupulous adherence to it we identify ourselves as Christian – further spreading the word through our actions.
Pax
[1] The picture representing St. Boniface used today is from an old German Holy Card, Artist UNKNOWN
[2] After Links Expire
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