Memorial of St. Clare, Virgin
An unfamiliar story is told today from Matthew wherein Peter comes to Jesus concerned about how they are going to pay the tax, a religious obligation for the upkeep of the Temple in Jerusalem, not an imperial levy demanded by Rome. Jesus discusses the obligation to pay the tax, makes a very sound argument for why the Son of God ought to be exempted, and then says that they are going to pay it anyway so as not to offend the tax collectors standing at the gate.
Since he does not have a shekel to his name, Jesus sends Peter fishing. When Peter brings back a fish, they open its mouth. Sitting there in the mouth of the fish is exactly enough money to pay the tax.
A close friend of mine “Sally” and her husband separated and he agreed to be the primary caretaker of their two children. This turned out to be a nightmare for the kids as the man was abusive both physically and emotionally. He especially took out his rage toward his wife through his treatment of their daughter. But Sally had signed an agreement that would require much effort to annul.
Sally worked for the US Post Office and a friend told her of an attorney who specialized in these kinds of cases. But he was a high end lawyer and she didn’t have the three grand he required up front as down payment. Sally fretted and she prayed. She had to get her kids away from this malicious and malignant man. Within a week she received a letter from the US Post Office that, due to a clerical error, she had been underpaid three thousand dollars, the exact amount she needed to secure the attorney. The children would be returned to her.
Yes, miracles do happen.
Jesus didn’t put a nest egg aside so that he would be able to pay the tax when it came. He simply did the will of the Father. It is worth noting that, when the time came, he told Peter to go out and do his ordinary work. There was no way that Peter was going to pull up enough fish in one day to pay the tax, which was equivalent to an entire month’s wages. Yet God provided in unexpected ways.
Disciples then and now are to invest childlike trust in Divine Providence: “Do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be of anxious mind. For all the nations of the world seek these things; and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, seek his Kingdom, and these things shall be yours as well.”
—Timothy J. Cronin