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Gospel: Matthew 17:22-27
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.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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There’s an old Swedish proverb, “Those who wish to sing always find a song.”
In good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, those who wish to sing always find a song.
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Today is the Feast of Saint Maximillian Kolbe, priest and martyr.
You may remember his story. Maximillian was one of the millions of prisoners sent to Auschwitz, the most infamous death camp in history.
One day while working in the camp, another prisoner tried to escape. Furious over the attempt, the camp guards selected ten other men to be put to death in his place.
One of the men selected pleaded for mercy, telling the guards that he was a father and a husband.
Then Saint Maximillian stepped forward and said, “I am a Catholic priest. Let me take his place.”
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Maximillian and the other nine men were thrown into a hole, condemned to death by starvation.
He led those men in prayer for nearly two weeks. Personal accounts recalled how their singing could be heard rising out of the ground at all hours of the day, making it sound like a church choir buried in Auschwitz.
The hope was contagious.
“Those who wish to sing always find a song.”
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No matter where we find ourselves today – in good times or in bad, in sickness or in health, on a mountaintop or in the belly of the earth – we all have a reason to sing.
Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead, promising that we, too, shall rise.
“Those who wish to sing, always find a song.”
Amen! Alleluia!
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Image credits: (1) Vatican News (2) Catholic World Report (3) iStock