( Optional) Memorial of Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, virgin and martyr
(Deuteronomy 10:12-22; Matthew 17:22-27)
In today’s gospel Jesus proves himself to be an earnest
Jew. He might have avoided the Temple
tax. After all, he is a rabbi and rabbis
sometimes do not pay the tax. He is also
the Son of God who should not be even asked for the tax. But he is also a pious Jew who loves his
people. Rather than give scandal, he has
the tax paid.
Today the Church honors a saint who was martyred because of
her similar Jewish origin. St. Teresa
Benedicta of the Cross became a Christian as an adult and then a Benedictine
nun. Living in a monastery in the
Netherlands during World War, the Gestapo came to send her to Auschwitz with
other Jews. She did not resist but gave
herself up. She told her sister, who was
with her, “Come; we are going for our people.” Like Jesus she loved her people
so much that she was willing to die to show solidarity with them.
Christianity has been accused of giving root to
anti-Semitism. Pope Pius XI challenged
that assertion the year before World War II broke. “Spiritually,”
he said, “we are Semites.” He explained
that our reference to Abraham in the liturgy and our union with Jesus make us
common descendants of Abraham with all Jews. (He might have added Muslims as
well.) Jews are still persecuted for
their faith. We should stand in
solidarity with them.
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