+(Intro) Our intention this morning is for vocations. As many of us heard at Vigils this morning, our calling as Christians is primarily a matter of hearing rather than seeing the Word of God so as to respond with our lives. So as we begin this Eucharist let us be mindful of those times when we have failed to be good listeners.
(After the gospel) In our first reading from Ezekiel we just heard of how the word of the Lord came to him and how the hand of the Lord came upon him. Throughout each day of our lives the word of God is also coming to us and as we allow it to guide our lives we, like Ezekiel experience the hand of the Lord coming upon us. For God’s eternal Word has taken flesh and dwells among us. To hear this Word speaking to us and to let it guide our lives is to know the gentle and loving hand of God.
Jesus asking Simon Peter in our gospel: “From whom do kings of the earth take tolls or census tax? From their subjects or from foreigners” is a loaded question and Peter answers rightly but then, Jesus provides twice the temple tax as not to cause offense. One sees clearly here the gentle hand of God. May we be granted not only to hear this living Word of God all day long and experience this loving hand of God, but to share it with all who are seeking our way of life.
Ezek. 1:2-5; 10:18-28c; Matt. 17:22-27