A homily on Mt. 17:22–27: Always expect un expected ( 11-8-25)

A Unique Homily on Mt. 17:22–27, showing how God’s unexpected ways meet our needs when we trust Him completely (11-8-25).

Praise be to Jesus Christ 

A poor farmer once prayed for rain during a long drought. He was struggling in cultivation due to the shortage that affected the crops badly. He was sure God would send thick clouds and heavy showers. But one afternoon, a stranger came to his house and approached him asking to buy his only goat for a very high price. The farmer first hesitated, but the money was too good to refuse. He sold it and received a good amount. He used it to dig a well. That well gave water to his land for many years. God answered his prayer, but it was not in the way he had imagined.

In today’s Gospel (Matthew 17:22–27), the temple tax collectors approach Peter. Jesus speaks to him and then says something strange. “Go to the lake, throw in your line, take the first fish you catch. Open its mouth, and you will find a coin” (Matthew 17:27). It is such an unusual way to solve a problem. Why not simply give Peter a coin from His own hand? Why involve a fishing trip and a fish’s mouth?

The answer lies in the way God often choses to provide. From the Old Testament we see this pattern often. When Israel wandered in the desert, God gave manna, bread from heaven, something no one had ever seen before (Exodus 16:4). Later, when they complained about the lack of meat, God sent quail for them. Scripture says that “a wind went out from the Lord and drove quail in from the sea” (Numbers 11:31). People could expect fish from the sea, but quail flying in would have been beyond their imagination. Just like the coin in the fish’s mouth, it was God’s way of saying, “I will provide, but I will do it My way.” Moreover, when Elijah was hiding from King Ahab, ravens brought him bread and meat (1 Kings 17:6). Naaman the leper was healed not by a royal ceremony, but by washing seven times in the Jordan River (2 Kings 5:10). God seems to take joy in surprising His people, teaching them to expect His help  in an unexpected way without trying to control His method.

 A beautiful example from the life of St. John Bosco reminds us how God works in an unexpected way. Once, when his orphan boys had no food for lunch, he gathered them to pray. The pantry was empty, yet he told them to set the table. Soon after, a baker arrived with baskets of bread, saying he had been moved in the morning to bake extra. Don Bosco did not run around in panic. Like Peter, he trusted that God’s help could come in an unexpected way, and it did.

In our families, we often face needs such as school fees, hospital bills, or sudden expenses. We pray, but in our minds we already decide how God should act. When He chooses another way, we sometimes fail to notice His hand at work. The coin in the fish’s mouth teaches us that God may place the answer in a place we would never think off. It also teaches us to act. Peter still had to go to the lake, throw the line, and pull the fish (Matthew 17:27). Trusting in God is not laziness. It is moving forward even when the instruction sounds unusual. It is a kind of surrender of our intellect and accepting God’s wisdom.

Saint Teresa of Avila once said, “God walks among the pots and pans,” meaning He works in the ordinary details of our daily life. A conversation, a small opportunity, a stranger’s kindness, these can all be “coins in the fish’s mouth.”

If we teach our children to see faith as an adventure, they will look for God in everything, not only in church, but also in school, work, and family struggles. They will learn to trust that He can turn even the smallest events into answers to prayer. This challenges our nature to complain over quick failures, increasing suicidal rates at despair, depressive mental state in helplessness. But let us believe this too shall pass….God alone suffices as the Mother of Carmel reminds us repeatedly.

So when a problem comes and the solution seems far away, remember Peter at the lake. The answer might be hidden in a place you never thought to check. God’s ways are not our ways (Isaiah 55:8), but His ways are always perfect. With Jeramiah let us also profess “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future”(Jeramiah 29/13).

Lord teach me to expect unexpected blessings from you…

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God Bless..