Sunday the 22nd of October 2023 - The Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Isaiah 45:1,4-6/ Psalm 95(96)/ 1 Thessalonians 1:1-5/ Matthew 22:15-21

We live in a temporal world, but we belong to a spiritual kingdom. This inevitably causes tension, what do we owe to this world, to Caeser, and what do we owe to God? This tension taxes the minds of the greatest thinkers and the judgements of the highest courts. Our salvation is played out throughout human history and can be seen in the Old Testament in the relationship between God’s chosen people and earthly governments. Sometimes the relationship was positive and at other times negative. We need to be aware of when we must respect and follow civil law and when we might have to dissent from it and give our priority to God.

From the foundation of the Church there have been countless numbers who have had to decide between the world and heaven. The blood of these martyrs is the seed of the Church, the rich soil in which it continues to grow. We might not be called to die for our beliefs, although in parts of the world Christians are still called to do so, we will have to make choices about how we live because we are part of a society that is increasingly divorcing itself from the basic laws of the Ten Commandments. These guidelines have served humanity well for centuries and would continue to do so if we would follow them. To serve its own desires civil society has reinterpreted or abandoned the commandments in favour of human made rules that suit a worldly, inward, and selfish mode of life. The line between good and evil is fudged to permit behaviour that threatens the relationship between God and us, his created people. Often these human based rules are promulgated for good, but the results can be devastating. Children are destroyed in the womb before they have a chance to live their lives and the old and sick are being encouraged to end their lives prematurely. The human being is seen in economic terms rather than the holder of a sacred existence created by God for eternity.

In the first reading the prophet reminds us that God is the god of all people. Cyrus, a pagan king, was called, although he did not know it, and used by God to liberate the captured Jewish people restoring them to their homeland. Powerful as Cyrus may have been he was no match for God. Do we worship God, or do we worship things of this world that are as nothing compared with God?

In the Gospel Jesus turned back the trick question posed to him by the Pharisees and Herodians who thought they had laid a clever trap for him. Would he condone the paying of taxes to a heathen occupying state, or would he encourage a serious offence against civil law? Jesus never encouraged disobedience to civil authority but had no time for it. Temporal civil law is just not that important when matched against the salvation provided by God. The powers of this or that government come and go but the authority of God is eternal. Jesus made his inquisitors condemn themselves by their own actions. It was they who produced the Roman coin thereby demonstrating that they possessed and used the money of the occupying force. The coins had the head of Caesar stamped on them, so Jesus was able to tell them to give it back to Caesar. We live in a temporal world; we must engage with civil authority because we are part of a worldly community. We use the roads, the sewerage system, our rubbish is collected, our children educated, we receive medical treatment and rely on our safety and security being provided by the state. It is therefore necessary for us to pay towards these amenities. Sometimes our money is used for things that we cannot support or condone. Although we are unable to withhold our dues to the government we can and must protest such use of public money.

The important message from the gospel today is that we recognise what is due to Caesar and what is due to God. We give back to the world what is of the world, and we give to God what is his. Just as the image of the world is stamped on those things of the world the image of God is stamped on our souls at our baptism. This is an indelible image that cannot be removed, defaced, or covered up. There can be no doubt what belongs to God and must be given back to him one day. This is a cause of great joy and celebration for us because it frees us from the slavery of the world and the entrapment of its passing temptations bringing us into the freedom and light of God’s everlasting kingdom.

In his letter St Paul reminds us of the three theological virtues of faith, hope and love. It is through these gifts from God that we can choose between the things of this world and the things of heaven, what to leave behind and what to store up for eternity. We need to turn our questions back onto ourselves. Where do our loyalties lie? Many today seek fame, luxury, and power. These are the passing things of the world and should be left to the world. When conflicts arise we must be in no doubt where our allegiance lies. We need to develop our faith in God, increase our hope in the promise of redemption, and project God’s love for us to all his people.

God Bless, Brendan.