As faithful citizen's learn and take action to make the Heavenly Kingdom present among us

Jesus said to them "Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God." This may be a familiar saying of Jesus, but what point was he trying to make?  Some background on the situation may be helpful to provide some insight. The Pharisees were the Jewish religious leaders who would act pious, but in their hearts were far from God.  They

were constantly trying to accuse Jesus of violating the Jewish laws. The Pharisees were also in opposition to Roman’s whose emperor Caesar, claimed to be divine.  Roman currency had Caesar’s image stamped on one side and his claim divinity on the other.  The Pharisees would not permit Jews to use the coins, as Caesar’s image was a form of idolatry.  Moneychangers exchanged Roman coin for unmarked copper coins for trade in the Jewish community. The Herodian’s were a group of Jews who supported the Romans, so they could receive favored treatment.  They would inform the Romans of anyone who opposed them.  Herodian’s did not have anything in common with Pharisees. 

Why would these two opposing groups come together? So, Jesus could be trapped and put him to shame, to get rid of him. They thought that by asking Jesus if it were lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, he would be in a no-win situation. If Jesus said it was ok to pay the taxes the Pharisees would turn the Jewish people against him.  If Jesus said paying taxes was unlawful the Herodian’s would report him to the Roman authorities and have him hauled off to prison. The Pharisee’s had it all worked out to get rid of Jesus.

But Jesus knew their hearts were up to no good. True to form Jesus catches them in hypocrisy by asking for a coin used to pay the census taxes. The Pharisees produced a Roman coin, but if they were practiced what they preach, they would not have any.  The answer Jesus gave them is not what they expected: to pay what’s due to both Caesar and to God.  The Jews were living under Roman occupation and had to coexist with them.  If they did not pay the tax, they would be subject to punishment or even death by the Romans.  So, paying the census tax to peacefully coexist was a necessity.

Jesus was trying to make a point to his adversaries: God is the one they owe their greatest debt.  The Herodian’s and Pharisees were both Jews. As Jews they were to give their all to God: to love him with all their heart, mind, and soul and to love their neighbor as their self. They owed everything to God because he is author of life.  The Herodian’s and Pharisees were only concerned about themselves and all the privileges they received, rather than being the selfless servant as Jesus was. They weren’t open to Jesus as being the Messiah and his message of making present the Kingdom of Heaven by loving God and neighbor.  

We are blessed to live in the United States where we are free to worship God and have the right to vote for those who govern us. Unfortunately, some of our elected leaders and government policies and laws do not follow the ways our faith teaches.  God has allowed these leaders to be in power. We are called to pray for them to govern justly, respecting human life and dignity, family and education, social justice, and religious liberty. As Catholics, we live in the world, but we are not of the world. While we are citizens of the United States, our ultimate citizenship is the Kingdom of Heaven. If there is something contrary to God’s ways in our government, we can promote changes to help make the Kingdom of Heaven present. 

How can we do this? By learning about what our Catholic faith teaches about social issues that affect the common good. The Indiana Catholic Conference is an organization that can

help us learn about these teachings. The Indiana Catholic Conference is the public policy voice of the Catholic Church in Indiana. They advocate for policies that promote social teaching of the Catholic faith in our government. School choice vouchers which has benefited many of our school families is one of the policies advocated by the Indiana Catholic Conference. Their website has a wealth of information to learn and stay informed about social issues and what the Church teaches at a state and national level. 

Actively getting involved to support change is another way we can make a difference.  A model for promoting change through peaceful ways on social issues was Dorothy Day.  In her younger days in the 1920’s, Dorothy was involved in movements to protest unjust labor

practices, joining in on picket lines and writing for labor newspapers about injustices. She was not Catholic but would spend time in church praying in the presence of the Eucharist, while being involved in these movements.  After the birth of her first child and deciding to have her baptized, she finally decided to become Catholic herself. She intensively lived her faith, attending Mass daily, which shaped the rest of her life. Shortly after becoming Catholic Dorothy started the Catholic Worker Movement remained actively involved in peaceful movement throughout her life, being jailed when she was protesting nuclear weapons, and again at the age of 75 in support of conditions for migrant farm workers.  Pope Francis said about her during a speech to Congress in 2015, "Her social activism, her passion for justice and for the cause of the oppressed, were inspired by the Gospel, her faith, and the example of the saints,"  Dorothy Day’s cause for Sainthood is currently in the final phases.

As citizens of the United States, we are subject to taxes just like the Jews were to the Romans.  As citizens of heaven, we’re called to help bring about the Kingdom of Heaven. We can actively do this by promoting social issues consistent with our faith, through our participation as citizens of our country.  The currency we use has an important reminder on it: “In God we trust.”  This is a reminder for us that God is the one we really owe everything:  our country, homes, families, and our own lives.  As we come forward for the Eucharist today let’s thank God for all he has given us and ask for the grace to enable us to give Him all our heart, mind, and soul.

Being open to change like St. Francis to encounter Jesus, Homily for 26th Sunday Cycle A

        Thus the last will be first, and the first will be last. This is the closing line from the Gospel of last week. How will the last be first? Today’s Gospel may shed some light on this.    It’s set right after Jesus triumphant entry into Jerusalem that we typically hear on Palm Sunday. It’s followed by Jesus entering the temple where he drives out the money changers and cures many of the blind and the lame. In praise the people acclaim about Jesus, “Hosanna to the Son of David”. This made chief priests in the temple angry and jealous of Jesus.   They did not believe in Jesus divine power, but the people did.   They questioned Jesus’ authority on his teachings and actions. Whereby Jesus asks them if John’s baptism was of heavenly or human origin. They refused to answer, because their authority would be questioned. So Jesus tells them a parable about two sons asked to work in their father’s vineyard and asks the chief priests, which son follows the father’s will.  They answered correctly that the son who first refused, but then changed his mind, was the one who followed the father’s will.  This was a pretty obvious answer, and Jesus used it to make a point for them to change their minds about him. He told the chief priests that tax collectors and prostitutes, would be entering the kingdom of God before them. That chief priests probably thought that tax collectors and prostitutes would be last in God’s kingdom. This must have seemed an insult to the chief priests.  But, it wasn’t Jesus intention insult them, but rather challenge them change their minds. The chief priests were too proud of the positions of power, to consider John’s prophecy that Jesus was the Messiah. The tax collectors and prostitutes had little to lose in their humility, but much to gain in believing in Jesus as Lord.

We live in a culture today, that competes with our faith in Jesus, that he is Lord of our life. Is Jesus Lord of our entire life, or only parts of it? Our culture promotes as its highest value the freedom of the individual to do whatever they choose, as long as it doesn’t hurt someone else. Unfortunately this results in choices that can be quite hurtful to the person, resulting in actions that are sinful. Sin not only affects the individual, but also affects the community, the Body of Christ. If we’re influenced by the culture, it leads us to picking and choosing when to follow Jesus and when not to follow him.

Saint Paul offers some words to Philippians in the second reading today, that is very relevant to us today. The Philippians were new converts to Christ, and many of them were retired military loyal to the Roman Empire. In their military service they were required to give honor to Caesar as Lord, who was consider divine, and to follow the ways of the Roman Empire. In their new found faith, Jesus was their true Lord, who gave them eternal life, but they probably struggled fearing persecution. St. Paul was encouraging them to humbly follow Christ as Lord through the Holy Spirit in all they do for the good of both themselves and others. Christ gave them the perfect example of humility, as he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness, and found in human appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, death on a cross.

We can’t totally follow Jesus as Lord only on our own power. The grace of the Holy Spirit through Baptisms and Confirmation helps us to be united in heart, minds, thinking, and love with Jesus. October is Respect Life month. There are many life issues where the culture is at odds with the Church: abortion, IVF, care for the poor, immigration, euthanasia, contraception, and the death penalty just to name a few. I used to struggle with some of these issues myself, because I did not fully understand why the Church taught certain positions, but only what the position of the Church was. In humility I finally took some time to investigate and understand why the Church taught what it taught. Some teachings were hard to understand, but through a conversion of heart, I was able to change my mind to be supportive of the Church’s teaching. In understanding these issues, I realized that some of the things I supported were contrary to Church teachings and sinful.  Through the Sacrament of Reconciliation, I was able to restored in my relationship with God. To be honest this was a relief of not having to decide for myself, but in humility following Christ as Lord, and the Church that he gave us to follow.

A model for us to follow in changing our minds to follow Christ is Saint Francis. As a young man he was caught up in trappings of the world. He was from a wealthy middle class family and enjoyed being the life of the party, often paying for the frivolous activities his friends enjoyed.  He had dreams of being a knight and got his chance to engage in a battles defending his hometown of Assisi, resulting in him being injured.  While he was recovering he was being prepared for a new way of life, following Christ. He still had some challenges though, as he was repulsed to by having anything to do with lepers, the least of those in society. But in an encounter with a leper, where he gave alms and kissed his hands ridden with sores, he met Christ, which changed his heart and mind to follow Christ in poverty and humility. St. Francis had several other encounters with the Lord, eventually leading him to receiving the stigmata, though wounds in his hands and feet that Jesus suffered. This eventually led St. Francis to founding a religious order that still has tremendous impact today. Pray for St. Francis intercession for each of us to be open to changing our minds as he did in following Jesus as Lord and His Church’s teachings, strengthened by the grace of the Holy Spirit and the Eucharist we are about to receive.