TWENTY-NINTH SUNDAY OF YEAR "A"

TWENTY-NINTH SUNDAY OF YEAR I

Is 45, 4-6; I Th 1-6b; Mt 22, 15-21

They wanted to trap Jesus. The trap was as follows: they asked about the tax that the Jews must pay to the Roman Emperor, since they were under his rule. The Pharisees opposed Roman domination. The Herodians accepted it. If Jesus said they were liable to taxation, the Pharisees would discredit him before the people. But if Jesus answered, “Don’t pay”, the Herodians would have had him arrested by the Romans.

Jesus did not condemn Roman occupation, nor did he justify it. This does not mean that Jesus was not interested in politics, which is about the governance of the people. Bible history reveals that God always wanted liberty for every person. God wants nations to develop their national identity and culture. That is enough to justify the political commitment of Christians. The sad thing is that politicians waste so much time and energy discrediting one another that they don’t have much time left to devote to the people’s advancement. There is so much corruption and inefficiency. F only they allowed into their lives sincerely, they would do so much good. But their god is something else.

            Our rendering of service to the nation must be taken up into our rendering unto God. Loving God is through service to the nation. Allowing God into our lives would allow him to inspire and empower our duties to the nation. Let the true God take over, not the god of money and self-seeking. The god of self-seeking only destroys, does not build. At the same time we need to ensure that politics does look for religious justification. According to the Christian Gospel, religion should not be manipulated for political purposes; nor should religion confuse its political opponents with the enemies of God’s Kingdom. Let us see the nation with the eyes of God who only wants the good and harmony of the people.

            Look at the ministry of Jesus: he went about healing, comforting and reconciling. These actions make Jesus present and palpable – they are signs of his presence as Saviour. We, on our part, must make these our signs, too. They are a substantial part of our political programme. We must do all we can to instil the Gospel values of love and service into political life. The redemption of the world will come in large part through the lay men and women sanctifying their daily work transforming secularity from within.

            “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.” We must very careful not to misuse this passage of Scripture, as if priests and lay people were confined to very narrowly defined spiritual matters alone. This would be a very reading of the Gospels. Christians who ask very critical moral questions in whatever area take their stand with the Master.
The history of the past generation proves that Caesar is often wrong. The Teacher raised many questions that upset people. They crucified him so he would not disturb their set ways of thinking. It was his intent to disturb the comfortable and comfort the disturbed! So should we. We should be the most excitable people in the country. If everyone in our society agrees with us or we agreed with everybody, we are doing something terribly wrong.

Here are a few lines from the late Archbishop Oscar Romero:

“A Church that doesn’t provoke any crisis, a Gospel that doesn’t unsettle, a Word of God that doesn’t touch the real sin of the society in which it is being proclaimed – what Gospel is that? Very nice, pious considerations that don’t bother anyone; that’s the way many would like preaching to be. Those preachers who avoid every thorny matter so as not to be harassed, so as not to have conflicts and difficulties, do not light up the world they live in. A preaching that says nothing about the sinful environment in which the Gospel is reflected upon is not the Gospel.”

PRAYER: (Frank Colquhoun): Lord God, you have taught us that we are members one of another. And that we can never live to ourselves alone. We thank you for the community of which we are part    - for those who share with us in our activities, for all who serve its varied interests. Help us, as we have opportunity, to make our own contribution to the community, and to learn to be good neighbours. That by love we may serve one another, for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen