Father Riley's homily for October 18, 2020

PROPER XXIV - A - 20 - Is. 45. 1-7, 1 Thess 1. 1-10, Matt, 22. 15-22

Ever since his arrival in Jerusalem, to shouts of Hosanna, Jesus has been confronted and challenged by the Pharisees, elders and scribes. His fame and popularity have preceded him. They challenged his authority after he cleansed the Temple and they refused to answer his question concerning John Baptist’ mission for fear it would incriminate them.

They squirmed as he told the parable of the vineyard and of the unjust stewards knowing he was pointing a finger at them. They listened intently as he related the parable of the wedding feast in last week’s gospel without making a comment. Now they plot to entrap him but they do not wish to be confronted and challenged by him again in front of the people.

Thus, they send their allies, the Herodians, who were pro-Roman and supporters of the Jewish puppet king, Herod to trap Jesus into making a political miscue concerning the paying of taxes. They ask him, “is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor or not? “ A ‘yes’ from Jesus would turn the Jewish people against him as being pro-Roman, while a ‘no’ would bring charges of treason by the Romans.

Christ’ answer defeats their cunning and shows that a believer can render the state its due while serving God. Jesus asks for a coin. The coin bears the image of the emperor and is properly paid to him, so each person bears the image of God and therefore belongs to God.

Conflict arises only when the state demands that which is contrary to God, or conflicts with our Christian responsibility to God. Some would argue that is the case today in regards to the restrictions being placed on worship by the state in view of the pandemic and in the name of public safety.

Christ remarks ‘Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s,’ leaves his would be accusers unable to declare him a political rebel as much as they would like to, especially in light of his triumphal entry into the holy city.

No where in the gospels is Jesus interested in a crafty escape from the hands of his foes. He is not preoccupied with self but with the life of his listeners. He is forever waiting and watching for those moments of grace when through his words and actions he can return us to our rightful relationship with our God.

“Show me the money for the tax,” he says to his challengers. Jesus is not telling us what we already know, namely that our taxes ought to be paid. He is not telling us that the payment to God is due. Rather, he is revealing to us who we are, what we are.

The “coin” is what we work for, and some even slave for. Many have come to believe that the coin is the measure of their value, the symbol of their worth. However, the true measure of our value has to do with the likeness and inscription borne on our bodies and our souls.

God has cast each of us in His own image. Our vocation as Christians is to remain faithful to our allegiance to God through our witness to Christ. At baptism, we said “yes” to God’s invitation to turn to Jesus Christ and accept him as our Savior, to put our whole trust in his grace and love, and promised to follow and obey Him as our Lord.

We were signed with the cross on our foreheads and marked as Christ’ own forever and sealed by the Holy Spirit as such. That indelible cross we bear, however, is not visible to the world. It is by our words and actions that we make ourselves known as Christians to those around us.

As St. Paul wrote to the young Christians at Thessalonica, “we are to imitate Christ having received the word with joy and inspired by the Holy Spirit so as to become an example to all.”  

The vows and promises we made at the font of life were preceded by our renouncing anything and everything in this world that would destroy, corrupt, or draw us away from the love of God.

For some that can be the “coin,” the inordinate pursuit of wealth that becomes the focus of their life and draws them away from the love of God. For others it is the gaining of authority and the power that comes with it that corrupts them in their abuse of it as they weld it over those around them.

For many, however, it is simply the focus on self and self-interest at the expense of all.

None of the above, however, negates that indelible mark of the cross and the Christian responsibility that comes with it to fulfill our baptismal vows and promises we made to God.

To have both feet firmly planted in this secular world without any regard to the next, leaves us vulnerable to the very things we renounced. Lest we forget, none of us is able to fulfill our vows and promises to God without God’s help.

Throughout the gospels, whether Jesus is teaching, preaching or healing, he is inviting us to come and follow Him. By following Him, we find our true self. As Thomas Merton wrote in his “7 Story Mountain, “in order to be what I was created to be, I have to cease to be what I want to be. “

In Christ and through Christ we are shown the way to the One who has made us, whose image, we bear, and to whom we ultimately belong, the God and Father of all.

The question for us today and at anytime as Christians, is whether the kingdom of Caesar is more important to us than the kingdom of God for our answer to that question will determine where we spend eternity. AMEN+