Homily for the Week of October 16, 2011

29th week in Ordinary Time, 2011

Is 45:1,4-6 • 1 Thes 1:1-5b • Mt 22:15-21

Years ago, as Director of Catholic Education I visited a lot of Catholic school classrooms. In many rooms teachers had pictures of the two Johns: John F. Kennedy and Pope John XXIII. After Kennedy’s tragic assasination, the US Mint made 50 cent coins named the Kennedy half dollar on which was Kennedy famous face. John F.Kennedy had become our national hero much like Tiberius Ceasar which Jesus mentions in our Gospel for today. The Roman Empire would design coins and money with the image of their leaders. We Americans still do this today. The one dollar has an image of Washington, the two dollar the picture of Jefferson, the five dollar the picture of Lincoln, the fifty dollar the picture of Grant, and the hundred dollar the picture of Franklin.

Jesus today talks about loyalty: loyalty to God and to our country. The Jewish law forbade the manufacture of images of God, the use of images of God, and the worship of any other god except the one God. The coin which was used by the Jewish people had the image of Caesar printed on it. Caesar was a pagan ruler.

Jesus' enemies want to trap him. They start the conversation by saying nice things. They ask him in a trick question. May a Jewish-Christian use a pagan coin that has the image of Caesar. Loyalty to the Governor was indicated by paying taxes, and if the tax was to be paid it could only be paid by pagan coins. So Jesus asks for a coin. A Pharisee who was opposed to the paying of the tax gives Jesus a coin. He is one of the persons who was opposed to using the coin who takes one out of his pocket and gives it to Jesus.

Jesus is in a catch 22 situation. If he refuses the coin, he will be in trouble with the Roman authorities. If he says it is OK to use such a coin, he will be in trouble with most of his followers. Jesus then traps them in their argument. Jesus tells them: Give to the government what belongs to the government, but give to God what belongs to God. The pharisees were concerned about obeying the letter of the law and did not care about the spirit of the law.

How does this Gospel story affect us today? The context of the question is both political and religious. The tax in question was an annual tax on harvests and personal property. It was used to support the occupation of Jerusalem by the Roman army. Given the area’s poverty, the tax was a burden and resentment ran high.

The First Commandment is clear: we are to have no gods before our God, that is, no god should be ranked above our God. The problem with the coin was the image that accompanied this inscription: “Tiberius Caesar, august and divine son of Augustus, high priest.” The coin was offensive to the Jews, yet it was the coin they had to use to pay the tax. Because of the claim of divinity, many Jews considered even possessing one of these coins to be an act of sacrilege. Jesus did not possess the coin but, ironically, those who were trying to trap Him did.

The word “render” means to give what is due by obligation. Another sense is to repay or pay back. Jesus did not dispute the obligation to pay the tax. What He did was to ask what we are obliged to render unto God. He changed the question from being political to being religious. What should we render to God?

God-and-Caesar conflicts are as present today as they were at the time of Jesus. Today we call it “protecting the separation of Church and State. But at times in our country, this separation has been based on anti-Caholic bigotry. Well meaning persons have often shown their disapproval of government decisions by withholding taxes, by opposition to government sponsored positions on right to life, nuclear war, concern for the poor, and spending for wars. It does not matter whether the government is a democracy or a dictatorship. Yet in many areas the values of Jesus can be those of governments.

Patriotism is a virtue. A good Christian should be a good American, a good citizen. A good Christian should be willing to stand up for and even fight for the values that make America great: freedom, liberty, the rights of people, particularly the most needy of our society, the poor, infirm, disadvantaged. Ameicans must feel a deep and personal responsibility for the actions of their elected leaders whether local or national. As patriotic Americans, we need to participate in the affairs of our government responsibly and intelligently so that our public policies may reflect the wisdom and justice of God. When government seeks to provide for the life of all its citizens from conception to natural death, it is doing the work of God. Jesus’ response tells us that one’s citizenship does not have to be at odds with one’s faith.

Patriotism as a virtue means keeping the proper order of Christian priorities. The old expression “My country right or wrong but my country,” is not right for the Catholic when that means participating in immoral acts. For example, the Catholic would be wrong to support and fight for abortion simply because abortion is a law of our country.

In the scene with the Pharisees, we see that Jesus is involved in the realities of the political and religious situation of his nation and his people. He is not intimidated by power. He calls his adversaries hypocrites to their face even though he knows the result will ultimately be his arrest and execution. We have the right and the responsibility to apply a moral litmus test to the dictates of our nation. The people of Germany did not do this in their own country during the last century and closed an eye to Nazi anti-Semitism.

The Pharisees had it all wrong. There is no contradiction between the choice of Caesar or God. At least, there is no contradiction when we are determined to instill, foster and support morality in the actions of our government. My “God bless America.” and may we mean what we sing and ask God to direct our nation.