November 19^th 2017. Thirty-Third Sunday of Ordinary Time

GOSPEL: Matthew 25, 14-30

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio

Don Fabio’s reflection follows the Gospel reading ...

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GOSPEL: Matthew 25, 14-30

Jesus told his disciples this parable:
"A man going on a journey
called in his servants and entrusted his possessions to them.
To one he gave five talents; to another, two; to a third, one--
to each according to his ability. 
Then he went away.
Immediately the one who received five talents went and traded with them,
and made another five.
Likewise, the one who received two made another two. 
But the man who received one went off and dug a hole in the ground
and buried his master's money.

After a long time
the master of those servants came back
and settled accounts with them.
The one who had received five talents came forward
bringing the additional five. 
He said, 'Master, you gave me five talents. 
See, I have made five more.'
His master said to him, 'Well done, my good and faithful servant. 
Since you were faithful in small matters,
I will give you great responsibilities. 
Come, share your master's joy.'
Then the one who had received two talents also came forward and said,
'Master, you gave me two talents. 
See, I have made two more.'
His master said to him, 'Well done, my good and faithful servant. 
Since you were faithful in small matters,
I will give you great responsibilities.
Come, share your master's joy.'
Then the one who had received the one talent came forward and said, 
'Master, I knew you were a demanding person,
harvesting where you did not plant
and gathering where you did not scatter;
so out of fear I went off and buried your talent in the ground. 
Here it is back.'
His master said to him in reply, 'You wicked, lazy servant!
So you knew that I harvest where I did not plant
and gather where I did not scatter? 
Should you not then have put my money in the bank
so that I could have got it back with interest on my return? 
Now then! Take the talent from him and give it to the one with ten. 
For to everyone who has,
more will be given and he will grow rich;
but from the one who has not,
even what he has will be taken away.
And throw this useless servant into the darkness outside,
where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.'

The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

Kieran’s summary . . . In the Gospel, a man is about to embark on a journey and he entrusts his servants with five talents, two talents and one talent respectively. At the time of Jesus, a talent was worth 33 kilos of gold – a genuine fortune! This man is giving his entire wealth to his servants! This makes us think immediately of the Lord Jesus who bestows on us incredible gifts and immeasurable graces. But why do some people respond well to God’s gifts, while others respond in a mediocre and half-hearted way? The answer is given by the third servant. He tells the master than he buried the talent because he was afraid of him. “You are a demanding master, sowing where you do not reap”. This attitude to God is at the root of our mediocrity. We do not enter into the grace that Jesus gives us because we are suspicious of the Lord. We think that he is really looking for something from us! We suspect that God is only giving to us so that he can get something from us that we really don’t want to give. This image of God is unfounded and offensive! The Lord has emptied himself for us, but out of his infinite generosity, not so that he can gain something in return! It is true that he wishes us to respond, however, if he is to bestow even more blessings on us. That is why the first two servants receive even more bounty because they “were faithful in small matters”. This Sunday let us banish from our minds the image of a demanding God and reflect on his love and mercy.

The readings speak of God’s invitation to use the gifts he has given us. Some respond well to God’s call and others do not respond at all. Why?

In the first reading we hear of an industrious lady who is able to achieve wonderful things from that which is allotted to her. The reading holds up the beauty of fruitful works, and the joy they bring to others. It is a privilege to work and it one of the things that gives meaning to our lives. The Gospel reading presents the famous parable of the talents in which a number of people are called to work. We hear of people who accept their call to work and manage to produce wonderful results, and we hear of another who does not respond to the call. How can we understand the reasons behind these contrasting attitudes?

A man distributes enormous wealth to his servants. The Lord Jesus, similarly, gives us immeasurable gifts

A man is embarking on a journey and he decides to distribute his goods: five talents, two talents and one talent, according to the capacities of the recipients. But just how much is a talent? If we go to any Bible with tables of information at the back, we will discover that, at the time of Jesus, a talent corresponded to 33 kilos of gold. Thus, we are talking about a real fortune. The man has handed over his entire wealth to these men. Of course, this man is to be compared to the Lord Jesus. Jesus does not give us small favours. He entrusts us with immense gifts, with unlimited graces, with the power of the sacraments - which is enormous in comparison to the smallness of our lives. So we receive these immeasurable gifts from God and some of us put these gifts to work. Often we meet people who have received some special grace from the Church or from Divine Providence, and they have entered into this grace. But why do some people not enter into the grace that they have been given? Even the man who received one talent has received something virtually immeasurable. What prevents him from using it?

The servant does not use what the master has given him because he fears the master. He thinks that the master is not really giving him a genuine gift but is actually demanding something difficult from him

Let us examine the psychology of this servant when the master speaks to him. The servant replies, “I know that you are a demanding person, reaping where you do not sow and gathering where you do not scatter. I was afraid and went and hid your talent under the ground. Here it is back”. The servant is afraid to enter into the great affairs of God because he is afraid of God! This is what makes people mediocre, and indeed this servant is an image of the mediocre Christian, the person who does not open the doors, who does things in a tepid and half-hearted way. Why does this person fear God? Because he thinks that God’s gifts are just ways of camouflaging demands, that God’s gifts are really traps. If God is calling me to an encounter with grace, perhaps it is because he wants to exploit me?  He wants to gather where he has not scattered. He is demanding and wants more from me than he will ultimately give.

The servant’s image of his master is the same mistaken image that many of us have of God. We think God is looking for something from us. God does not deserve this image! He is fundamentally someone who gives to us without end. He only wants us to respond to him so that he can give us even more!

This servant highlights a mistaken image of God. We tend to think of God as someone who appears to be giving us a talent, but who knows what he really wants? We look on God with suspicion. The Lord, with all his generosity, does not deserve to have this image! With all of us God is patient and generous, the very opposite to demanding. The mercy of God covers so many of our faults! If the Lord really kept an account of our deeds, who would be saved? The image of God presented by the servant as a demanding and pretentious tyrant is aberrant and unacceptable. It is the image of a God who wants something from us. Do we really think God needs anything from us? What could we give him? But when God gives to us it is only so that he can give us even more. In the case of the other two servants, the master replies, “You have been faithful in small matters”. For the Lord, the enormous quantity represented by the talents is nothing; he has so much more that he wishes to give us! When he offers something, it is solely out of generosity, not because he wants something in return.

This Sunday let us reflect on the generosity and patience of God and banish from our minds the image of a God who is demanding and vengeful

This Sunday let us enter into the truth about our heavenly Father, that which is revealed to us in the Lord Jesus Christ, who is gratuity in person. Jesus holds nothing back and gives everything for us, even offering up his life on our account. We have no grounds for reasoning in the suspicious manner of the third servant. Why are we mediocre? Because we are suspicious of God and we therefore do not abandon ourselves to him. Mediocrity is widely diffused in Christianity and is fundamentally derived from an offensive and unacceptable image of God.

November 12^th 2017. Thirty-Second Sunday of Ordinary Time

GOSPEL: Matthew 25, 1-13

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio

Don Fabio’s reflection follows the Gospel reading ...

(Check us out on Facebook – Sunday Gospel Reflection)

GOSPEL: Matthew 25, 1-13

Jesus told his disciples this parable:
"The kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins
who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.
Five of them were foolish and five were wise.
The foolish ones, when taking their lamps,
brought no oil with them,
but the wise brought flasks of oil with their lamps.
Since the bridegroom was long delayed,
they all became drowsy and fell asleep.
At midnight, there was a cry,
'Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!'
Then all those virgins got up and trimmed their lamps.
The foolish ones said to the wise,
'Give us some of your oil,
for our lamps are going out.'
But the wise ones replied,
'No, for there may not be enough for us and you.
Go instead to the merchants and buy some for yourselves.'
While they went off to buy it,
the bridegroom came
and those who were ready went into the wedding feast with him.
Then the door was locked.
Afterwards the other virgins came and said,
'Lord, Lord, open the door for us!'
But he said in reply,
'Amen, I say to you, I do not know you.'
Therefore, stay awake,
for you know neither the day nor the hour."

The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

Kieran’s summary . . . The Gospel presents ten people to us: five of them invest everything in order to encounter their Spouse, whilst the other five expect to encounter Him without making any preparation. How often we trip along in life, improvising and hoping to land on our feet! This Gospel teaches us that we must make an effort to be open and receptive to the grace of the Lord. Too often we are absorbed in our own projects and in our own times and we are not attentive to the times of the Lord. The Lord may be planning an important appointment with me today, a chance to enable me to make an important step forward in life. But if I am absorbed in myself, then how can I hear the Lord or be ready for him when the moment arrives? God is generous with his grace, but we must be generous with our time and resources if we are to receive his grace. The five wise virgins invest themselves in the hoped-for encounter. They bring significant reserves of oil so that they will be ready for their spouse when he comes. In the same way we must invest ourselves in being attentive to the Lord; we must be ready to abandon our self-absorbed projects if we are to allow the plan of God for me to be realised.

In order to encounter God we must make ourselves available to him. God makes appointments with us every day and we must be receptive if we are going to enter into those encounters.

Both the first reading and the Gospel for Sunday speak of an encounter. The first reading from the book of Wisdom tells us that those who make an effort to seek wisdom will find her without any difficulty. Certain acts will enable us to find wisdom. This is more or less the story of how grace works. The grace of God is not an imposition from above. Rather, it is something that must be encountered. It requires reciprocal action from us, the efforts of searching for grace and welcoming grace. Grace is not forced upon us, but when we welcome it and begin to dialogue with the Holy Spirit, then grace begins to enter even more powerfully into our hearts. Life is all about relationship, and we are called to be attentive in our dealings with God. The events that confront us every day can be thought of as divine appointments in which we meet our true spouse.

To receive grace we must be attentive to the times and seasons of God, and this requires abandoning our own times and seasons.

The Gospel, in fact, is that of the ten wise virgins and ten foolish virgins who are on their way to the wedding feast. The Kingdom of Heaven is like an unusual appointment in which we are challenged to be prepared in the correct manner. The virgins each have lamps because the meeting with the bridegroom could well happen in the dead of night. The meeting that is spoken about here is the very kind of meeting that gives meaning to life. When one raises a child, there are certain moments in life when certain things can be accomplished, and only during those moments. There is a time when it is essential to speak to our children because the time may come when they will not listen any more. To love a woman for all of her life requires being able to respect her times and seasons. This can be very difficult for a man to understand. Woman often have many things going on in their minds simultaneously whilst men tend to focus on one issue at any one time. To enter into grace, we must be attentive to the times and seasons of God. The prophet Isaiah writes, “Seek the Lord whilst he is to be found; call on him while he is near”. To do that, it is essential to abandon our own ways - our ways are not his.

If I am a slave to my own self-absorption then I will not hear the Lord when he knocks on my door on a daily basis

These ten girls must enter into the rhythm of encounter with the bridegroom. It is in a sense the secret of life. The times of the Lord do not correspond to my hurried way of doing things. If I am to be of service to someone, then I need to be attentive to the times of that person, not the times of my schedule. In the parable, all of the girls fall asleep. But it was only the foolish ones who did not expect the waiting time to be so long and had no oil with them. They expected a quick outcome for their efforts, an instant entry into the marriage banquet. But in reality waiting was necessary. When we are enslaved by our own self-absorption, encapsulated within our own times, then we do things purely according to our own way of looking at things. The other person does not enter into our reckoning. Life, however, is full of unexpected things. Our Spouse arrives at unexpected times. He calls us whenever he calls us. The wise virgins have placed themselves at his disposal. They have kept a reserve of oil apart, and this enables them to enter into a relationship of love.

God is generous with his grace, but we must be generous in return if we are to receive his grace. Today the Lord might have planned an appointment with me, a gift that will enable me to make an important step in life, but how can I meet the Lord and receive his gift if I am so absorbed in my own projects?

It is important to be less mean that we are usually. We must place everything we have at the disposal of the Lord. The foolish girls made no preparation whilst the wise girls invested themselves in preparation for this relationship. The Gospel of Luke speaks of being dressed for action and with our lamps burning. This is not an attitude that we embrace for one day or every now and then: it is an attitude that must be permanent. Unfortunately we tend to improvise, to stumble along and hope to fall on our feet. The plan of God has been prepared from eternity to save us all and it is a generous plan. We need to be open to receive this generosity, to encounter the Lord in the things and events of life with total availability on our part. The five women are received into a spousal relationship with the Lord whilst the others remain outside. They were already outside in the sense that they did not attribute importance to this encounter, they did not prepare themselves for it as if it were something vital for them. Every day might be a day in which the Lord calls us, but not simply in the biological sense. God might call me today to make an important step forward in life, to enter into something truly new. We must be ready, we must put all of our oil at his disposal and be ready to abandon every single project of ours in order to allow God’s plan for us to be realised.

November 5^th 2017. Thirty-first Sunday of Ordinary Time

GOSPEL: Matthew 23, 1-12

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio

Don Fabio’s reflection follows the Gospel reading ...

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GOSPEL: Matthew 23, 1-12

Jesus spoke to the crowds and to his disciples, saying,
"The scribes and the Pharisees
have taken their seat on the chair of Moses. 
Therefore, do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you,
but do not follow their example. 
For they preach but they do not practice. 
They tie up heavy burdens hard to carry
and lay them on people's shoulders, 
but they will not lift a finger to move them. 
All their works are performed to be seen. 
They widen their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels. 
They love places of honour at banquets, seats of honour in synagogues,
greetings in marketplaces, and the salutation 'Rabbi.'
As for you, do not be called 'Rabbi.'
You have but one teacher, and you are all brothers. 
Call no one on earth your father;
you have but one Father in heaven.
Do not be called 'Master';
you have but one master, the Christ. 
The greatest among you must be your servant.
Whoever exalts himself will be humbled;
but whoever humbles himself will be exalted."

The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

Kieran’s summary . . . This Gospel sets before us the image of the Pharisee, a person who knows how to talk piously but who does not know how to act. Reflection on this figure challenges us to make a distinction that is of fundamental importance in life: we often understand the right thing to do; we can express it well in words; but the fundamental thing is to do it. "They talk but they do not act" - this is the terrible condemnation from the Gospel that can be justly applied to many of us. To summarize Don Fabio’s homily, let us reflect on the answers we would give to the following questions:

1. Who benefits from our pious talk: the Lord, or ourselves?

2. What brings true happiness: the praise of others, or acts of love and service?

3. What is of greater value: a single act of love, or an entire convention on theology?

4. Are we asked to choose the tree of knowing/talking, or the tree of living/doing?

5. Was redemption won for us by words, or by a concrete act on the part of Christ?

We do not need to look too far to discern what act of obedience we are asked to accomplish in any given moment. The Lord constantly reveals to all of us our next opportunity for doing, obeying, loving, serving; for going beyond the little cubicle we live in. Do such acts make our lives difficult or dull? No, on the contrary, they bring fulfilment and happiness. Such acts of obedience represent the firm ground upon which we can stand securely amid the swamps of our existence.

The Pharisee as an example of one who knows how to talk but does not act

This Gospel sets before us the paradoxical image of the Pharisee, a person who knows how to talk piously but who does not know how to act. Reflection on this figure challenges us to make a distinction that is of fundamental importance in life: we often understand the right thing to do; we can express it well in words; but the fundamental thing is to do it. "They talk but they do not act" - this is the terrible condemnation from the Gospel that can be justly applied to many of us.

Who benefits from our pious talk, the Lord or ourselves?

At the end of the passage we are confronted with the issue of who the real master is when it comes to spiritual matters. Real teachers always have something to learn; are always capable of being surprised; and are always in danger of being shaken from their own certainties and awoken to things that are more authentic. If, instead, a person lives for the admiration of others; covets the most privileged places at public functions; loves being greeted in public with honourable titles; then his real master is not God but his own status. He has lost his grip on what is essential in life. He may be able to speak about love, but is not able to love; he can wax eloquently about the importance of service, but he may have never served anyone in his life.

Acts of love and service bring true happiness, whilst the praise of others is of little use

It is commonplace to seek honour and admiration from others. But does it bring one jot of real happiness? The Pharisee knows how to speak well and gain the admiration of others, but the fact that he does not know how to act means that his life is an empty and unfulfilled one. What does it count in life if a person is given tributes and honour that are empty? What use is the attention of others and praise for achievements that are not authentic? It is no use at all! One might think that a life dedicated to service is a life of drudgery, but in reality it is a far more beautiful and fulfilling life. If we think of it, we will realise that every time we have sought to obey God we have been happy. Every time we have tried in the slightest way to follow the Gospel we have experienced healing, grace, and peace that cannot be obtained by mere words.

A single act of love is of more value than an entire convention on theology!

The inspiration of this Gospel should lead us to make a definite change of direction in life.  It should encourage us to stop talking and start acting. A single act of love towards God or neighbour is of more value than an entire theological conference. Of this there can be no shadow of doubt. To seek to obey God and to be faithful to his word is of much greater value than anything we might do of a theoretical sort. Real life is made up of concrete things. Love itself is not an idea but an act. Service is not an abstract thing but a concrete attitude, an exercise of the noblest characteristics of our being. To seek admiration for our pious words, whilst failing to act, is to waste time on one of the most useless exercises of our existence.

Redemption was won for us by an act on the part of Christ, not by words

The desire to understand whilst refusing to act is an ancient contradiction that goes back to the beginning of man. In the Garden of Eden there were two trees, the tree of understanding, and the tree of living. Man was destined for the tree of living/doing, but instead he chose the tree of understanding/calculating/pondering, and in this way he lost the tree of living. In order to bring healing to a person, it is of little use explaining things that may be genuinely beautiful in themselves. In the end, it is concrete action on the part of another that brings healing to a person's being. That which heals all of us is not a discourse, but an act. Christ, after many acts of teaching, finally submits himself in obedience to the Father. Our redemption was accomplished by a concrete act, not mere words that may have been wonderful in themselves.

Acts of obedience to the Lord bring meaning and stability to our lives

We do not need to look too far to discern what act of obedience we are asked to accomplish in any given moment. The Lord constantly reveals to all of us our next opportunity for doing, obeying, loving, serving; for going beyond the little cubicle we live in. Do such acts make our lives difficult or dull? No, on the contrary, they bring fulfilment and happiness. Such acts of obedience represent the firm ground upon which we can stand securely amid the swamps of our existence.

October 29^th 2017. Thirtieth Sunday of Ordinary Time

GOSPEL: Matthew 22, 34-40

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio

Don Fabio’s reflection follows the Gospel reading ...

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GOSPEL: Matthew 22, 34-40

When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees,
they gathered together, and one of them,
a scholar of the law tested him by asking,
"Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?"
He said to him,
"You shall love the Lord, your God,
with all your heart,
with all your soul,
and with all your mind.
This is the greatest and the first commandment.
The second is like it:
You shall love your neighbour as yourself.
The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments."

The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

Kieran’s summary . . . In the Gospel, Jesus proclaims the two most important commandments. In reality they are a single commandment because love of God is inseparable from love of neighbour. But how important are these commandments, really? Maybe it is possible to live a good life without loving God and neighbour? Maybe love of God and neighbour is just an optional extra that helps to enhance our lives? No! Without love of God and neighbour we cannot live authentically. And it not just any kind of “love”. We are to love with our entire hearts, souls and minds. These three faculties represent the completeness of the human person in Biblical anthropology. Our love must be deep and complete, otherwise it is not authentic. If I say that I will love my spouse up to a certain point, then my love is not genuine. It is merely a matter of convenience that ultimately will take second place to my real self-absorbed interests when the going gets tough. Jesus calls us to complete, authentic love. He is the origin and source of love. His grace makes love of God and love of neighbour possible.

The Old Testament reading seems life-threatening, but only because the Lord wishes to show that his law is essential for life in the authentic sense.

The first reading from the Book of Exodus has instructions for the care and good treatment that should be shown towards the stranger, the widow and orphan, and those who are impoverished. In the Gospel we have the proclamation of the greatest commandment of all: “Love the Lord with all your heart, soul and mind”. The second commandment, Jesus says, is similar: “Love your neighbour as yourself”. There are many resonances between the Old Testament reading and the Gospel, but there is one aspect that is disconcerting. The first reading tells us that if we do not respect the widow and orphan then the anger of the Lord will flare up and he will kill us with the sword. Then our wives will be widows and our children orphans! This reading speaks of a vengeful intervention of God. The language of the law that we find frequently in the books of Exodus and Leviticus often has a threatening aspect, and we tend to find it off-putting. But such threatening words have an important significance in these legal texts. The Lord who governs history wishes to show that these laws are the laws of life. If one disobeys one of these laws, then he cuts himself off from life. These laws are not the legalistic regulations of a God who asks for meaningless regulations to be followed for obscure reasons. No, these laws give life to human beings and outside of these laws there is no life, in the authentic sense.

Are the commandments that Jesus gives us simply aids to living a better life? No, they are essential if we are to have life in the true sense of the word.

Now let us consider the words of the Gospel. A scholar of the law asks Jesus to give a synthesis of the Law, a pointer to the core instruction that must be followed. In response, Jesus gives the first commandment and then adds on a second commandment regarding love of neighbour. The importance of this second commandment was already recognized in the rabbinic literature of the time, so what Jesus is saying is not a huge novelty, but he is unifying the two commandments and stating that love of God and love of neighbour are inseparable aspects of the same thing. In the light of the first reading, we can appreciate better that these commandments are fundamental for authentic life. We might be inclined to think that love of God and love of neighbour are not fundamental to life. It seems possible to go on with our lives whilst ignoring God and neighbour. But the language of the legal texts of the Old Testament tell us that we cannot live if we are not obedient to these requirements. We can live in a biological sense without loving God with our entire heart, soul and mind. We can survive, carry on, adapt ourselves to a lower form of existence, but true life, life in the fullest sense, is simply impossible without the act of loving God and neighbour. Is the requirement to love God and neighbour some kind of optional extra? No it is absolutely necessary.

Our lives must be suffused with love of God and neighbour, but not love in a weak sense, love in a radical sense. All of our heart, all of our soul, all of our mind - these three faculties represent human completeness in the biblical sense.

The radical nature of the love spoken of by Jesus is expressed by the stipulation to love God with all of our heart, all of our mind and all of our soul. These human faculties represent completeness in the anthropology of the Bible. If love is not complete then it is not authentic. If I say that I will love this person for as long as it suits me, or up until a certain point of extremity, then such “love” is not genuine. It is something that I may or may not do, depending on the gravity of the situation. It is necessary not just to love, but to love authentically! It is fundamental for our happiness and is not an optional extra. Woe to us if we present God as something beneficial but not absolutely necessary for true life. And all of this applies equally to love of neighbour because it is the same act as that of loving God. Just as we cannot live without loving God, neither can we live in a complete sense without loving our neighbour. Our existence must be suffused with love if it is to be genuine. And we need to love in the deepest way, in a serious way, right to the end. This is not an appendix to our being but it is what constitutes our being. Let us cling to God so that he can teach us how to love! We need the grace that his love bestows upon us in order to forge relationships of genuine love with our neighbour. In Him alone is the root and origin of this necessity to love.

October 22^nd 2017. Twenty Ninth Sunday of Ordinary Time

GOSPEL: Matthew 22, 15-21

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio

Don Fabio’s reflection follows the Gospel reading ...

(Check us out on Facebook – Sunday Gospel Reflection)

GOSPEL: Matthew 22, 15-21

The Pharisees went off
and plotted how they might entrap Jesus in speech.
They sent their disciples to him, with the Herodians, saying,
"Teacher, we know that you are a truthful man
and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth.
And you are not concerned with anyone's opinion,
for you do not regard a person's status.
Tell us, then, what is your opinion:
Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?"
Knowing their malice, Jesus said,
"Why are you testing me, you hypocrites?
Show me the coin that pays the census tax."
Then they handed him the Roman coin.
He said to them, "Whose image is this and whose inscription?"
They replied, "Caesar's."
At that he said to them,
"Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar
and to God what belongs to God."

The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

Kieran’s summary . . . Is Jesus telling us that the secular realm and the realm of faith are two separate jurisdictions altogether? Is he telling us to turn our backs on the world and practice our faith in private, in separation from the world? The first reading sheds some light on this question. It tells how a Persian king – who did not even know God – was used by God to bring freedom to the people of Israel. God’s providence is working all the time in the world! The early Christians knew the meaning of Jesus’ statement, “Give to Caesar what is of Caesar and to God what is of God”. They respected the political structures of the Romans and lived peaceful lives, but they refused to make sacrifice to the Emperor. They did not give him what rightfully belonged only to God, and they were willing to die as a result. We too are called by Jesus in this Gospel to give to God what belongs to God, even while we are living in the world. Jesus is not asking us to turn our backs on the world, but to keep God our priority in our dealings with the world. Even if we enter a monastery, we can still have hearts that belong to Caesar! The invitation being extended to each one of us this Sunday is to belong only to God, to have hearts that are owned by him. When we act in the world, our hearts must remain his only. We must not budge one centimetre from him.

Is Jesus telling us that the realm of Caesar and the realm of God are two separate kingdoms altogether?

At first sight, this Gospel seems to put God and Caesar into contraposition. The Pharisees are trying to trap Jesus, so they ask him a question about the tribute tax that was due to the Romans. Whatever answer Jesus gives, the Pharisees surmise, will lead him into trouble. If he says not to pay the tax, then he can be reported to the Roman authorities. But if he says to pay it, then he will seem a mere servant of the Romans. Jesus chooses neither option but offers his own solution to the question: "Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God." Is Jesus saying that the jurisdiction of Caesar and the jurisdiction of God are two separate realms altogether?

As the first reading demonstrates, God is active in the world of Caesar as well. These are not two separate realms. In all of our dealings with the realm of Caesar we are asked to place God at the heart of our activity

The first reading from Isaiah 45 gives us a new perspective on this question. The passage recounts God’s call of the Persian king Cyrus to free the people of Israel from their exile in Babylon. But there is no evidence that Cyrus ever became a believer in the God of Israel. Nevertheless, through their faith in the work of God’s providence in history, the people of Israel saw Cyrus as one anointed by God to free them from their seventy years of oppression. As the first reading says, Cyrus was called by God even though he himself was unaware of it. Cyrus may not have had a direct personal relationship with God, yet he was given this role in history by the Lord. Isn’t it curious that this first reading unifies the jurisdictions of Caesar and God? In the first centuries of the Church, the Romans killed many Christians, even though the first believers were in no way subversive to the political fabric of the empire. They were persecuted because they refused to give priority to the state Gods. The only law they broke was their refusal to sacrifice to the Emperor. In other words, they did not give to Caesar what was rightfully due to God, but they did render onto Caesar the things that were properly his.

We are asked to be in the world but not be of the world

Just as we saw in the first reading, it is not a simple question of separating the realms of Caesar and God. The hand of God can help bring salvation through a secular power such as that of Cyrus. The Gospel does not ask us to turn our backs completely on the world. We are called to do a more difficult thing, something that Christians have always done: be in the world but not be of the world. We don’t have to go somewhere else but be of God here and now. Every day we must ask ourselves: “Who am I for? Who do I belong to? What is my heart attached to?” In the worldly things that I encounter every day, the important thing is that my heart belongs to God and does not budge one centimetre from him. This is completely different to a schizophrenic approach to reality where God is pitted against Caesar. True, it is hard to be with God when I am in the midst of other things, but this is what we are all called to, even those who live the monastic life. Some people think that the religious life enables a complete separation from the world. But the world comes with us into the cloister, it is written in every act of ours. Even in the cloister, our hearts can be with Caesar, but what we are called to is to have a heart that is only for God.

The person of flesh and the person of Spirit are not two different people. Under the influence of the Holy Spirit, we are called to serve God with our flesh and with everything that we are

We are called to live in the real world whilst continually evaluating that reality according to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. This style of life does not cast the world away but welcomes it with the love of God. The world and God are not in counter position, but we are challenged to interact with the world according to the workings of grace. St Paul speaks of the person of flesh and the person of Spirit. These are not two different persons. We can be obedient to the flesh or obedient to the Holy Spirit. When we are obedient to the Holy Spirit then we do so with our entire flesh and with everything that we are. This saying of Jesus, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s” is fundamentally an invitation to make the Lord our priority in everything, to belong to him and to no one else, to be someone who is united to the Lord, who loves him and puts him first.