Corpus Christi Blog

Give to God what is God's

10-19-2014HomiliesFr. Chad King

Our Gospel today continues right after the Gospels of the past couple of weeks in which Jesus was using the parables to call the Pharisees and elders of the Jewish faith out of their stubborn pride, and so naturally they were feeling on edge and defensive.  And instead of humbling themselves, in our Gospel the Pharisees try to denounce Jesus by lessening the influence he was having.  Although at first they compliment Jesus in his teachings, they were really looking for a way to trap Jesus and discredit his teaching, and thus turn a group of people away from following him.  The Pharisees brought the Herodians to Jesus to try and trap him in what he would say. 

The Herodians were a group of Jews who were loyal to King Herod and the Roman Government. They asked Jesus if it was lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not? If Jesus would say that paying the tax is not important, then he would win over the group of Jews who didn’t want to pay allegiance to the Roman government, but at the same time alienate still another group of Jews, as well as set himself against the government. On the other hand, if Jesus would have said that it is necessary to pay tax and give allegiance to the government then that would lessen his religious credibility and his status as a man of God, and he would be seen as just a man who acted like a man of God but who really was just using that to gain power. By asking this either/or question the Pharisees thought that Jesus would trap himself and thus his teachings would not be so influential and at least one group would stop following him. So you see, the Pharisees were playing the political game of leverage; the game which is usually played by trying to discredit their opponent, a game that is still played today, and whoever discredits their opponent the most has the most leverage and so wins the authority and influence. But Jesus knew the game they were playing, and refused to play it. Instead Jesus gave one of the greatest one liners in all of Scripture, a one liner which amazed the Pharisees and sent them away to scheme another plan.

This one powerful line is what I want to talk about in my homily.  I usually like to talk about more than one reading, and certainly more than one line in my message for the homily, but this one line says so much and is too powerful by itself.   Jesus says, “repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God”.  Before some of you might want to tune me out now and not want me to mix religion with politics, saying that I should stay on my religious side and not get into politics, please know that I would never just talk about politics, and I would certainly never directly tell you who to vote for.  After all, Jesus himself didn’t take sides, he didn’t alienate one group, instead he answers their question by saying both allegiance to country and to God are good and important.  Jesus says that both politics and religion have their role and value in society, and both have their proper place.  Saint Pope John Paul II has said that no priest should run for political office, and their expertise should not be political in nature.  However, it was the same John Paul II that spoke out against the Communist government and upheld the dignity of every human person.  The role of the government is to enact laws, the Church stays out of the arena of making laws.  However, the government is to make and enforce laws that are for the common good, so every human person in society can live in a healthy and just environment.  And the Church as well stands to uphold the good of every person in society.  So although each have their proper role, religion and politics are not mutually separate.  In fact, the Catechism of the Catholic Church states, “It is the duty of citizens to contribute along with the civil authorities to the good of society in a spirit of truth, justice, solidarity, and freedom”.  It is, and should be the goal and purpose of both religion and politics to help instill a good and healthy society. 

We know though, that we don’t live in a perfect or healthy society.  There are a lot of matters that are not black and white and are difficult to decide upon, and the Church wants to be a guiding light when deciding right from wrong and how respect every human person.  Throughout the centuries, whether it has been human slavery, the actions of Hitler, to the similar current injustices against humanity today like abortion, euthanasia, and so-called “homosexual marriages”, the Church has tried to support politicians when enacting laws that are good for all, as well as stand up against unjust and undignifying actions; always echoing the voice of God calling the people back to the truth and to repent from their misconceptions.

My brothers and sisters, I raise those examples not to bash the government, but to show that abortion and homosexual unions are not just political issues, they are human issues, they are societal issues.  Those issues were issues in humanity way before they were political issues of today, and so the Church cannot be silent.  Just as no one condemns the Church today for speaking against the cruel treatment of slaves or the discriminatory actions of Hitler of the past, so I believe the future generations will thank the Church for being the voice of reason, the voice of truth and justice today.  And let me be clear, the Church is not discriminating against active homosexuals, just as the Church never demanded homosexual living be made illegal.  The Church welcomes those who are struggling with that kind of attraction.  The Church wants homosexuals to be happy, we are just saying that all people will not be truly happy by acting out sexually.  And although the Church is accused for being discriminatory, the Church is standing against the current discrimination of children.  The Church stands for the rights of every human person equally, including the children who are unborn and the children who will be better off being raised by a mother and a father.  The Church is simply saying that laws should respect the rights of the children, born and unborn, equally to the rights of the parents.  Even in the face of being persecuted, like she is now by the government, the Church has the obligation to stand for the rights and dignity of every human person and the duty to help establish a just and healthy society, which she does.  In fact, all the laws of God are to do just that, to help establish a just and healthy society.  So what have you done to stand up against abortion or so called homosexual unions, and all the many ways human dignity is not regarded, you and I will be held accountable for our actions and our inactions.

Jesus didn’t tell the Herodians that they cannot or should not pay any allegiance to the government, he said it is good and necessary to give to the government what is the government’s, as long as they first give to God what is God’s.  Sure paying taxes to help maintain a balanced society, and to serve to protect the freedom this government gives us is a good thing.  One should give to the government what is the governments, but to give to God what is Gods as well.  But what belongs to God- in a word, everything.  Everything belongs to God.  Mine, and yours, and each person’s every breath, the dignity simply because they are made by God and for God.  God has given us life.  And so we should give to God what is God’s, we should give our lives over to him.  His will, his laws, are what are good for us, they are what help establish a healthy society.  But not only has God given us life, God has given us the blessing of being an American and enjoying the human freedoms that we have.  So give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, but give to God what is God’s.  Be proud to be an American, support our government in the good it does, stand up for the injustices that it is confused upon.  Yes, be a politician if God has given you that passion, vote and be proud to be an American; but do so as if you belong to God first. Give to God what is Gods and stand for the dignity of every human life, and let his laws and his truth influence what it means to be an American.

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