Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 145
Reading 1
Thus
says the LORD to his anointed, Cyrus,
whose right hand I grasp,
subduing nations before him,
and making kings run in his service,
opening doors before him
and leaving the gates unbarred:
For the sake of Jacob, my servant,
of Israel, my chosen one,
I have called you by your name,
giving you a title, though you knew me not.
I am the LORD and there is no other,
there is no God besides me.
It is I who arm you, though you know me not,
so that toward the rising and the setting of the sun
people may know that there is none besides me.
I am the LORD, there is no other.
Responsorial Psalm
R. (7b) Give the Lord glory and honor.
Sing to the LORD a new song;
sing to the LORD, all you lands.
Tell his glory among the nations;
among all peoples, his wondrous deeds.
R. Give the Lord glory and honor.
For great is the LORD and highly to be praised;
awesome is he, beyond all gods.
For all the gods of the nations are things of nought,
but the LORD made the heavens.
R. Give the Lord glory and honor.
Give to the LORD, you families of nations,
give to the LORD glory and praise;
give to the LORD the glory due his name!
Bring gifts, and enter his courts.
R. Give the Lord glory and honor.
Worship the LORD, in holy attire;
tremble before him, all the earth;
say among the nations: The LORD is king,
he governs the peoples with equity.
R. Give the Lord glory and honor.
Reading 2
Paul,
Silvanus, and Timothy to the church of the Thessalonians
in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
grace to you and peace.
We give thanks to God always for all of you,
remembering you in our prayers,
unceasingly calling to mind your work of faith and labor of love
and endurance in hope of our Lord Jesus Christ,
before our God and Father,
knowing, brothers and sisters loved by God,
how you were chosen.
For our gospel did not come to you in word alone,
but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with much conviction.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Shine like lights in the world
as you hold on to the word of life.
R. Alleluia, alleluia
Gospel
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."
MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS,
There are some things in our life that we might find ourselves doing out of obligation. We have to work so as to earn money to pay bills and eat. We need to contribute to society so that society can function. There are laws to obey and things to do to advance ourselves. We then have the demands of our faith and those things we do because God has asked us to do them. Sometimes these things overlap and at other times they remain separate. We are reminded in the Gospel Reading today that part of being a good Christian is that we are asked to excel in all things that we do and fulfill all obligations that are asked of us. We are not revolutionaries. If we are acting out our faith-life correctly rarely will any of the demands put on us come into conflict with each other. Being a good citizen is part of being a good Christian. In fact it can be argued that being a good Christian makes us a better citizen of the society we live in and it actually makes it better as a result.
When we see an injustice that injustice can be corrected through the promotion of the Gospels and addressing it through the mechanisms set forth within the society. Knowing that God is above all things we can go forward with the understanding that He will afford us all the protection necessary to persevere in the face of obstacles and opposition. The end result will always be victory through God and triumph through the Will of God. Even when a defeat is perceived it is actually victory for it is when the Church is persecuted that it becomes stronger. There is no need for anxiety, fear, or loathing for what comes next. There should be no worries that our vision of what we want through God might not be fulfilled. God’s Will defeats everything that opposes it. This includes any timetable that we might want to put on things. As long as we are doing God’s Will and not our own then things will turn out correctly.
Everything created by human hands has an expiration date. Everything created by God is eternal. Through Jesus’ death and resurrection even death itself was conquered. We can learn a lesson from the Cycle of the Seasons. Spring brings new life and rebirth. Summer is the climax of life. Autumn foreshadows the coming of the end while winter brings darkness and death. What comes next? Spring then returns with life and beauty. All is renewed. We are a part of this cycle and we will experience rebirth as we journey towards our God. Meanwhile what is created on this earth through the ingenuity of the human mind never escapes an expiration date regardless of its perceived greatness.
The Holy Mother Church is known as The Bride of Christ here on this earth and is a testament to God’s greatness. As long as we operate under the direction of the Church and live our lives with its teachings at the center of our lives we will be able to flourish as it has throughout eternity. It is a mechanism created by Jesus and set into motion throughout eternity. Wherever the people of God were and are there is the Church. Wherever and whenever people gathered and gather in God’s name the Church has manifested and will manifest itself; triumphing over any opposition. It is mystical in nature and thus cannot be destroyed in any physical sense by human power. With the resurrection of Jesus Christ the Church was fully revealed in both its physical and spiritual sense while its presence has always been throughout God’s creation in one form or another. It is being part of the Church where we gain wisdom, knowledge, and understanding which then can deepen our relationship with God.
Living our lives as Christians means that we have accepted the direction of God and have also accepted His will above our own. We live our lives in accordance with His will and fulfill our earthly obligations under His direction and protection. In many ways we live in accordance to society’s dictations but at the same time separate from society because we are answerable to God. We will stand out because of this. We will face ridicule and judgment but also respect and accolades. Whichever it is there should be an understanding that whatever the case may be, suffering or joy, God is indeed with us so nothing can really be against us. We are on a journey to perfection and it is impossible for anything stand in our way except for ourselves.
There will always be a threat of something going wrong but nothing can really go wrong unless we take our will back from God. When this happens we end up turning our back to God. This is when we start sinning and journeying further from God. Crisis starts when our relationship with God is weakened by our own choices and malfeasance. To prevent this we must realize when this is happening and run back to Him. If we look for Him we will find Him. If we ask we will receive from Him everything that we need. Relying on our will and the support from a broken society will only bring about temporary relief that in itself is defective. To achieve perfection God must be embraced because He is perfect. Being with the perfect is the perfect solution to any of our problems.
We have been commissioned by Christ to live our lives guided by Him and by walking with God. Acting accordingly and doing things in God’s name instead of for us will bring about betterment in all things that we say and do in this life and the next.
Deacon Tom
MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS,
The entire universe, including us, belongs to God. He created everything and we were made in His image. This is what we truly believe as Christians. It is the starting point of our faith. Once this is acknowledged, we can then focus on living with Him and experiencing Him. When we put this belief into action and let it mold our lives, it becomes a surrendering to His will and what He wants for us instead of what we want for ourselves.
God reminds us in the First Reading today that He is Lord and there is no other. He also reminds everyone that He was the one who rose up King Cyrus and gave him all the power and might that he held. It was through King Cyrus that God was to be glorified even though Cyrus did not know Him. God chooses us in much the same way. He will use us to reveal His Kingdom to others and display His eternal glory. We become instruments of peace and love. Even when, at times, we do not recognize God’s presence, He is there drawing us to Him and developing the salvation story of us and others. There will be occasions when we are unknowing participants and, when we do acknowledge Him, we then becoming knowing participants. Knowing participants is always better but there is comfort knowing that God is with us even when we become selfish enough to ignore Him.
With our free will, an imperfect society has been built over thousands of years. It started with a broken and faulty foundation designed with the influence of Original Sin, and continued to be built in the same defective manner. God, on the other hand, is perfect and always will be. As citizens of the world, we have to live within this society and have to obey its rules and laws. Yet, at the same time, we are also called to a higher state of being by obeying what God has asked us to do. There are many wrongs in society but there is nothing wrong in the scope of God’s Law and His perfection. All the negative, horror, and sadness have its roots in us and the temptations of evil. There are many times and circumstances where we react to these temptations in the wrong manner and bad things result. Life can and will be unfair. Society is unfair but Jesus tells us that we are not revolutionaries. We make a difference by living and preaching the Christian way of life that Jesus has taught us. It is through this behavior that all peoples we come in contact with will be transformed and the Kingdom of God is then realized.
There are injustices that need to be corrected and we do this in the scope of the framework we live in even though we may be insulted and hurt as a result. When this happens we unify ourselves to the Crucified Christ; continuing to do what He wants us to do in all circumstances. Focusing on perfection in society will bring about disappointment and an emptiness that can never be filled. This society is not forever. Whatever is built will eventually crumble into dust. Only God remains eternal and us with Him.
Every day we should pray and celebrate God. He is the one who brings love into our life and has the ability to right so many wrongs, starting with our own imperfections. We have the ability to live good lives as citizens in this society but do not need to make what society offers the most important thing. Paul tells us in his letter to Timothy that as long as we have clothes to wear and food to eat, nothing else material should matter. As we already know, you cannot serve both God and Mammon.
We know what is God’s and what belongs to man. Us being the property of God demands that we focus on Him above all and return the love that He has for us. When we do this, everything else will fall into place.
Deacon Tom
My sisters and brothers in Christ,
Today’s readings insist that we must be aware that God is at work even in politicians and in those who govern countries. God is truly almighty and is able to bring about good in every situation—even when we or those who govern resist His Word. Always we are called by the Scriptures to acknowledge that God is truly God and all powerful and in charge of all that happens. Such a view of our world does not leave out our own self will by which we choose either to follow the word o God or to reject that word.
The first reading today is from the Prophet Isaiah. This passage tells of the presence of the God of Israel in the life of Cyrus. There are many references to Cyrus in the Old Testament because it was under Cyrus that the Babylonian Captivity came to an end and the Jewish people were able to return to their own land and rebuild the temple. What is important in this reading is that it is God who is acting through Cyrus. Even non-Jewish—and later even non-Christian—rulers can be and are used by the Lord God to bring about His will and His plans.
The second reading is from the beginning of the First Letter to the Thessalonians. We can look again at the sentence: “For our gospel did not come to you in word alone, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with much conviction.” The Gospel—the Good News of Jesus Christ—always comes to us in people, not just in words, but in deeds. There are some people who are able to read the Scriptures and be converted, but most of us are baptized into the Church by our families or we convert because of the example of someone. When we meet a person who is on fire with faith and who is able to speak clearly and correctly about the Scriptures, we meet the kind of person that Saint Paul wants to bring the Gospel to others. You and I should be that kind of person: able to speak about our faith and believing so deeply in the Lord Jesus that His presence radiates out of us.
Of course we might not be that way all of the time, but it is a goal because in that way the Gospel is brought to people and people are brought to Jesus Christ and His Church.
Today’s Gospel from Saint Matthew brings us back to the challenge of living in a world that is not Christian and learning how to live with politicians and civil governors. The Gospel gives us the account of the Herodians trying to trap Jesus by having Him be against the government. Instead, Jesus goes right around their arguments and simply tells them that civil government has to be obeyed insofar as it is not a Church matter.
Today in many countries, civil governments are beginning to make laws that will make Christians have to live against the law. In the areas of sexuality, sexual identity, marriage, abortion and euthanasia, the civil governments are moving in directions completely against the teachings of our Lord. And there is very little civil discourse about these matters. Societies are being polarized and Christians who want to be faithful are being seen as old fashioned, out of date and against others. We can give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, but we cannot give to Caesar that which belongs to God.
So we are called today to prepare ourselves for conflict and for being judged badly and for being seen as old-fashioned. In fact, we might even have to suffer for our beliefs. Let us trust that God will always give us the strength to be faithful to the Lord Jesus and His Church.
Your brother in the Lord,
Abbot Philip
My Brothers in Christ,
How I wish I could give this greeting in person, to see your faces, extend my hand in the touch of friendship. One blessing I have experienced during this pandemic is to clearly see in my mind the faces of those I miss and long to spend time with. Your faces so often come to me and I lift you up in prayer. The concern I have for you and the hope you are coping well during these difficult times helps me weather the challenges I have. This has lifted me from moments of my despair knowing we are all in this together and God is holding us very close in His love and care. I have been able to experience these past seven months; God’s promise of always being with us especially during the most difficult of times. This has strengthened my faith, renewed my hope and helped me face the future with courage. As Romans 8:28 tells us; And we know that for those who love God all things work together for the good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
Not too long ago, my family experienced a sudden unexpected death that left us all reeling. Having to deal with grief and loss during this time of social distancing was especially painful and challenging. It was in turning to Jesus, drawing close trusting in His love and mercy could to walk those difficult days. Amazingly, I was able to see through tears and sadness many moments of blessings that buoyed me. I continue to find strength in the peace and comfort that comes from resting in Jesus’ care when grief threatens to overtake me again. Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I am reminded often these days of how much Jesus desires to be with me during all the experiences of my life. In times of joy as well as struggles and sorrows. All we need to do is invite Him into whatever we are experiencing and He will do the rest.
I hope you will turn to Jesus whenever you are in need, He promises to be all you need in whatever you are experiencing, in any circumstance because of His never ending love. If you need a confidant, best friend, counselor, healer, consoler or teacher He desires to be all these things and MORE to you!
Stay well, be strong in faith, continue to preserve in hope I am praying for you and your families and look forward to the day we can share the warmth of a smile, the touch of a handshake in friendship and the encouragement of words of caring conversation. God Bless you!
Peace and Blessings,
Kathy
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