29th Sunday in Ordinary Time

October 18, 2026

What do I owe to civil authorities? What do I owe to God?

GOSPEL

Matthew 22:15-22

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."

REFLECTIONS ON THE GOSPEL

First Impressions by Jude Siciliano, OP

It is said that there are two things we can be sure of: death and taxes. While death stirs up emotions of grief and loss, discussions about taxes frequently cause heat and rising tempers. Who should be taxed? How much should they pay? These questions are usually followed by the complaint: “It’s not fair!” As controversial as discussions about taxes are today, they pale in comparison with what they were in Jesus’ time. The Jewish people were heavily taxed by their Roman occupiers. Imagine paying taxes that were used to support a military juggernaut that oppressed and enslaved you. To add insult to injury, the official coins used to pay the tax bore an imprint of Caesar. They also carried an inscription declaring his divinity, which offended the Jewish belief in one God. So there they were, paying taxes that helped maintain their oppression with coins that offended their religious beliefs. It is easy to imagine how heated discussions about taxes could become. And that is what we hear in today’s Gospel. The question put to Jesus wasn’t simply a casual inquiry for abstract discussion. It was a topic of heated debate. And now they were drawing Jesus into it. And more than that, the Gospel says they intended to entrap Jesus. If he said, “Pay the tax,” he would have been siding with the Romans and offending devout Jews. If he said, “Don’t pay,” he could have been branded a revolutionary and a troublemaker. The Romans could have arrested him for treason. Jesus senses the trap. He gets out of it by asking for a coin. They hand one to him. It has Caesar’s image and inscription on it. So, they are carrying the very coin that represents Caesar’s authority and claim to divinity. They are using the Roman coin and paying the tax to Rome. No wonder Jesus calls them hypocrites. Their question wasn’t sincere. They weren’t seeking his wisdom or guidance. They were trying to trap him. But we are here for a different reason. We are seeking his wisdom and guidance. So, we pay attention to what Jesus says. We probably already know his answer by heart: “Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.” Now, what does that mean? It is something we can ponder throughout our lives as we consider our loyalties to secular power and to God. Jesus seems to be saying that we can have responsibilities and loyalties to government and to God without losing our priorities. But when the claims of government conflict with the claims of God, we have to choose in favor of God and challenge what civil authorities propose. Our presence here today states our priorities. We look to God for our basic strength and direction. Our very identity comes from God. After all, who are we? We say that we are children of God – and more than that, we are made in the “image and likeness of God.” In terms of today’s Gospel, we are coins of God. God has inscribed God’s image and likeness upon us, male and female. If people want to know what God is like and who God is, they should be able to see God’s image in us – in who we are and in how we behave – as easily as Jesus’ opponents could see Caesar’s image on their coins. There is a reason to come here each week: to be reminded of who we are and to have God freshen that divine image in us – the way a coin dealer carefully cleans and restores an old or tarnished coin. The image of God in us can become blurred or forgotten when we feel we haven’t achieved some of our life’s goals; when our financial struggles lessen our sense of self-worth; when our personal relationships are strained; or when people around us measure us by how we dress, the size of our home, our gender, sexual orientation, age, or appearance. But in this place where we have gathered, there should be no such standards of measurement. Here we are reminded of our dignity as beloved children of God, individually formed by God’s hands. Each of us is a coin made in the divine image. The Eucharist will feed us today. It will rebuild and restore the divine life within us, whether or not we think we measure up to some ideal. But Jesus’ words are also a challenge to us: How do we repay to God what belongs to God? We who bear the divine image are called to honor that image in others – even when that image isn’t clear to us, or when another person does not measure up to our expectations. Perhaps someone has offended us, cheated us, or been unwilling to forgive us. The Gospel reminds us that it is time to look again – to look more deeply – and see the image and likeness of God in our neighbor. There is a lot in our world that wants to engrave another image upon us, an image influenced by greed, rivalry, aggression, envy, and prejudice. We need God to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves: renew God’s image in us. Psalm 96 is our Responsorial Psalm. It is, in one sense, a response to the first reading from Isaiah. It invites us to give God glory.  In other words, to recognize God’s sovereignty, let God’s justice shape the way live in the world. But it also draws us toward today’s Gospel. In the Gospel, Jesus says that we must give God what belongs to God. So, the question Jesus puts before us today is: What does it mean to live as a person who belongs to God?

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Quotable

“Let us never grow weary of seeking justice!” — Pope Leo XIV, Magnifica Humanitas (2026).

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Justice Bulletin Board by Barbara Molinari Quinby, MPS, Director Office of Human Life, Dignity, and Justice Ministries Holy Name of Jesus Cathedral, Raleigh, NC

We give thanks to God always for all of you…increasingly calling to mind your work of faith and labor of love and endurance. —1 Thessalonians 1:2-3

There are days when I am so dismayed by the number of needs that cross my desk or come through e-mails that I find myself almost overwhelmed. It is days like this that I must sit back and count the many blessings I have witnessed in how our parish respects life. The dignity of life is a major social teaching. On any given day, there are parishioners who are smiling as they help at Catholic Parish Outreach. There are the loyal teams who bring meals to the Helen Wright Shelter, Oak City Cares Center, and Women’s Center. I hear of the fruitfulness of parishioners doing prayer services with prisoners on a weekly basis. I think about our answered requests for hoodies, undies, food containers, the Crafters’ offerings, and Christmas gifts for people in need. I remember the fun I have had and continue to have through outreach experiences. Our Habitat for Humanity group is working on our 17th project as part of the Catholic Coalition to provide affordable housing. I think about the twelve expectant mothers being helped by the devoted team of Walking with Moms in Need and those that pray during 40 Days for Life.  There is our work on behalf of immigrants, refugees, and our new efforts to help the handicapped and address racial injustice. I find myself reflecting on the blessing of the Door Fund/Ministry. We meet weekly with about 15-18 people who are in jeopardy of being evicted. Monies from the Door Fund help our neighbors keep a roof over their head, help people in Recovery Houses get a fresh start, and provide for a myriad of little needs. Then, there is the natural world. We are a universal church that sees all life as connected. To that end, respecting the natural world is being lived out in Cathedral’s Earth Care Community, the Laudato Si’ Circle and by members of NC Catholics Caring for our Common Home. Hearing the cry of the earth, parishioners are seeking to improve our understanding of complex issues and find paths to provide hope to overcome human negligence of our common home. With more parishioners realizing how integral the social teachings of the Church are to the fullness of living their faith by acting upon them, I give thanks to God for all of you.

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Faith Book

Mini-reflections on the Sunday scripture readings designed for persons on the run. “Faith Book” is also brief enough to be posted in the Sunday parish bulletins people take home.

From today’s I Thessalonians reading: For our gospel did not come to you in word alone, but also, in power and in the Holy Spirit and with much conviction.

Reflection: Paul reminds the Thessalonians that they not only heard the word of the gospel, but saw its effects on their lives. If we are going through a testing time it’s good to remind ourselves how God helped us in the past. Such a reminder can build hope and enable endurance in the present.

So, we ask ourselves:  

• Is there someone who needs to hear an encouraging word from us? 

• When I try to give that support will I do as Paul does, remind them of the faith they have received and how God is their source of power and endurance?

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Brendan McGuire Homily

Many of you have seen that advertisement on television for credit cards that always ends with "...What's in your wallet?" 
The premise behind that advertisement is to suggest that our credit card in some way defines who we are. In some way, how we spend our money does say something about us. To a certain extent what and where we spend our money tells us
what is important in our lives. Probably a better indicator of what defines us as people is how we spend our time. If we want to know what defines a huge portion of our lives it is where we spend our time. More importantly with whom do we spend our time? Or on what do you spend your time? If we spend time with this group of people then we are saying they are more important versus this group of people. Students at school know this reality all too well. There are other ways in which we could understand what defines us. Yes, it is what we spend our money on; and yes, it is what and where we spend our time. 
But it is also with whom we spend our time. The "who" is important. Even more than that, what defines us is who we are willing to stand up for. Who are we willing to defend? Who are we willing to be vulnerable for? That tells us a lot about ourselves. All of these, in some way, all of these together in their complexity will tell us about who we are and what we are. In today's gospel, we hear this story about paying taxes to Cesar or not. People have often misused this scripture to talk about the justification to pay taxes or not pay taxes; or separation of church and state. That is a complete misreading of the scripture. Even the most unscholarly approach can figure out that. Right from the beginning Jesus calls them hypocrites. 
We know by the way they ask their question that is a trick question. There is a part of us that has to at least enjoy it a tad bit. How Jesus takes on these most unlikely adversaries; he just cuts them down with two phrases: Show me the coin. Whose head is this on the back? And he just cuts to the quick really fast. We might not be distracted by the brilliance of Jesus' answer but by what is actually happening in the context here. The religious leaders and Herodians were enemies. 
Yet these two enemies came together to trick Jesus into saying something that they could hold against him. But what does Jesus do? Jesus reframes it completely. Then asks, "What is their priority in life?" This is not just about the money. It is an indicator. Sure. It is time. It is an indicator. But what in fact is our highest priority? Time, money, who you spend your time with and who we stand up for. All these are indicators. But in the end, we have to ask the question of ourselves; "What is the top priority in our lives?" Everything else flows from that. My fear is that as Catholic Christians, we do not think about that, half nearly enough. We get caught up in the busyness of life. We just churn from day to day. We go almost like on automatic pilot. We do not ask the questions of what is the most important thing in my life. What is the most important reality of my life? And until something actually happens, when we get sick or somebody dies, then all of a sudden our whole reality gets woken up and then we start asking that question. Must we wait for that moment? Is that what has to happen? Is that the only way we are going to wake up from our secular slumber? I plead with you to not. In some way, shape or form, your faith has made a difference because you are here on a Sunday morning when most of the world is in bed or at home relaxing. Somehow you know that it is a priority of something in your life. And this one hour has made itself a priority; whether it is the community; whether it is the environment; whether it is the Mass; There is something. It got you here. But one hour is not enough guys. One hour out of 168 hours will not make a difference. Oh, I would love if it would make that much of a difference. I would cherish that I could stay up here for 10 minutes of preaching and somehow that would radically change your life for the rest of the week. But I am not that foolish. I know that fundamentally it takes more than one hour out of 168 hours to make changes in your and my life. And we have to commit to that extra time. That is what I am asking you to commit to. The one hour is just simply never going to be enough. That is why I keep pushing you to pray every day. We want to be at 10 hours every week. That does not mean that you have to be at your desk praying for one hour a day. But you ought to be working towards something like that; and in the other hours, you ought to be working at being charitable, giving your heart and soul away to someone else. Why? Because that is what defines us. That tells us who we are because we are standing up for somebody. We are spending our time with them. And yes, we are spending our energy and who we are with them. That will make all the difference. Today, the question is not what is in our wallet. But what's in our heart. What is our top priority? When we come to Eucharist, we come to renew ourselves in our number one priority, which is to follow Christ. It is easy for us to say it here but when we walk outside those doors, we have to live it. 
And that is the work we spend 167 hour doing. And we need the help every day. And that is why I am asking us to find some time to say; "This remains a priority for me." What's in your heart?

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From Living Space, a service of the Irish Jesuits: Commentary on Isaiah 45:1,4-6; 1 Thessalonians 1:1-5; Matthew 22:15-21

In past Sundays we have seen Jesus attacking the religious leaders of his people for their failure to recognise in him the Word of God, the power of God, the compassionate love of God. All they could see was a man who broke their laws. Today, in the first of four challenges by different leaders, they hit back. Their plan was to get Jesus to discredit himself. The first challenge, in today’s Gospel, comes from the Pharisees. Their deviousness is seen in the delegation they sent – a mixture of their disciples (not themselves) and some Herodians. It was a strange mixture because Pharisees and Herodians were bitterly opposed to each other. The Pharisees were rabid nationalists and totally anti-Roman; the Herodians were willing to collaborate with the Romans hoping to benefit from it. In the language of today, they would be called “appeasers” or “fellow travellers”. It was a perfect example of the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Both sides hated each other but they hated Jesus even more and both had scores to settle. Or did they hope by sending such a mixed delegation that Jesus would be thrown off the scent of their real purpose? Their opening statement is clever and very flattering. They praise the utter honesty and integrity of Jesus. All of which was perfectly true. Jesus, in fact, is being praised as endowed with God’s own sense of truth and justice, totally impartial, with perhaps a bias for the poor, the weak and powerless. And it is precisely in this strength of Jesus – telling it like it is without fear or favour – that they hope to entrap him.

Deceptively simple 

After this flattering softening up and linguistic foreplay comes the apparently straightforward question: “Is it against our Law to pay taxes to Caesar or not?” In fact, this seemingly simple question turned on a red-hot issue. Palestine was a colony of Rome, a very unwilling and troublesome colony. The Jews hated the Romans, hated their brutality, their moral corruption, above all their godlessness. So, the nationalistic Pharisees felt that the taxes should not be paid to the oppressor. It was, one might say, an early version of “No taxation without representation”. On the contrary, for the Herodians, collaboration with the Romans was seen as beneficial. It was a loaded question, something like the old chestnut “Have you stopped beating your wife?” If Jesus said taxes should not be paid, he would have pleased the Pharisees but they could report him for sedition and have him arrested. If he said taxes should be paid he might please the Herodians but almost certainly he would lose all credibility with his own people. The Jews believed that they had only one Lord and Ruler and that was their God. Taxes, or any form of submission, should only be made to him, by offerings made in God’s Temple. So today’s First Reading from Isaiah makes it clear that Cyrus, one of the great kings of antiquity with enormous power and who had made vassals of the Jews, was seen as never more than an agent doing God’s work.

Hypocrisy

Jesus, of course, is perfectly aware of the dangers in giving a straight answer. He accuses them of gross hypocrisy in setting this trap. They have no desire to know the answer. They have their own answers already. Their only intention is to lay a trap for Jesus to hang himself with. Jesus asks them to show him a coin. He asks to know whose image and what is the inscription on it. The head was that of Tiberius Caesar, the Roman emperor of the day. The inscription would have read, “Tiberius Caesar son of the divine Augustus, great high priest”. Caesar claimed not only political sovereignty but also divine attributes. Worship of the emperor was seen as a test of loyalty to the not very religious central government and would soon become a major issue for the early Christians as it was already for the Jews. For both groups, worship given to the Roman emperor could be nothing but idolatry. Even though, for some, it was seen only a matter of formality, Christians and Jews took it very seriously and many were martyred for their refusal to bow to the emperor. (Different kinds of emperors still produce martyrs in our own day.) And it reminds us of how many Christians – including China today – who refused to acknowledge the absolute power that Communism claimed over their lives. It is basically the stand of the “underground” Church in China and for that many have paid a high price over the past 50 years.

A famous reply

Jesus then gives his famous answer, “Give back to Caesar what belongs to Caesar – and to God what belongs to God.” The answer should not be understood cynically and in line with those who thought that no allegiance at all belongs to the ruling power (e.g. the terrorist or anarchist line), nor, on the other hand, that a civil power has the right to demand total submission of its subjects. No state can claim to itself divine powers of absolute authority (e.g. atheistic dictatorships). All are subject to the higher demands of truth and justice and the inviolable dignity of the person centred in God. We all are, in some way, the citizens of two kingdoms: citizens of the political territory where we belong and citizens in God’s Kingdom. As Jesus says, they both require certain loyalties from us. We all depend to a large extent on our civil government. In modern times very few people can supply their own water, electricity, telephone system. There are many other services which only a civil authority can provide, such as education, hospitals, roads, welfare services for the unemployed, the handicapped, the elderly…It is obvious that if these are services are to continue and even be improved they require the cooperation and support of the community at large. We do this for the most part through paying taxes. Taxes are not just a necessary evil. In a just administration they are our contribution to making the services we take for granted available. In a just tax system, too, we help to spread more evenly the wealth of the community so that each one has access to what they need for a life of human dignity.

Supporting our community

There are many other ways, too, in which we can give our support to raising the quality of life in the community. All of this can be seen as “giving to Caesar what belongs to Caesar”. One, unfortunately, does meet people whose only interest is in seeing what they can get out of the community for themselves and their immediate family with no intention of ever giving anything back. But we are also citizens of God’s Kingdom. For much of the time, there is no conflict between “Caesar” and God but not always. We do sometimes, from the standpoint of the Gospel, have to criticise our government’s actions or non-actions. Sometimes we have to refuse to obey our government. In South Africa’s apartheid system, many Christians were forced to violate the immoral laws of their government. In the United States, both black and white people violated the segregation laws operated in many states. In the name of truth, justice and human dignity they had no option. And we need to realise that when we really love our country and its people, then we may have to stand in strong opposition to the authorities on certain issues. Of course, the authorities will try to present such people as traitors and a threat to the stability of the country. But such people, who show they care, often have a far greater love for their country than the so-called “silent majority”.

Two responsibilities

Today’s Gospel makes it very clear that we have two responsibilities: to the government of our country or territory and to God. Where both are in harmony there will be no conflict. Wherever there is immoral or unjust behaviour against people’s dignity and rights, then there has to be conflict. Such conflict is not always bad. On the contrary, it is because of creative conflict that our society makes progress. Provided we always act in a positive and creative way, “speaking the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15), then the flawed kingdoms that men build can, in time, become the Kingdom of God. As a famous dissident – and martyr, St Thomas More, said: “The King’s good servant, but God’s first.”

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ENCOUNTER CHRIST REFLECTIONS AND MEDITATIONS

Preparation for the Session

Adapted from Sacred Space: The Prayer Book 2025

Presence of God: Jesus, As I come to you today, fill my heart, my whole being, with the wonder of your sacred presence.  Help me to become more aware of your presence in my life, and more receptive to that presence. I desire to love you as you love me.  May nothing ever separate me from you. (1-2 minutes of silence)

Freedom: Jesus, Grant me the grace to have freedom of spirit. Keep me from being bound by desires and actions that are not good for me or others.  Cleanse my heart and soul that I may live joyously in your love. (1-2 minutes of silence)

Consciousness: Where am I with God?  With others in my life? What am I grateful for?  Is there something I am sorry for, words or actions that have hurt others, and which I now regret?  I take a moment to ask forgiveness of God and of those whom I have hurt.  God, I give you thanks for your constant love and care for me. Keep me always aware of your presence in my life. (2-3 minutes of silence)

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Opening Prayer

From the Carmelites

Lord, help me to see that serving you and being a good citizen of my country need not be contradictory.  Help me the choose wisely in those situations when I must make a choice, always keeping your will and your precepts in my heart.  Help me to see in others a witness to your incredible care and love for everyone and everything you have created, because it is all yours.

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Companions for the Journey

From “Working Preacher”

We think of the last days of Jesus' final week as being full of vexation.

Indeed, they were: betrayal, arrest, torture, and crucifixion. But the first two days of the week were also filled with difficulty. In Matthew's version of the week, Jesus enters Jerusalem triumphantly on Monday and proceeds to the temple to cleanse it of abuse. Tuesday is particularly full.

Jesus returns to Jerusalem for a series of pronouncements and confrontations by religious leaders. On this day, Jesus curses the fig tree, is questioned about his authority, offers three parables that each conclude with dire warnings for those who assume they are comfortably within God's favor.

Then he is challenged on whether to pay taxes to Caesar, is questioned about the resurrection of the dead, challenged about the greatest commandment, and engaged in discussion about the nature of the messiah.

Finally, Jesus engages in a long discourse (23:1-25:46) in which he denounces religious leaders, laments over Jerusalem, foretells destruction of the temple, gives his disciples a list of signs concerning the end times, offers additional parables, and tells of the final judgment. Tuesday was a big day. 

It seems one of the chief accomplishments of the day was to put the religious leaders in their place. Jesus overwhelms his verbal adversaries and denounces temple leadership so thoroughly that by the next day, Wednesday of Holy Week, the leaders began plotting to arrest and kill this bothersome prophet.

The pericope for this day lies within Tuesday's busy agenda. Here we have the failed attempt by the Pharisees and Herodians to trap Jesus on what appears to be a political issue: whether or not it is lawful to pay taxes to Caesar. We might imagine the smugness with which they employ this trap. The Pharisees are against the Roman occupation government, so they bring along the Herodians, people obliged to Rome for keeping Herod in puppet power.

Governments are necessary, taxes may be necessary, and every country has a Caesar of sorts to contend with. So, render unto that Caesar whatever is due. But, don't mess around with the things that belong to God.

Whom do we belong to? Sometimes it seems like we belong to Caesar. Taxes, legal restrictions on our freedoms, imprisonment if you engage in civil disobedience.  Or, perhaps, we feel that our job owns us. Or our families. Sometimes, we even feel owned by our material possessions. Ralph Waldo Emerson said it: "Things are in the saddle, and ride mankind."

But to whom do we really belong? Take a look at any person. Whose inscription is on him or her? Each is made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26). There can be no doubt, then, what Jesus means here. Give yourselves to God because it is to him that you belong. 

It is God who claims us, who made us in his own image. We do not belong to anything or to anyone else. We don't even belong to ourselves. We belong to God in all our being, with all our talents, interests, time, and wealth. "We give thee but thine own, whatever the gift may be. All that we have is thine alone, a trust, O Lord, from thee."1

The consequences of belonging to God are remarkable. First, it means that God will not forsake us. The Pharisees and the other religious leaders that Jesus denounces were notoriously bad at caring for the people. They forsook their responsibilities and the people God gave into their care. They deserved condemnation. But, God does not forsake his own. By Friday of Holy Week, Jesus made that clear in the boldest way possible.

Second, it means that because we belong to God, we belong to the people of God, the body of Christ. We are baptized into this fellowship and can only lose our membership by turning our backs on God. If there is any alienation, it is our own doing. And, if we return, God is there, as always. 

Third, it means that we give to God that which belongs to God's: that is, we give ourselves. We take the sacred trust and invest it in lives of worship. Sometimes, that worship occurs privately, in devotion. Sometimes, in church with our brothers and sisters in Christ. And the rest of the time, it occurs in the sphere of daily work and service. All of this is worship. Ultimately, giving ourselves to God means that we give ourselves to the world. 

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Living the Good News

What action can you take in the next week as a response to today's reading and discussion? Keep a private journal of your prayer/actions responses this week. Feel free to use the personal reflection questions which follow.

Reflection Questions:

How much time have I spent refelcting on how clever Jesus was t o evade the entrampment by the Phairsees and Sadducees?

How much time have I spent reflecting on the real message, which is: How much time do I spend on worldy things (which are necessary), and how much time on god?

What’s in  my wallet and what’s in  my heart?

What in your life belongs "to Caesar"?  
What belongs only "to God"? 
When do these duties overlap?

Have I ever felt that my worldly obligations have taken time away from God? 

Has there been a time when I was pressured by the prevailing culture of the workplace or the world I inhabit  into making a decision that went against my principles?  
How did it turn out?
How did I feel?

When has my duty to God impelled me to speak out against the inequitable or cruel treatment of others by our own government, for example?

Is there a contradiction between being a good citizen and serving God?  
Do I see Church and state on a collision course?

If we were to live in a theocracy (no daylight between the laws of God as expressed by religious and civil laws) which religion should be the defining standard?

Do I have a double standard regarding religious intrusions into political discourse (My Catholic views are ok, but others’ religious views are not)?

Should my church tell me whom or what to vote for? 
Should it tell me what or whom to vote against?

Does legitimate civil power have a right to ask anything from us (voting in elections, obedience to laws, the payment of taxes, conscription in the military, for example)? 
What does it not have a right to ask of me?

Where does the notion of civil disobedience fit into the meaning of this gospel?

What do I think I should render to God on earth, specifically to the people of God, to all God’s creation, including the natural world? 
Can the term “rendering unto God” be interpreted as working for just laws, support for the poor and marginalized, respect for all life?
Can it be interpreted and working to wipe out racism, sexism, elitism of any kind?

What am I personally unwilling to render to God?
For this week, keep track of where you spend your money and what you spend it on.   What does your checkbook and your datebook tell you  about your priorities?

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Closing Prayer

Jesus, I ask for courage to stand up for what is true and just.  Help me to speak out against the atrocities of war, genocide, systemic poverty and the cruelties that people seem to visit on one another, all in the name of being right.   Help me not to be too quick to judge those whose decisions are other than I would approve of, and help me to have patience with the mistakes I and others make in living out our lives. Then help me to rest in the hope that in Your will is our peace.

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For the Week Ahead

Weekly Memorization
Taken from the gospel for today's session: Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.

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Meditations
A Meditation in the Franciscan Style/Action:
(Adapted from “First Impressions” 2002) It is clear from church teaching that we Christians are called to engage the world and bring our beliefs with us into Caesar’s domain. Vatican II reminded us to take our faith into the market place and interpret our times in the light of the gospel. If we have any doubts all we have to do is to read papal and episcopal documents that address: poverty, globalization, war, abortion, the death penalty, health care, environment, the economy. These teachings remind us that the church of Jesus’ followers doesn’t exist apart from the world and that we are called to be agents of change for peace and justice. It is God’s will that all people be treated justly, the poor cared for and everyone must be given respect and treated with dignity as a child of God. What is my job as a citizen to call out the failures and omissions, the cruelties and injustices that our system perpetuates? What is my job as a citizen to address poverty, to care for the sick and lonely, to bring justice to the captives, to welcome the stranger? Is this only the job of government, or do I have a part to play? What am I doing in this regard right now? If not right now, when will be the right time to get started?

A Meditation in the Dominican Style:
(Adapted from Songs of Life: Psalm Meditations from the Catholic Community at Stanford, by Anne Marchand Greenfield)

Psalm 72
God, give your judgment to the king, to a king’s son your justice,
that he may judge your people in justice, and your poor in right judgment.
May the mountains bring forth peace for the people, and the hills justice.
May he defend the poor of the people, and save the children of the needy, and crush the oppressor.
He shall endure like the sun and the moon through all generations.
He shall descend like rain on the meadow, like showers that water the earth.
In his days shall justice flourish, and great peace till the moon is no more.
For he shall save the needy when they cry, the poor, and those who are helpless.
He will have pity on the weak and the needy, and save the lives of the needy.
From oppression and violence he redeems their souls; to him their blood is dear.
Long may he live!

I Read sections from Psalm 72, then I reflect on the way power is revered in our society, and, in the main, how that power is used.  What are the dangers of power? This psalm is frequently used as a description of the way an ideal ruler must use power. I think of our history and all of the ways in which power has been abused.  Has this been the story in our own church? In our country? Reflect on these verses as you make your voting decisions for November. 

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Poetic Reflection

When we say we want to give to God what is God's, what, exactly, do we mean?  Wendell Berry reflects on the ways we pay lip service to God, but are really in the service of another reality altogether.

We Who Prayed and Wept
We who prayed and wept
for liberty from Kings
and the yoke of liberty
accept the tyranny of things
we do not need.
In plenitude too free,
we have become adept
beneath the yoke of greed.

Those who will not learn
in plenty to keep their place
must learn it by their need
when they have had their way
and the fields spurn their seed.
We have failed Thy grace.
Lord, I flinch and pray,
send Thy necessity.

—from Collected Poems