SUNDAY REFLECTIONS 29th Sunday (16 October 2011) Isaiah 45:1, 4-6 1 Thessalonians
1:1-5 Matthew 22:15-21
Gratitude is the virtue of being thankful for a benefit received. It creates goodness
through a state of thankfulness. It is a human response generated by the divine grace
for the favours we receive. The word gratitude comes from the Latin word “gratus”
meaning “grace” and grace is the presence of God manifested in people through virtues.
To be grateful is to be essentially graceful or grace-filled. That is also how giving
prayerful thanks to God for food before meals also became known just simply as grace.
The Bible leads us generously to a spirit of Gratitude for all that the Lord does
to us and for all the gifts he places into our lives. All in life is grace and al
in life is a gift from God. We ought to respond to these gifts and not take them for
granted. The Readings of today tell us about the relationship between the absolute
power of the Lord and earthly, temporal power that can serve God’s purposes. In the
first reading Prophet Isaiah sees the hand of God in the events of history. The Persian
king Cyrus is to be the unknowing servant of Yahweh’s purpose in releasing the chosen
Israelites from the grip of the Babylonian empire and is the person Israel need for
their support. In his joyful letter to the Thessalonians, Paul thanks God for all
the gifts the people have received. He recognizes that the Gospel they have received
is not due only to the human preaching of Paul, Silvanus and Timothy, but also ‘in
power and in the Holy Spirit’. He is conscious of the effect of God’s power through
human instruments. Today’s Gospel draws a subtler distinction between temporal power
and God’s purposes. Jesus sees through the political trap of the Pharisees and the
Herodians and draws a deliberately ambiguous distinction between the civic duty to
Caesar and the religious duty to God. He lets the two groups conclude for themselves
what is of mere temporal concern and what pertains to the absolute duty to God. Prophet
Isaiah who lived in Babylonia with the exiled Jews tells them in God’s name that their
God is God not only of the Jews but of history and of the whole world. Cyrus, who
had become the king of Medes and Persians, later extended his rule over Syria, Babylon
and Egypt. He was a benevolent king and according to Isaiah, the achievements of Cyrus
were all due to the power of the Lord God of Israel. Cyrus the great acted in accordance
with his usual enlightened practice of not imposing Persian culture even on captured
peoples. He released the Jews from captivity, sent them home and subsidized their
rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem. Cyrus was indeed God’s instrument from the
beginning of his rule. The oracle goes even so far as to call Cyrus the anointed of
the Lord since all he accomplished for Israel was in accordance with God’s saving
plan for his chosen people. The prophet indicates that it is Lord God who took the
monarch by the right hand and guided his actions. He further says this that God acted
for the sake of the tribes of Jacob. Once rebellious and full of pride, they have
become wiser through the experience of their exile. Now they are prepared to offer
their humble service to God. By their example the nations from the East to the West
will give honour to the one true God. He calls on his people to give willing service
for “God loves the cheerful giver.” God often works through the people who may not
even know his name. In the Second Reading of today Paul tells the Thessalonians
Church about the greatness of God. The reading begins by identifying the writer Paul,
along with Silas who was one of the leaders of the Jerusalem community and Timothy
who was also a companion to Peter. Addressing the church as a whole, Paul is confirming
the Divinity of Christ fully visible in the unity of God the Father and our Lord Jesus
Christ. Having prayed that the grace and peace would be with the Thessalonians, Paul
proceeds to give thanks to God in prayer for all the blessings that the Thessalonians
had received. He mentions their work of faith, their labour of love and their steadfastness
of hope in Jesus Christ. The labour of love is a reflection of active charity. As
such, the prayer of thanksgiving to God embraces the virtues of faith, hope and charity
that had been bestowed upon the Thessalonians. Continuing with his Letter he emphasizes
the fact that it was not just his words that transformed the Thessalonians, but the
"power" of the Holy Spirit. He tells them that they are God’s friends; God’s chosen
people, which are proved by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on them. Giving credit
where it rightfully belongs, Paul made it clear that it was the Holy Spirit who was
responsible for all the spiritual manifestations of righteousness and in creating
the family of Christians in Thessalonica. He tells them that the basics of community
life are faith, love and hope. Though these virtues require work, labour and endurance,
the people receive them only because of God’s initiative. In the Gospel reading
of today, we have the first of four challenges coming from different leaders as they
aim to challenge Jesus. Their plan was to get Jesus to discredit himself. The first
challenge that we have in today's Gospel, comes from the Pharisees as they use the
Herodians to try to trap Jesus in his teachings. The Pharisees opposed Christ from
the beginning of his public ministry because Jesus freely associated with sinners
and tax collectors. They were in opposition to Sadducees and Herodians, two other
Jewish sects. Nevertheless they were willing to join hands with them in their desire
to silence Christ. Their deviousness is seen in the delegation they sent, namely,
a mixture of their disciples 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. Perhaps they thought Jesus would not go into conflict or taken
aback after seeing this combined opposition. 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. In their praise and flattery the Pharisees feign to show great respect
and confidence in Jesus as an objective and truthful leader. In fact they want to
get him into a non-win situation so that no matter how he responds to their question
he will lose. They place before him the delicate problem of the payment of taxes
to Caesar, whether it is lawful or not. The Poll Tax was required of everyone between
the ages of fourteen and sixty five to be paid to Caesar. It amounted to a denarius
which was equivalent to a day’s wage of a common labourer. During the time of Jesus
taxation was not a popular issue. Theirs was an occupied territory which meant they
were paying taxes and paying tribute to a foreign power. They had in mind the theocracy,
God as their King and hence to pay tax to earthly ruler was an insult to God and their
religion. Taxes, or any form of submission, should only be made to him, by offerings
made in God's Temple. 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. On the contrary, for the Herodians,
collaboration with the Romans was seen as beneficial. The Pharisees think that
if Jesus says the tax is lawful and should be paid will upset the Jews. But if he
says it is not lawful and should not be paid, then he will be advocating breaking
the law and upset the Romans. Whatever be his answer, they would have their victory.
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. Cleverly and deliberately Jesus begins to turn
the tables. Jesus asks them to show him a coin. An observant Jew was not supposed
to carry with him a Roman coin with Caesar’s inscription on it. But here the Pharisees
did not have any problem in producing one at the request of Jesus. 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.
It was clearly understood
that the Roman coinage technically belonged to the emperor or the Government. Jesus
then gives his famous answer, "Give back to Caesar what belongs to Caesar -- and to
God what belongs to God." It was an invitation to work out for them the proper interplay
of political and religious loyalty. In one simple phrase he was saved from both pious
accusation and political self-incrimination. What Jesus says must be taken in its
literal sense. When he told his opponents that they ought to repay Caesar what belongs
to Caesar, he was merely stating that they should give back to Caesar what actually
belongs to him. But he pushes the controversy further by adding that they should
also give to God what belongs to God. Some did interpret this in the context of the
separation between the Church and the State. In that case Jesus would be saying that
it is lawful to pay taxes. That is not what Jesus exactly says. For a Jew, including
Jesus everything belongs to God by the very nature of creation. From that perspective
nothing really belongs to Caesar because, Caesar is not God. But if they are using
the facility provided by him, they have the duty to respond to it. They in fact used
the coins minted by him and needed it for transaction. The right to mint a coin proved
sovereignty. The Roman Government minted their own coins and in this way they zealously
guarded their sovereignty. Jesus cleverly proclaims the supremacy of God and places
the problem back with his opponents. The answer that Jesus gave to his opponents
left them to ponder as it does even today. The individual has to discern and see what
is that which belongs to God and what is under the control of the state. The state
has many obligations: public services, water supply, schooling, social welfare for
the poor and the aged and the civil protection. Religion’s duties are to connect people
with God, the ultimate answer to our questions and the basis of our life’s decisions.
But the dichotomy between the secular and the religious is not absolute. The motivation
for public services, schooling, social welfare and care for the aged is often religious.
So the boundaries between the two can sometimes be difficult to set and allow many
vexing questions to remain. The relationship between the two can remain strained
given the fanaticism a secularism that has set in. the question is whether there should
there be a total division between the two or should they act together so as to build
the Kingdom of God. This remains the basis of sane thinking on the matter of loyalty
to one’s own country and civil obedience. 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. In the
context of the Gospel we need to realize 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. The Passage 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", 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." A group of alumni, highly established
in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor. Conversation
soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life. Offering his guests coffee,
the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment
of cups – porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive,
some exquisite – telling them to help themselves to the coffee. When all the students
had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said: “If you noticed, all the nice looking
expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is
normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems
and stress. Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee. In most
cases it is just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink. What all
of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best
cups… And then you began eyeing each other’s cups. Now consider this: Life is the
coffee; the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. The cups are just tools
to hold and contain Life, and the type of cup we have does not define, nor change
the quality of Life we live. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail
to enjoy the coffee God has provided us.” God brews the coffee, not the cups……… Enjoy
your coffee! “The happiest people don’t have the best of everything. They just make
the best of everything.” Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly and
bloom where you are planted! Leave the rest to God. Fr. Eugene Lobo S.J.