Sunday:       29 TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
Date:         October 17, 1999
Year:         A
The readings: [Is. 45:1, 4-6; 1 Thess. 1:1-5; Mt. 22:15-21]
The message:  GIVE TO GOD WHAT BELONGS TO God.
Prepared by:  CATHOLIC DOORS MINISTRY
Total words:  1590

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"Give to God the things that are God's." [Mt. 22:21] What a powerful statement! Good morning everyone! I pray to the Lord Jesus that by the grace of God the Father and the power of the Holy Spirit, the spiritual meaning of today's readings will enrich you all as I have been enriched from them.

Beginning with the First Reading from the Book of Isaiah, the Lord God addresses His anointed one. As spiritual children of God, having been anointed during the Sacrament of Baptism, we can all welcome this message as if it was intended for each and everyone of us.

In this reading, the Lord God speaks of His almightiness. By His infinite power, nations have been subdued and kings stripped of their robes. Doors have been opened for His anointed one and the gates shall not be closed. This parallels what the Lord God has done for each and every one of us through the anointment of our Baptism. He gave us a new creation that He guards jealously, protecting it against the claws of Satan. Through our Baptism, He has opened the doors to Heaven for us to enter, promising never to close them. The promise of the New Covenant is forever. God, unchanging in His nature and promises, shall never take away from us the promise of salvation. If we lose our salvation, it is because of our own free will.

The Lord proceeds to say that for the sake of those He loves, His servant Jacob and Israel His chosen, He call us by our name. Though we do not know Him, He surnames us. How true it is that we know very little about God the Father for His formless nature mystifies our human perception. What we do know of Him, it is through Jesus Christ who "is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation." [Col. 1:15] Even though we do not know God as we should know Him, He still calls us by our individual surname, each and everyone of us being known to Him. It is just awesome to think that God remembers each and everyone of our names, knowing us personally.

Then, the Lord God proceeds to say that He is the Lord. There is no other god beside Him. These words echo the words of the First Commandment. "I am the Lord your God... you shall have no other gods before me." [Exo. 20:2-3] We belong to Him and He wants us!

Next, the Lord God says that although we do not know Him, He arms us. Spiritually speaking, He gives us the spiritual weapons that we need to defeat the enemy. To ensure that we walk in the light, He gave us our salvation through Christ. He gave us the Holy Catholic Church to continue the apostolic work of Jesus. He gave us the Sacrament of Baptism so we may be reborn through Christ. He gave us the Sacrament of Reconciliation so we may maintain our righteousness in His sight. He gave us the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist so we may enjoy the Living Bread that leads to the Kingdom of God. And the list continues... How numerous are His Divine blessings for each and every one of us!

Having reminded us of our blessings, the Lord repeats once more that He is the Lord and that there is no other. No one can do what He has done. No one can even come near doing all what He has done for each and everyone of us. Praise be His Most Holy Name!

Going to the Second Reading from the First Letter of Paul to the Thessalonians, we learn more about the greatness of God. The reading begins by identifying who it is from. Besides Paul, there is Silas. Silas [Acts 15:22] is one of the leaders of the Jerusalem community who was sent to Antioch after the Council of Jerusalem. [1 Pet. 5:12] Timothy is the son of a Jewish mother and Greek Father. He joined Paul and Silvanus at Lystra [Acts 16:1-3] and helped Paul in his ministry for a great period of time.

The Letter to the Thessalonians is addressed to the Church as a whole. By uniting God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ in the introduction of the Letter, Paul is confirming the divinity of Christ. Applying his regular greeting and blessing, [2 Thess. 1:2] Paul prays that grace and peace be with the Thessalonians.

He then proceeds to give thanks to God in prayer for all the blessings that the Thessalonians have 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 faith, hope and charity that has been bestowed upon the Thessalonians.

Continuing with his Letter, Paul emphasizes that it was not just his words that transformed the Thessalonians, but the "power" of the Holy Spirit. Giving credit where it rightfully belongs, Paul made it clear that it is the Holy Spirit who is responsible for all spiritual manifestations.

Paul is a holy example to all of us. He shines as a saintly model who always acknowledged that there is only One God and we should always remember that.

Moving on to the Gospel of Matthew, we see a few who did not shine very much, if at all, in the eyes of God. We see the Pharisees siding with the Herodians to trap Jesus with a question. Their intent was to have Jesus side with either the Pharisees or the Zealots, causing some friction with either one of the parties.

You see, the Herodians supported Herod's succession of rulers. They were extremely loyal to Rome. The Zealots rejected the fact that they were subjected to a foreign power. They wanted the Romans out of their lives. The Pharisees believed as the Zealots but they did not believe in using force to obtain independence. Any answer to the question that was given to Jesus was bound to cause friction with either one of the parties. But Jesus perceived their malice.

Jesus was asked, "Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor or not?" Jesus asked for a coin and said, "Whose head is this, and whose title?" The New Testament translation of the Latin Vulgate says, "Whose image and inscription is this?" [Mt. 22:20] They answered, "The emperor's." So Jesus told them to give therefore to the emperor the things that belong to the emperor and to God the things that are God's.

To fully understand this tricky question, it is necessary to know and understand what relates to the minting of Roman coins. The right to mint a coin proves sovereignty. The Roman Government minted their own coins and jealously guarded this sovereignty, making it an act of rebellion to mint any coins other than under the Roman authority. As such, since the coins were minted by the Roman Empire, they belonged to its Government.

To condemn the paying of taxes would have meant to disagree with the occupancy of the Romans. To agree to pay taxes would have meant to support their occupancy of the land.

Now, one may wonder how this Bible passage relates to the other two readings. It does so through the word "image." Give to God the things that are God's.

Earlier, I spoke of all the blessings that God has given each and every one of us. In Roman 8:29, we learn that "those whom God foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, in order that He might be the firstborn within a large family." In 1 Cor. 15:49, we learn that "just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we will also bear the image of the man of Heaven." 2 Cor. 3:18 tells us, "And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another." And Col. 3:10 tells us, "clothed yourselves with the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its creator."

As the Book of Genesis teaches us, man was created in the image of God. Having lost that original image through the disobedience of Adam, God has placed in motion a progressive Divine Plan to transform us once more into His glorious image. That is why He has given us so many gifts and blessings. That is why Christ died for us. That is why we are being transformed into the image of Christ through faith, hope and charity.

Belonging to God, we are called to become in His image. We are called to preserve our gifts by living our faith in Christ. We are called to give to God what belongs to God so it will not be said, "In their case the god of this world has blinded them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God." [2 Cor. 4:4]

Today's message my brothers and sisters is, appreciate what God has given you. By the power of the Holy Spirit, preserve it with all your soul, your mind, your spirit, your heart and your strength. In the Most Holy Name of Jesus, keep this gift stainless so one day, when you appear before the Lord God, you will proudly give Him back what He gave you. Then, you will inherit the assurance of your salvation.

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The readings...

[The readings were taken from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible (C) 1989 Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Church of Christ in the United States of America.]

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First Reading...

"Thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped to subdue nations before him and strip kings of their robes, to open doors before him - and the gates shall not be closed; For the sake of my servant Jacob, and Israel my chosen, I call you by your name, I surname you, though you do not know me. I am the Lord, and there is no other; besides me there is no god. I arm you, though you do not know me, so that they may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is no one besides me; I am the Lord, and there is no other." [Is. 45:1, 4-6]

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Second Reading...

"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 always give thanks to God for all of you and mention you in our prayers, constantly remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. For we know, brothers and sisters beloved by God, that he has chosen you, because our message of the gospel came to you not in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of persons we proved to be among you for your sake." [1 Thess. 1:1-5]

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Gospel Reading...

"Then the Pharisees went and plotted to entrap him in what he said. So they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, 'Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God in accordance with truth, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality. Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxed to the emperor, or not?' But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, 'Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites? Show me the coin used for the tax.' And they brought him a denarius. Then he said to them, 'Whose head is this, and whose title?' They answered, 'The emperor's.' Then he said to them, 'Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor's and to God the things that are God's.'" [Mt. 22:15-21]

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