29th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Fr. Francis)
God and Caesar
The Gospel passage leads us to consider how we carry out our responsibilities to our country and to our God. We are Catholic Christians. We are Americans. We take our citizenship in our country extremely seriously. We show our patriotism in different ways.
We are also citizens of the Kingdom of God. Our responsibility to God is infinitely greater than our responsibility to our country. Will we ever be forced to choose between country and God? Hopefully, no, but for us there is no choice. The bottom line is that we are Christians first and forever.
I want to tell you about two men, one a saint and the other a contemporary king. Both were confronted with having to choose between their country and their faith. The saint is St Thomas More. Thomas More was a friend of King Henry VIII of England. Thomas was a brilliant lawyer and a man of deep faith. The king had a deep respect for Thomas. He named him to be the country’s Chancellor. Thomas served the King well. He joined the king on opposing the attacks on the Church made by Martin Luther. Henry VIII wrote an essay supporting the Church that was probably ghost written by Thomas. To this day, the Monarchs of England retain the title “Defender of the Faith” that was given to them by the Pope in gratitude for Henry’s support. Then the whole problem of Henry’s marriage came up. When the Henry’s request for an annulment was denied, Henry declared himself to be head of the Church. All in England were then required to sign the oath of supremacy rejecting the authority of Rome in religious matters. Thomas would not. For this he was first stripped of his position as chancellor, then he was imprisoned and finally he was beheaded. Thomas’ last words were: I die as the King’s faithful servant, but God’s first. Given the choice between following his conscience and rejecting the truth, Thomas saw no choice. Given the choice of choosing king or God, he chose God.
The second person I want to point out to you is a former king of Belgium, King Baudouin. He reigned not that long ago, from 1951 to 1993. He was very much loved by all his people. Baudouin and his wife, Queen Fabiola, were fervent Catholics. They supported many Catholic charities, the foremost being those that cared for mentally and physically challenged children. They were also patriotic. They loved Belgium and the people that they believed God gave them to govern. Then their country’s parliament passed a law allowing abortion, even in late term situations. But according to Belgium’s law, the law could not be enacted unless the King signed it. King Baudouin refused. He said that he was placed on the throne to care for the lives of his people. He would not destroy the lives of the most vulnerable. The King was forced to abdicate, which he did rather than sign. Actually, the parliament played a political game. They declared him incompetent, forced his abdication and then enacted the law on their own, something that was permitted between reigns in Belgium law. Then, a few days later, they reversed themselves and returned Baudouin to the throne. Baudouin became an example to his people and to the world of the importance of being first a member of the Kingdom of God. As citizens who care deeply for our country, we need to work hard to direct our country’s paths to morality.
We have a responsibility to support God and country. But we also believe that a priority must be kept: God first, country second. We need to do all in our power to help our country make good, moral laws so that we might always be “one nation under God.” There are many, many ways that we can guide our country to being one that serves God in its care for all our citizens. We have a responsibility to fight against laws that destroy life, from womb to tomb. We have a responsibility to change a system that allows the mentally challenged to be homeless. There are many other ways that we need to be active in helping our country make moral choices, support noble ideals. We are reminded today that we have to be active, courageous and moral citizens of this great nation. That is how we can render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s and unto God what is God’s.
Surely it can’t be Mission Sunday again! Though it doesn’t matter which Sunday it is, someone is always asking for something, telling me what I should be doing, hinting where I should put my money. Will there ever be a Sunday when they won’t make some demand or other of me? All I want is a bit of peace at my weekly mass.
Does this ring a bell with you? I believe that there is something of most of us in that reaction to another “Special” Sunday and collection. Faced with our own personal problems and those of our own parish, it is not always easy to rise to the challenges that the Church and the Gospel place before us.
Today, with all our sisters and brothers throughout the world we are asked to remember that we are called to share in the Church’s mission of proclaiming the Good News of Christ to the ends of the world. Missionaries throughout the world (like HGN) spend not a week but most of their lives struggling to speak foreign languages, exposed to heat and cold, noise and violence/culture etc… They are not unhappy, though: their love for Christ and love for each other radiate joy from their faces. We need to pray for them and prepare ourselves be a missionaries to our brothers and sisters who have not yet known Christ.
God bless us.
Fr. A. Francis HGN