Homily for the 29th Sunday of Ordinary Time, October 18, 2020. Gospel of St. Matthew 22:15-21. Theme: Give to God What Belongs to God…Even in Politics!
How timely today’s Gospel is for us as we approach Presidential Election Day! I don’t think we could ask for a better Gospel passage to be heard as we prepare to cast our votes for the leadership and direction of our nation! Even the two groups mentioned in today’s Gospel have relevance to our contemporary situation.
The Pharisees were the staunch conservatives of Israel. Their very name means “Separated Ones” and they did not associate with anyone whom they considered outsiders. The Pharisees were a very hardcore by-the-book party within Israel.
The Herodians were the polar opposite of the Pharisees. As their name implies, they were supporters of King Herod and thus cooperators with the Roman Occupied Forces. The Herodians were the liberal socially connected party who watered down their religion for the sake of political correctness and power.
It seems to me that we can see traces of these groups in the political parties and platforms of today.
• We can see them in those who think themselves so highly educated that they despise others who do not share their “Ivy League” points of view.
• We can see them among the social elite who ridicule the common person, especially the rural population of our nation, as ignorant and uninformed.
• We can see them in those who compromise religion for the sake of gaining votes, even if it requires the killing of the unborn and other assaults upon human life.
• And we can see a reflection of them in those who publicly exile God from having any authoritative presence or influence in political and social life, even being so arrogant as to banish his name from our public assemblies and deleting it from the pledge of allegiance.
In today’s Gospel Jesus is saying that we have an obligation to both God and the government, but that these commitments must be prioritized according to reality. It is God who gives us life. It is God who keeps us in existence. It is God in whose image each and every human being is made. Jesus points to the image of Caesar on the coin and asks, “Whose image is this?” We could very well point to a human being and ask, “Whose image is this?” And the answer would be: God’s image. Therefore, give to God what belongs to God. In other words, people have priority over profit and therefore our political choices must first of all take God and the good of the human person as their non-negotiable starting points.
But sadly, the temptation to ignore God and the good of the human person for the sake of the power, prestige and position that comes with political gain is nothing new in our world. That is why Jesus of Nazareth was such a threat to the hopes and plans of the Pharisees and Herodians. And it is why he and his Gospel still seen as a threat to many politicians in our own times. His teachings and his whole life are a proclamation of the priority of God and the human person in every aspect of life, including politics.
• Jesus speaks God’s Word of Truth that exposes lies and reveals the motivation in our hearts.
• Jesus preaches the way of the Beatitudes and love for one’s enemies which upsets our agendas and turns our priorities upside down.
• Jesus teaches justice for the poor and protection of the vulnerable calling into question many of our wealth-driven laws and profit-driven principles.
As Christians, we must exercise our political responsibilities with choices formed by the Word of God, conscious of our dignity as his children, and realizing that “giving to God what is God’s” means that our primary allegiance is to Him. To this end we must ask ourselves:
• Have we considered the various candidates and their policies in the light of Christ’s teachings or are we allowing the secular social media to be our teacher in making our moral political decisions?
• Do we approach the issues blindly based upon a political party platform or are we guided by the light of faith given to us at baptism, enabling us to choose good and reject evil?
• In carrying out our political responsibilities do we have the self-identification that “I am first of all a Christian”? Or do we give what is God’s to Caesar by declaring that “I am first all a Democrat or a Republican or whatever my political affiliation?”
• Do we realize that our political actions are an important way by which we fulfill Jesus’ commission to build a civilization of love and life, of justice and peace on planet Earth?
Today’s Gospel should be our guiding principle when we go to vote. It reminds us that even in our social life and politics, our commitment is first of all to God, who alone who is the Source of our inalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. This is why we Americans have as our official national motto: “In God we trust.” Let’s go forward towards Election Day with God’s Truth in our minds, the common good of human beings in our hearts, and the motto of our nation ringing in our ears.
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