29th Sunday Ordinary Time, Year A

"Then give to Caesar what is Caesar's, but give to God what is God's."

Lectionary Readings for 29th Sunday Ordinary Time, Year A
http://www.pcentral-online.net/catholic/lectionary/29th-sunday-a.html

The context of this statement of Jesus comes from the question posed to Him by the Pharisees. They wanted to test Him in order to find out whether He and His band of apostles were also paying their taxes to the Roman Empire. Jesus was aware that they wanted to"trap Him" in speech. But He responded with the statement, "give to Caesar what is Caesar's, but give to God what is God's."

Today's gospel makes us aware that there are two kingdoms: the kingdom of this world and the Kingdom of Heaven. We know that Jesus tells us that His Kingdom is not of this world. We, who desire to follow Him, know that His Kingdom resides in our minds and our hearts. But we are also citizens of our state and nation. And being citizens of our state and nation, we are obliged to follow its rules and laws, especially in relation to taxes and whatever constitution our State has.

We are called to place the Kingdom of Jesus above the kingdom of this world. This is a very big challenge indeed because oftentimes, we are torn by our consciences whether to follow the laws of the State or to follow the laws of the Church - a representation of the Kingdom of Jesus in a concrete community. There are laws in the State that are not necessarily moral when it comes to the laws of the Church. This is why in the history of our Catholic faith, eventually, there was a separation of Church and State in order to make a distinction between what belongs to the king and what belongs to God. When the system of governance was theocratic, as was in the times of the monarchies, the Church installed the king as a leader who will also lead his people to the Kingdom of God. However, when the Church began to be aware of how it was becoming worldly (especially in the time of Pope Innocent III), under the influence and inspiration of Francis of Assisi, gradually a separation of Church and State became a reality.

As people of God, we are called now to simply follow the Church's teaching and its hierarchy. They form our consciences in the right way. Whatever conscience we have that was formed by the State, must be subsumed under the moral teaching of the Church. We can then make good and wise decisions when it comes to serious direction by adding also our personal experience and discernment of our particular life situation. Although it may seem easy when Jesus said "to give to Caesar what is Caesar's, but give to God what is God's", in actual practice, this needs much prayer and discernment and the guide of a spiritual director and the counsel of people who are in a state of authority in both the institution of the Church and the institution of the State.

However, in ordinary circumstances and in situations that do not involve moral complexity, we are simply called to perform our obligations to the State and to the Church - meaning to be a good citizen of our State and to practice justice, mercy and charity as Christians and Catholics in our family and community.

28th Sunday Ordinary Time, Year A

"The reign of God may be likened to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son."

Lectionary Readings for the 28th Sunday Ordinary Time, Year A
http://www.pcentral-online.net/catholic/lectionary/28th-sunday-a.html

The Lord always preached and taught about the Kingdom of God in the form of parables, so that people may know about the Kingdom through things that are also familiar to them. He gave this parable to the chief priests and elders of the people: He told them about a king who gave a wedding feast for his son and invited many people to come to the banquet. However, those who were invited had many excuses and did not come. Others even insulted the servants of the king and killed them. The king was angry and sent soldiers to destroy those people. Then the king told his servants once more to invite anyone who can be seen by the byroads. And the wedding hall was eventually filled with guests, both good and bad. As the king then entered the hall and then surveyed the guests, he found one without a wedding garment. He then had the guest bound and thrown out of the banquet. And then Jesus said, "The invited are many, the elect are few."

This parable seems to reflect an image of a God who is very harsh and strict and very exact in his justice. But we must remember that God is not only a loving God but a just God. His justice is tempered by His mercy. There are many sides to God's reality and even though how much we may know of Him, His total reality and Person will remain a mystery for us. In this parable, the earthly king is a glimpse of what God is: just and powerful. But even though God is just and powerful, He shows how much He wants us to share in His life: like the king who, after inviting those who were invited in the first place and they refused, he still continued on his invitation and wanted people to share in the joy he has because of his son's wedding.

That is how the Lord wants of us when He calls us to the banquet of His table and altar. The Eucharist is for all of us. He invites everyone. But like the earthly situation Jesus tells of in the parable, many are too busy or do not find value in sharing in the life of Christ. We who are called and respond must be thankful that we can share in the life of God through the Eucharist. It is in the Eucharist that we are in communion with Christ and with each other. We become a Eucharistic community worshipping God who gave Himself to us in the form of consecrated bread and wine. Let us always remember that the Eucharist is a gift that we are called to be thankful for. If not for this sacrament, we would not be strengthened and nurtured in our Christian life. Christ calls all of us, but not many respond to Him. Thus only those who do, will share in the life He promises to us: a life of peace and justice and mercy and forgiveness for all our sins.

27th Sunday Ordinary Time, Year A

"...the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that will yield a rich harvest."

Lectionary Readings for the 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A
http://catholic.pcentral-online.net/lectionary/27th-sunday-a.html

This Sunday's gospel, we find Jesus again speak of a parable about the kingdom of God. He said that there was a property owner who leased out his property to tenant farmers and then left for a journey. When the property owner came back to get the produce of his land, the tenant farmers seized and harmed the slaves that were sent by the property owner to get the produce. The property owner reacted by sending a second force with more slaves, but the second group of slaves received the same bad treatment from the tenant farmers. Then the property owner said that if I send my son, they will respect him and give him my right to the produce of the land. Unfortunately, the tenant farmers even saw this as a greater threat to them, for the property owner's son was sure to be the inheritor of all the land and its produce. They thought evil and killed him.

Jesus was alluding this parable to the situation of the people of Israel at the time. The kingdom of God was being offered to them but they refused to receive it in their minds and in their hearts. God sent the prophets to tell them about this kingdom but Israel responded by killing these prophets. Finally, God sent His Son Jesus so that the kingdom will truly be implanted in their minds and hearts. We know what happened. Israel at the time rejected Jesus and His teaching and had Him crucified on the cross. And now, since they repudiated the kingdom and killed the son of God, that kingdom was taken away from them and given to the New Israel - those who now follow Jesus and obey His teachings.

Up to this time, the kingdom of God is still being offered to us everyday. We respond by doing the Lord's will and offering to Him the best of ourselves and the best of the fruits of our labor: both material and spiritual. We who know the value and precious treasures that are in the kingdom of God are called to share it with others by speaking to them about the Gospel in word and in deed. We may experience rejection like the slaves of the property owner in the parable or even the painful experience and suffering of death endured by Christ Himself in a particular personal experience of work, mission or ministry. But we must not give up nor be discouraged because Christ, whom the builders rejected, became the keystone of the structure. If we make Christ the keystone of our life structure, then we shall be rooted firmly in His love, His justice, His mercy and most of all, in His Spirit of service despite the pain and suffering of ministry to others or working for the family.

Let us continue to pray that we may have faith in Christ and in the kingdom He promises to us - a kingdom where love, justice and mercy shall abound and death shall be no more. May we be strengthened by His Spirit in our reception of the sacraments and our participation in the Eucharistic celebrations every Sunday. May Christ be firmly rooted as the keystone of our life that we may be firmly solid in our faith in Him and truly believe that He is our Savior and the Savior of all peoples in the world.