TWENTY NINTH SUNDAY OF THE YEAR - A

TWENTY NINTH SUNDAY OF THE YEAR – A:
(Is 45:1, 4-6; 1The 1:1-5; Math 22:15-21)

Theme: As Christians we are called to build both the kingdom of God and the just human society

Reflection:

- The last week’s Gospel helped us to understand the requirements that are demanded when we are invited and called for the banquet, the Eucharist; our acceptance of the invitation of God follows also some conditions and one and first among them all is: an unwavering and ever-ready faith. God extends his call of salvation freely and gratuitously to all; but only few are in the grade to accept it and among these very few demonstrate the good disposition to realize this call; we need to be vested the appropriate and expected garment – the wedding garment; God himself provides it and we have to only keep it in position of wearing it, that means, we have keep it always clean and pure and this way we can be every ready and ever in position to accept the invitation and enter into the communion with God and with others.
- The banquet of the Lord is holy and our presence should also be in the same manner; we cannot participate in it with unclean heart and unworthy life; if we do participate knowingly and willingly in it without proper preparation we bring upon ourselves the condemnation and judgment of God: ‘to be tied up and be thrown into the dark room’; that means, all our possibilities for the salvation are tied up and we find ourselves in the room of darkness and damnation; therefore, either gaining salvation or buying destruction is all the same placed in our hands and as we sow the seeds so we reap: if we sow good seeds of faith and love then we are permitted to participate and so we are fruitful once again reaping the fruits of joy and communion with the Lord.
- Instead, today’s Gospel helps us to understand that we are called not only for giving glory to God with the liturgy and prayers but also for building his kingdom of peace, justice and love through our active participation in the social and community responsibility; that’s what Jesus means when he asks us to give to God what belongs to God, that is his glory, and give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, that is social task; as Christians, therefore, we are not called just to live a life of holiness with pious and devotional practices which is of course a great and wonderful offering to God, but more than that we are called to live a responsible life in and for the surroundings we are placed, of course again with the spiritual strength we gain through our faith and prayers;
- We need to strike the balance between the prayer and practice, between the reading the Good News of the Scripture and giving the good life to others, between desiring for the kingdom of God to come on earth and making it realize in our midst by our actions, and finally between raising our hands to God in vertical dimension and extending our hands to our neighbors in the horizontal dimension and thus making a cross in life and living a life of cross; that’s exactly what Christ has done on the cross: offering himself to God in the symbolism of the vertical piece and pouring out of his body and blood for the salvation of the humanity in the symbolism of the horizontal piece on which he has opened his arms to embrace all;
- Thus, we are to, in the same manner of Christ, come down from the Church of prayers and liturgy (from the silence of sitting in the presence of the Lord) in order to meet our fellow brothers and sisters in their need (to the struggles of the poor, the daily battles of the rejected and thrown-outs, the un-solvable problems of the innocent and endless is the list) and to take them also up to the Father’s bosom of love and joy (raising them from their present ignorance and helplessness to the knowledge and trust in God).
- We are pleased to sit an hour or two in the presence of God, singing songs and raising hands to give him praise and even more when there is prayer meeting or charismatic gathering with the Bibles and hymnals in the hand! Yes, we are truly Christians. No doubt in it and we should be given the necessary applause for this. Now the question is: is it all the Christian vocation? Can we be satisfied with the prayers we make and remain untouched in its requirements? Can we say that the kingdom of God which we desire to come on to earth has come just with the power of our prayers? And finally, can we sit for ten or twenty minutes in the presence of the needy (be it our neighbor or be it anybody), offering few kind words of encouragement and opening our arms to console them and if needed to raise our voice in the support of their cause?
- If we are unable to answer these questions or if we keep ourselves safely away from these ever persisting questions of life, can we really say that we are giving to God what is God’s and giving to the neighbors what is theirs? Through His Word God makes us to open our eyes to see and to establish the kingdom of God amidst us both with our spiritual power of prayer and with our social responsibility of giving witness.

First Reading:

- Human authority is the will and work of God:
o God is the author of human authority and human leadership according to the Christian faith; it is God who, out of his concern and love for the humanity, permits a particular person, in the particular place and in the particular time, to be the leader of the human society;
o Everything works this way, as we Christians understand it, just because nothing can escape the mind and will of God; it is for this reason we have to treat our leaders, either political or social, with respect and extend our full support and cooperation for building the just society;
- Cyrus, the Persian king, is God’s instrument: the content of the first reading:
o Today’s first reading narrates how the authority of God passes through the human instrument: “Thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped to subdue nations before him” (v.45:1); thus the king is God’s right hand with which he permits his will to be amidst us.
o God anoints Cyrus to proclaim the liberation of Israel from the Babylonian slavery and their return to the Palestine and therefore God’s act in their passage from the slavery to the salvation;
o God manifests his power and his superiority in anointing a king for himself and for his people and utilizes him as the instrument of redemption of his people purified in the exile;
- God and His Reign is the Ultimate Reality:
o However powerful it may become the human authority is always inferior to God; there are no leaders, no authorities, no, not even gods before him and that is the assurance and hope that God himself provides for us by his messengers: “I am the Lord, and there is no other; besides me there is no god” (v.5).
o Therefore, the first preference is for the kingdom of God but it has to enter into the world through the human instrumentation and indeed with the will of God; therefore, we have to bow down before God’s will and reign and at the same time we have to give reverence to the human authority too just because He assured: “I the Lord do all these things” (v.7).

Second Reading:

- God’s message is infused into human hearts with the power of the Holy Spirit, the author of the human heart:
o The first letter to the Thessalonians is the very earlier documents of Christianity and it is written from Corinth in 51 A.D. St. Paul has predicated at Thessalonica, the capital of Macedonia, during his second visit in the year 50.
o The city of Thessalonica has a consistent colony of Jews apart from its inhabitants; Paul writes to the newly entered Christians to be eager and ready to accept the Gospel, not just as a word (as it was by the Jews) but as the Power of the Spirit (as it was by the new Christians);
o We can find in this passage one synthesis of community which is being perfected both in the human dimension and in the theological dimension; the human task is expressed by the three theological virtues which sprout in the faithful of Thessalonica: the operating faith, the matured charity and the constant hope.
o Finally, the divine presence is testified by the ‘power of the Holy Spirit’ (v.5), and that is, by the interior and physical miracles that are taking place in the community and by the multiplicity of charismas that are present in the community;
o With the divine spirit the Church of Thessalonica grows and is fortified and it is because it is the work of God himself: “may the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound” (1 Thes 5:23).

Gospel:

- Biblical Context: to silence the entrappers
o The Gospel and in particular the Gospel of Mathew is full of ‘confrontations of Jesus with the Jewish Authorities’ and we see this often between Jesus and Pharisees, Sadducees, and as in today’s reading, the Herodians;
o Their main fear is that Jesus is being recognized and accepted by the common people as the Messiah and as a great Prophet who makes things right for them; Jesus’ familiarity with the people has become a threat for these authorities and they are afraid of ‘how far this may reach’ and their worry is that people may make him great disowning and neglecting their authority;
o The test for Jesus by them is often to make him close his face in front of the people and so it is one of the tricks to trap him and thus to see his end; we may see the number of example of this entrapment of Jesus by them: first of all, in the beginning of his ministry itself Jesus has spoken against the hypocritical example they give on his sermon on the mount as is put in Mathew, chap 5-7, where Jesus speaks of the New Law which purifies and perfects the law given to them by Moses; second, in chap 9:2-8, Jesus knowing their wicked intentions proves by the miracle that the Son of Man has the authority to forgive sins; then, in chap 12:9-14, when the question of keeping of Sabbath is raised, Jesus puts them down with the counter question for which they have gone out and conspired against him; then in chap 15:1-20, when the discourse about the following the Tradition of the Elders Jesus rebukes them for their slow understanding and calls them hypocrites; and in the passages like Jesus and paying the temple tax (17:24ff) and when Jesus is asked to prove his authority (21:23-27); these are only few citations and we can find them many more; but in each of these instances either Jesus silenced them or they went away with anger of not accepting his performance.
o In the same context we find today’s reading also. The intention of the Jewish authority is clear in the first verse of today’s gospel: “the Pharisees went and plotted to entrap him in what he said. So they sent their disciples to him” (vv.15-16). They have not come to listen and to know from Jesus the genuine answer; instead, they have come to put him to the test and thus prove him wrong and make him a cheater; it is for this reason even Jesus does not give a straight answer or in a smooth manner and thus questions them again because he knows their malice (v.18). The answer that Jesus gives them at the end is just amazing that they left him and went away with wonderstruck.
o Therefore this passage appears both in the context of confrontation with the authority and also in the context of his proximity to the passion and death before which his disciples have to make a radical decision either to be for the world (Caesar) or to be for God (accepting him) and he means this when he says: “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s”.
o The political power cannot be considered as an absolute power. Therefore the Christians should be attentive not to accept any form of power which holds itself to be total submission of conscience. Again, the political power is nothing in the sight of God because it is from his it takes it form and its usage. Per the individuals or for the society there is only God, the Almighty, whom they have to adore. All the power comes from God alone: “you would not have the authority over me if it were not given to you from above” (John 19:11).

- Spiritual explanation of the passage: Having God in the Heart and world in the hands:
o Give to God what belongs to Him: what can we give to God?
 The faithful praise: we are created in his image and likeness and therefore, we carry in our heart the very nature and very imprint of God’s love; as long as we remember that we are just a gift of his love to the world, though the parents are of human instruments for his design of will, we are ‘obliged’ and we have to live with unwavering faith in Him and offer always an immense praise to him for the ‘bounty of goodness and mercy’ he has shown to us;
 The hopeful adoration: we are just his creatures and the work of his hands; we have to call to our mind our littleness before him although he has elevated us with the freedom and dignity; as we are in world, every moment of our life, we have to ‘see and experience’ the wonders that he accomplishes in our life, even in the midst of our trials and sufferings; therefore, we just have to ‘adore him in silence and with hope’ for the his promise of joy and bliss that follows our faith.
 The charitable testimony: our faith and our hope are to be transformed into the acts of charity; this means that we should be able to see God in and through our neighbor; our daily faith should be an example and our hopeful living should a sign for other to see and give glory to God who filled us with these virtues; in a word, we have to give testimony of life with the gestures of love towards the needy;
 Apart from these or as the consequence of these we fulfill the first greatest commandment: “Love your God with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your strength”; this is the commandment of God’s love; therefore, giving glory to him means that we offer to him in return for his love, our heart, our mind and our strength; of this we will reflect more in the coming Sunday;
 All our life should be ‘An Event of God’s Glory’ or the manifestation of his love in and through us; this is what called ‘Give to God what belongs to God’ and in the spiritual sense, we can say, having God in our heart;
o Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar: what can we give to the Society?
 Our time and energy and talents: we are in the society and in the community of people and not in the desert; therefore, we have the obligation to work for the well-being of all our neighbors; we are asked to spend our availability (time) and our readiness (energy) and our capabilities (talents);
 Responsibility and Cooperation: each one is given a possibility of living only for the growth and development of the neighborhood; everyone should feel responsible for desiring the good of all and extend the necessary cooperation to the local leaders/government or the society and only this way we can build the just society; this also includes, paying our taxes in the due time, utilizing the resources of the society in the useful manner and saving the unnecessary misuse of the public properties and finally allowing them to live in comfort and peace;
 All these are the consequences of the fulfillment of the second greatest commandment: “love your neighbor as yourself”; this is the commandment of Neighbor’s love; therefore, giving these to the local authority means that we offer to it in return for its service to us; of this also we will reflect more in the coming Sunday;
 All our life, therefore, should also be ‘An Occasion of Service to the Society’ and this is what called ‘giving to Caesar what belong to him’ and in the spiritual sense, we can say, ‘holding the world in our hands’.


Conclusion:
- Building the Kingdom of God:
o As Christians we are called to build up the kingdom of God, that is, the kingdom of peace, love and joy in the Holy Spirit, as said by St. Paul (Rom 14:17);
o It is only possible by building our spiritual life through the prayers, liturgical celebrations, bible reading and meditation; our spirit is nourished both by God’s Word (the message of Jesus) and by his Eucharist (the body and blood of Jesus) and therefore, we need to pay loving attention to this spiritual aspect of our life;
o Unless we are strong in the mind and heart with this spiritual nourishment we cannot do anything good without selfish motives;
o In this way, we certainly require ‘sitting in the presence of the Lord’ and rendering him a worthy praise of thanksgiving and glory; once we offer ourselves completely to God and to his will, then, he will work in us and his work will be fruitful and then, we see ‘our prayer of thy kingdom come’ being realized in and through us ‘as the kingdom already come’.
- Building the just human society:
o As Christians we are not called only to live contemplative life keeping ourselves aloof from the world and its tasks; no this is not true as the Gospel of today admonishes us; we are called to build simultaneously the just society too;
o As long as we are in the world, it is true that we do not belong to the world (as says John Paul II: we are in the world but we are not of the world), but we have the social responsibility to create and develop a just human world, a world of solidarity, a world of justice, a world of equality and a world of peace;
o We should have commitment and dedication towards the world (or a small community in the local sense) and we should feel responsible that ‘I am in the world and for the world; therefore, I should do something for its growth’.
o We can build the human society with the same faith and with the same Christian witness; we need to ‘come out of God’s presence and glory’ to meet our neighbor, of course, with the same spiritual strength we have gained in the Church; we can also remember the radical call that Ravindranath Tagore who says that God is not there anymore in the walls of the prayer hall, he has gone to sit amidst those who are working in the stones and who is in sweat of every laborer.
o Therefore, Christ calls us today: ‘My Child, come out of the Church; enough of prayer for today and for now; transform this prayer into a loving act; go out meet the needy; extend your hand filled with my grace; continue doing this till the last drop of your blood; this is the prayer in action which I like much, than the prayer of lips;’ we need to listen to the call of Jesus who wills that we work, as his followers, for the building of both ‘the kingdom of God’ and ‘the just human society’.
- Building the Christian Unity: One Christ, One Faith and One Baptism
o As Catholics we have another important and very difficult talk; our Christian testimony is not authentic unless we are not united and unless we do not have the common understanding of ‘living together as one family’.
o We have One Christ but are we still one? This is the first question we have to answer; the other Christians communities are being divided with the selfish and dominative characters; where there is no unity, it simple to understand, that there is no Holy Spirit because he is the principle of unity and communion; they are divided in themselves and thus, one church becomes ten and ten into hundred; the reason is very obvious: they do not witness Christ authentically but strive for their living and personal growth and personal domination;
o On the other way, in the Catholic Church we are all still one and under the same Pastor (Pope) who keep us in the spirit of community; we do not say that we do not have different opinions; we do have them; but finally, the word of the ambassador of Christ, the Pope and the Magisterium, is being obeyed all over the world; in this way, we still have and we will have the principle of unity; and there it is we, Catholics, who have to work for the unity of all Christians so that our common testimony have its authenticity and its effect for the building up of the community of love and peace;
- In this way, we the Christians and in particular Catholics are called to build up these movements: the kingdom of God (giving to God what belongs to him), the just human society (giving to the civil authority what belongs to it) and finally, the Christian Unity (for the glory of God and the well-being of the Society);