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October 22, 2017
In today’s Gospel, Jesus is put between a rock and a hard place. He is asked…Do you agree that paying the Census tax to Caesar is lawful? Seems like a yes or no question, right? But he is asked this with malice by two groups with different views. The Pharisees and the Herodians, are enemies and only come together to try and trap Jesus into an answer. If he answers yes, he angers the Pharisees who do not want the tax and if he answers no, then the Herodians and the Roman authorities come after him.
However, Jesus is not fooled by their hatefulness and gives them an ambiguous answer basically saying, give back what is Caesar’s and give to God what belongs to God. This might be difficult to decipher. What is Jesus saying exactly? We need to have civil rights to society but also our loyalty to our God? Two different obligations, that should be kept completely distinct.
So, where is our allegiance? Our heart and soul belong to God. Yet we live a life of competing powers and influences trying to sway us, capture our hearts. We are in a constant struggle with outside influences competing with our loyalty to God. Navigating through all these struggles is not easy and we must seek God’s Wisdom and Grace to put us on the righteous path of following the Gospel in a world full of obstacles and others with different views on the same issue.Today begins the season of Advent! Each week Father Michael will light the Advent wreath to symbolize the growing light of Christ. Each candle has its own meaning and is illustrated in the four weeks. Hope…. reminding us that Jesus is coming. Faith…. reminding us of Mary and Joseph’s journey to Bethlehem. Joy…. reminding us of the joy to the world experience of Jesus’ birth. Peace…. with the angel’s message “Peace on Earth, Good Will towards Men.” Attending Mass each week during Advent is a great way to keep children focused on the real meaning of Christmas and to prepare for the coming of Christ.
Advent is the season we focus entirely on preparing to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. It is marked by a spirit of expectation, anticipation and longing. But, it is also a feeling of joy of a spiritual journey as we affirm that Christ has come, that He is always present within us and it is up to us to bring Him into our hearts and into our lives.
As we wait in anticipation and excitement, we have an opportunity to have a clean heart and soul by attending our annual Advent Penance Service. This will take place this Tuesday, December 5th @ 7:00 p.m. in our church. All are welcome to join us to pray together and refocus on God’s presence in our lives.
In Peace,
