How Talented Am I? Homily for the 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

  

Prv 31:10-13, 19-20, 30-31

Ps 128 1-5

1 Thes 5:1-6

Mt 25:14-30

 

Fear is the thread unites today’s readings.  The word appears in the first reading, the psalm, and the gospel.  Anxiety about the future, itself a form of fear, appears in the second reading.  

 

Fear of one's master is prominent in the Gospel.  The psalm associates the words fear and Lord twice. Thus we must consider what fear of the Lord is and,perhaps more importantly, what fear of the Lord is not.

 

Generating fear in others has been used and abused as a means of manipulating others for centuries.  Generating fear in the populace was key in manipulating American behavior by the government during covid.  Closed schools destroyed education such that some kids will never recover. It was not necessary. Generating fear forced the sick elderly to die alone and frightened, with no visitors or family permitted. to comfort them.  It was immoral.  In many ways fear is the driver behind all advertising.

 

Fear of the Lord has little to do with gut-churning, hand-trembling, sweat-inducing terror.  It has little to do with journalistically created fear.  Fear of the Lord is much closer to love and awe than it is to the emotions and physical signs we generally associate with the word fear.

 

Protestant theologian Karl Barth makes an important distinction between anxiety-driven fear and what he calls ‘right fear of the Lord.’  He explains, “When the right fear of the Lord takes possession of our hearts we are both lost in amazement and struck by awe even terror.  For we discover that God, since the beginning of time, has not hated or threatened us but has loved  and chosen us . . . Right fear of the Lord springs from the discovery that God gave His Beloved Son for us.”  

 

Right fear of the Lord is a complicated mix of emotions which threaten to overwhelm us when we finally and truly realize that despite being sinners God has loved us and continues to love us. 

 

As Barth wrote, we know fear of the Lord when we realize that we are sinners who God loved, and loves, so greatly that He sent His only Son to redeem us. Right fear of the Lord is not driven by anxiety nor does it cause anxiety. it is driven by gratitude, the kind of gratitude that appears again and again in the psalms.  Right fear of the Lord is the fear of disappointing those who love usbecause they love us.   Throughout our lives we have feared disappointing

parents, friends, spouses, children, mentors, and others.  We fear letting others down because of our own sin, our own carelessness, or our own lack of love.

 

Jesuit theologian Xavier Leon-Dufour writes, “Reverential fear, which shows itself in adoration, is different in that it is the normal reaction of the believer standing before the Divine. . . . fear of God . . . draws one toward deeper faith.”  The gospel parable is about that deeper faith.

 

For this gospel in particular, it is important to recall that a parable is a mixture of

of many forms of speech including hyperbole.  Among the challenges in this particular gospel is the use of the word 'talent' which frequently goes definition or explanation from the pulpit.  That will never do.

 

A talent in the gospel has nothing to do with the ability to play the piano, make a hook shot, or whistle on key, perhaps the rarest talent of the three.  The talent was a form of Jewish currency.  The denarius was a Roman coinage that was  was equal to a laborer’s daily wage.  Converting the value of denarii and talents into modern currency equivalents slams home the point of this gospel and faith.

 

At a minimum wage of $7.55/hour a denarius would be worth $60.40 for an eight-hour day.  A talent was worth between 6,000 and 10,000 denarii.  Using a midpoint of 8,000 denarii the servant who received one talent was given $483,000.00. The servant who received two talents got almost a cool million bucks. The servant given five talents received $2,416,000.00. 

 

The parable of the talents is a parable about faith using talents to illustrate the gift of faith we are all given.  We do not purchase faith.  We cannot possibly purchase it.   We do not have to earn it.  It is given to us freely.  Others can guide us in our faith--the most important role of parents and teachers--but only we can maintain and nurture our own faith. That faith is freely given to us by God just as the talents were freely given to the servants by the master to use as they might. 

 

Those who, like the first two servants, nurture their faith so that it increases,

who live their lives in accord with that faith,  will be rewarded and share in the Master's joy. Those who, like the servant given one talent, bury their faith, ignoring it, or pulling it out only in times of difficulty or stress, or maybe for a few days at Christmas, will eventually lose even that.   

 

All three servants knew fear of their Master. All three servants knew fear of the Lord.  For the first two fear of the Lord was the awe and reverence, that Barth described as “right fear of the Lord.”  Their faith, symbolized by the talents, grew as they awaited the master's return.   Their reward was great when he did return.  The third servant only knew anxiety-driven fear of the Lord.  He only knew timidity, a lack of confidence in the Lord and unwillingness to trust the Lord. When the Master returned he lost even what he had.  And was thrown into darkness. 

 

We have the same choice as did the servants.  Thus, we do well to recall today's psalm that is a brief summary of the longer gospel.

 

"Blessed are you who fear the LORD,

who walk in his ways!

For you shall eat the fruit of your handiwork;

blessed shall you be, and favored."

 

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Spending a bit of time with photos.  These are from a few years ago but were reprocessed today.  My dad was a fisherman.  He enjoyed river or lake fishing in all forms.  But, he drew the line at ice fishing.  As I frequently went with him, I am grateful that he didn't have me standing on ice.  The photos here were taken just outside Brattleboro, VT.  I was driving up Rt 30 heading to Manchester, VT when I had to pull off the side and take these.  

 

Standing.  On ice.  Waiting for a hungry fish.  No thanks. 

All identifying  information removed.  Just four fishermen.

A fisherman's shack resting on land. 

Several shacks seen beyond the weeks.

It was rather cold that day.  The bike seemed incongruous. 

 

Fr. Jack, SJ, MD

 

  

A Homily for Veteran’s Day

11 November 2026

 

Veteran's Day commemorates all those, living and dead, who served in the military. It is a day on which we give thanks for their service and commemorate the wars in which they served and the battles in which veterans fought and died:  Cambrai of WW I, Iwo Jima, Anzio, and D-Day of WW II,  Inchon during the Korean War.  Tet and the Fall of Saigon echo in the memories of us baby boomers. The inept withdrawal from Afghanistan will enrage veterans for a long time.

 

The reasons for and the ways in which wars are fought have changed dramatically.  Those reasons and changes are reflected in societal changes.  The philosophical and theological understandings of conflict and war have also changed. It is unlikely that either "Over There," George M. Cohan's patriotic WW I song, or Frank Loesser's WW II vintage "Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition" would be written today or become the hits they were at the time. The trenches, hand-to-hand combat, and bayonets of WW I were replaced by a powerful air force and bombs with extraordinary power by WW II.  Today, missiles can be deployed via computer and  drones can destroy with almost surgical precision.  The risk of sophisticated chemical and biological warfare is all too real today.   The dangers are particularly acute in view of the 'gain of function' research conducted in Wuhan, China.  All of these developments have affected the experience of those called to serve.

 

The response of American society to the military and veterans has also changed over the decades. The ticker-tape parades welcoming veterans home from World Wars I and II contrast sharply with the vitriolic ugliness, venom, and cruelty dished out to veterans of Vietnam by so-called peaceniks.

 

Today, those same activists who accused returning veterans of being 'baby killers' have been strangely silent about the baby killer Governor of Massachusetts and her coven of supporters, applauding as she signed a law legalizing abortion up to the time of birth.

 

Wars define the generations that fought them as well as the generations that follow, the veteran’s children and grandchildren. My dad, born in 1905, was too young for WW I.  However, he served four years in Europe during WW II as a physician in the Army medical corps.  Like many veterans, he rarely spoke about his experiences, except the funny ones;  and they were few.  He related a few of those experiences to me when I was at Temple Med after asking that I not share them with my three siblings.  I haven’t and won’t. But some of those confidences hover in the background of my life as both  physician and priest.

 

The sacrifices veterans made--and the sacrifices members of the military continue to make--are oftentimes discounted or ignored.  Future plans, family life, education, jobs . . .  all these are put on hold when one is called or volunteers to serve in the armed forces.  Injuries may short circuit life plans. The risk of death needs no elaboration.

 

At other times, however, military service opens up previously undreamed of opportunities and paths of life.  Members of the military are, for the most part, anonymous and hidden. The fame of veterans is the hiddenness of their service.  The reward for doing a job day by day is little recognition or appreciation from those whom they defend.

 

The task for us who are descendants of veterans is to keep their memories alive and retell the stories they sometimes shared with great reluctance.  Only by keeping those memories alive can we learn from them and teach later generations. 

 

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No homily over the weekend as I was up in Vermont where I do not celebrate Mass or preach.  Concelebrate and private Masses yes but preaching no.  The photos were taken at the motherhouse of the Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm in Germantown, NY when I was giving a retreat a number of years ago.  I've been working at their facilities in Framingham, MA for about 12 years now.

 

A detail of a candelabra

Candles awaiting liturgy

The property sits on the Hudson River. The view includes the Catskills to the west

Sunrise was to the east and a little muted

Sunsets were to the west

 Fr. Jack, SJ, MD

 

 

Requiem Aeternam: Homily for All Soul's Day

Wisdom 3:1-9

1 Cor 15:51-57

Jn 11:17-27

 

"People don't want to let go. . . . They think it's supposed to last forever"

 

"But it happens anyway . . . . it doesn't matter what you do, you can't stop it."

 

"This living . . . . this life . . . . it doesn't last forever"

 

"It was never supposed to last forever." 

 

These lines come from the poignant final scene of "The Shadow Box,"  Michael Cristofer's 1977 Pulitzer Prize winning play that was later made into a TV movie starring Valerie Harper, Christopher Plummer, and Joann Woodward. It was directed by Paul Newman. 

 

"The Shadow Box" reminds us of the limits of life.  It places in sharp relief the shock when we realize that our lives are finite. and it shows the agonizing realization when it hits us that our lives, and the lives of those we love, must end.

 

Set in a hospice the play explores the final days for three characters and their loved ones.  It does not ignore the strains on relationships when it becomes obvious that death is inevitable. It acknowledges the pain when we realize 

"it doesn't last forever."  It captures the difficult moment when it becomes apparent that "It was never supposed to last forever."

 

Being with someone at the moment of death is to experience awe in the truest sense of the term.  The last blip on the monitor.  The moment when all movement ceases.  A sigh as the final breath escapes the body.  Suddenly a life is over.  Everything has ended.  Everything has changed. 

 

We heard in Paul’s letter " . . . in an instant, in the blink of an eye."  We all die in a smallest flicker of time.  Even though the illness that led to death may have been prolonged, though death may have been held off for months with medical technology, the movement from life to eternal life takes place in an instant.  At that moment we who survive are thrown into the tasks of grieving and  mourning.  We are forced to begin adapting to an absence in our lives. 

 

We don't want to let go.  We never want to let go.  We do believe it is going to last forever.  But it doesn't. It never will. We rage against the knowledge that we have carried around for most of our lives that  "It was never supposed to last forever." 

 

The Church commemorates All Soul's Day  on November 2, but we experience and commemorate private All Soul's Days throughout the year.  We observe a private All Soul's Day when we see the anniversary of death approaching and try to steel ourselves against it.  It is a private All Soul’s day when we contemplate another Thanksgiving or Christmas without the one whom we loved, It is a private All Souls’ Day when we suddenly recall something of the relationship that no one else would know. And the pain comes back.

 

"The soul's of the just are in the hands of God and no torment shall touch them."

 

The beginning of the reading from Wisdom is consoling, though it may take months to feel that consolation.  The souls of the just are in the hands of God.  The souls of those whom we loved have something more than we could ever imagine.  Those whom we mourn have returned to the hands of God.  We will never know the how, the what, or the where of the eternal life that was won for us through Jesus' sacrifice.  We can never know eternal life until we ourselves have died.  For now, we can only know through faith that the souls of those whom we loved and who loved us, are held now and for eternity in the hands of God.

 

That knowledge does not in any way relieve us of the pains or the tasks of grieving, but it may at least dull the very sharpest edges of grief.  Both of Paul’s questions in the second reading drip with sarcasm.

 

"Death where is thy victory?"

"O death, where is thy sting?"

 

One can almost hear Paul sneering.  Death's victory was snatched away

through Jesus' passion, death, resurrection, and ascension. Hell's sting was neutered by the Body and Blood of Christ.  We know this through faith as did Martha in the gospel.

 

Imagine the scene. Lazarus' sisters, friends, and other family,  are gathered at the new tomb.  Their hearts are heavy with grief as they shed tears of sorrow. 

Some were confused.  Others were angry, doubting God's goodness.

 

"Lord, if you had been here . . . ."

 

"Your brother will rise."

 

"I know he will rise . . . on the last day."

 

And then Jesus utters the most consoling words imaginable: "I am the Resurrection and the Life; he who believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die."

 

Then we hear Martha's profound act of faith: "You are the Christ, the Son of God . . . . "

 

Today we commemorate the souls of the dead: family, friends, and those who have no one to pray for them.  It is a day to visit a grave and place candles or flowers.  It is a day to attend Mass.  It is be a day to sit quietly alone, perhaps while saying a rosary, as we recall, grieve, and pray for those who have died.

 

Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine,

et lux perpetua luceat eis.

Requiescant in pace.

 

Eternal rest grant unto them O Lord,

and let perpetual light shine upon them.

May their souls and the souls of the faithful departed

rest in peace.

 

__________________________________________

 

All Soul's is an important commemoration thus two homilies back to back.  I was in Slovenia at this time back in 2016.  I was a jaw-dropping experience.  The day began with lunch at the home of Fr. Jože's sister up in the mountains.  Fantastic meal.  Then Father and I concelebrated the All Souls Mass at the village church.  Later in the evening the Jesuit communities in the city met at the municipal cemetary.  

 

Fr. Jože's sister preparing lunch.  It was amazing and very Slovenian.

The Church yeard and church after the service.  When we arrived in procession after Mass there were 700 waiting at the family plots.  In total silence.  

Candles at a plot in žale, the municipal cemetary

Candle surrounding the chapel at the entrance to žale.  The heat emanating from there was astonishing.  I went into the chapel to shoot but it was so hot (including the candles in the chapel itself) I could not tolerate the heat long enough.

The cemetery after the prayer service.  Father was praying at his family plot. 

It wasn't a matter of just one candle per grave,  Multiple candles on every plot. 

Fr. Jack, SJ, MD

 

Oh When the Saints Come Marching In: Homily for the Solemnity of All Saints

  

Rv 7:2-4, 9-14

Ps 24: 1bc-2, 3-4ab, 5-6

I Jn 3:1-3

Mt 5:1-12a

 

The Church’s practice of venerating and invoking saints is an ancient one. Saints have been venerated since the 4^th century.  Saints were declared by popular acclaim and their graves became sites of pilgrimage.  Rome only took control of the formal declaration of sainthood in about the 13^th century.

 

Over time veneration was contaminated by elements of superstition that have nothing to do with holiness, sainthood, or even reality. For example, burying a statue of St. Joseph upside down in the lawn so as to sell the house can be charitably described as bizarre.  But, a 4-inch statue of St Joseph for selling a house complete with double-sided prayer card is available on Amazon for less than $8.  I checked yesterday.

 

Weirdness aside, the Saints are critical to our spiritual lives.  Saints are important guides and models for living the Christian life.  They are models of that life.  And they are intercessors on our behalf at the throne of heaven.

 

The Church sets the first day of November as a holy day of obligation in honor of all the saints.  The root meaning of Halloween, the day before All Saints, is holy eve, the night before All Saints.  Somehow though, a religious observance degenerated into a festival of cross-dressing, vandalism, and begging for candy.

 

The Solemnity of All Saints honors all saints, those who have been formally canonized and those known only to God.   The readings help to explain sainthood.

 

Revelation is the most wildly misunderstood and misused book in the entire Bible.  It is part of the difficult form of biblical literature known as apocalyptic. It is not Ancient Near Eastern science fiction nor the progenitor of Star Wars. Apocalyptic literature was meant to give hope during times of persecution. It was written in a such a way that it was understood only by those who were persecuted, it was written for those who were suffering.  Apocalyptic literature remained unintelligible and mostly incomprehensible to those on the outside, something like the way teenagers speak when their parents and teachers are around.  The symbolism is dense.  The meaning of some of the symbols and allusions is, and will remain, unknown. 

 

Numerology is part of that symbolism.  It cannot be taken as concrete and literal. There are meanings attached to numbers in apocalyptic that go beyond the mere amount, similar to the way that 13 is considered unlucky in the U.S. and 4 is inauspicious in China.

 

Sainthood, seeing the face of God,  is not limited to just 144,000 as detailed in Revelation. Certain fundamentalists would argue against that to the death but that it their problem and pathology not ours. 

 

In Revelation the number 1000 signifies an immense number, the equivalent of a bazillion today. Remember, hyperbole is not a 20th century American invention. One hundred forty-four is the square of twelve (a number which carries its own symbolism within the tribes of Israel).  Thus, 144,000 signifies a multitude beyond counting, an infinite number.  Few of us will be canonized. But we are all called to sainthood.  Despite the claims of the rapturists,  there is room for everyone. 

 

Who can hope to be numbered among the saints?  Who can hope to ascend the mountain of the Lord?   One whose hands are sinless, whose heart is clean, who desires not what is vain.  As John wrote in his letter,  God the Father has bestowed such love on us that we are the children of God.  We are his beloved because of Jesus’ radical self-surrender that brought sinful humanity to redemption.  His obedience opened the path to those who wish to ascend the mountain of the Lord.  The stepping stones of that path are outlined in Matthew’s Gospel which includes far and away the most well-known part of the much longer Sermon on the Mount. 

 

Read through these “Blessed are” statements some time today. They answer the psalmist’s questions as to who can ascend the mountain of the Lord and stand in his holy place.  The Beatitudes tell us how to be those whose hands are sinless, whose hearts are clean and who desire not what is vain. 

 

We do not know what it might be like to be in God’s presence or to be numbered among the saints.  But Matthew tells us  it will be blessed.  There is no reason to quibble with that.      

 

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Photos are from tertianship in Australia

 

The opera house taken from the vantage point of the Jesuit High school roof. 

The Church in Warrnambool, Victoria

The shore (aka beach) near Warrnambool.  It was a thirty minute walk from the church.

h

The Indian Ocean

The pastor's hobby was making candles.

St. Mary of the Angels Church where I spent five happy weeks running things in the pastor's absence.  

 

Fr. Jack, SJ, MD 

 

 

 

 

God and Neighbor: Homily for the 30th Sunday of Ordinary Time

  

Ex 22:20-26

Mt 22:34-40

So soon?  How did we get here so soon?

Today is the thirtieth Sunday of Ordinary Time.  Only four more Sundays, including the feast of Christ the King, until the beginning of Advent.  Alas much of secular society ignores the religious dimension of advent for a secular silliness such as the chocolate advent calendar.  As soon as Saturday’s festival of hyperglycemia and cross-dressing is over, the assault of 24/7 Christmas music radio stations, gigantic blow-ups of snowmen, elves, and the fat guy in red, will begin.

The first reading from Exodus comes from chapter 22, two chapters after the ten commandments, were given to Moses.  This was a people who were new to freedom.

They had only recently been  released from slavery under the Egyptians.  They were still adjusting to being on their own.  It was a difficult adjustment and not always successful.  They were making mistakes and sometimes flexing their muscles by taking advantage of those who were weaker.  They seem to have forgotten that they had just been released from oppression themselves. 

The first four of the ten commandments deal with one’s relationship with God:  they forbid worshipping other gods, prohibit graven images, forbid taking the Lord’s name in vain, and decry violations of the sabbath.  The remaining six commandments are interpersonal or communal, proscribing killing, stealing, and adultery among other sins.   They define the relationships and behaviors necessary to keep relationships and society

on an even keel. However, the ten commandments  define broad categories that need to be fleshed out in greater detail.

Thus the reader is instructed in the first reading not to oppress the alien or take advantage of the widow, orphan, or those who were otherwise vulnerable.  Exodus goes on to criticize predatory lending practices. One wonders what it would have to say about bookies or online gambling, both of which fit the definition of predatory.  And what would it say about  drug dealers, even if they are the aliens?  Dealers are beneath contempt, as they entrap the vulnerable in dependence, family strife, and financial ruin, to say nothing of an early death.

If we read chapter 22 of Matthew’s gospel, of which we heard only six of the final verses, we see how the Pharisees and Sadducees, with the occasional help of the Herodians were engaged in an early version of “gotcha,” so as to find a reason to cancel Jesus, in this case through crucifixion. 

They were trying with all their might to entrap Jesus in blasphemy, a capital offense. Good thing Jesus didn’t “misgender” any of his questioners. That would have been real ugly.

The inquiry as to which is the greatest commandment was also a set-up.  By giving the answer He did, Jesus summarized all of the Torah and the writings of the prophets in very few words.  Indeed, many rabbinic commentators  have said this reply contains all of scripture with the rest  being gloss.

Loving the Lord with all your heart, soul, and mind will inevitably lead to loving one’s neighbor.  Given the world in which we are living these are both the greatest and the most necessary

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Lyon is a most beautiful city in France. Spent three months there trying, mostly unsuccessfully to learn how to wrap my tongue around the sounds of French.  Slovenian was a lot easier a few years later.  

 

It was a particularly perfect day in July.

Black and white conversion changes much about a photo

Looking up is oftentimes revealing

Liked the contrast of shadow and sunlight

Fr. Jack, SJ, MD
 

Memorial St. John Paul II, Pope

  

Jn 21:15-17

 

St. John Paul II, whose memorial we celebrate today, was elected pope on 16 October 1978.  I was sitting in my office when My first patient came in for her appointment. She sat down next to the desk and said, "Well, we have a Polish Pope." "A what?"  She repeated herself.

 

"Will you excuse me for a moment? I don't think mom has the television on. If I don’t tell her to turn it on I’m dead. Back in a minute."

 

John Paul II was inaugurated on October 22, 1978 forty-eight years ago today. The excitement in my mostly Polish hometown didn't diminish for a while.  Who could have known the impact this man would have on the world?  Who could have predicted his face would become the most recognized on the planet?  Who could have predicted he would become the most admired man in the world? And no commie in Eastern Europe could have known that, within a short time of his election, he would be instrumental in the downfall of their sad system, the liberation of Poland, and eventually, the destruction of the Berlin Wall the symbol of evil that cast a shadow over the younger years of the Baby Boomers. 

 

The world did not anticipate such a pope. The world desperately needed such a pope. Through the action of the Holy Spirit at the conclave, the world, indeed the entire universe, received the grace it needed when it needed it the most. 

 

Karol Wojtyła’s mother died when he was nine.  His life being raised by a single father, his brilliant student years, and his formation in an underground seminary while simultaneously working in a factory, all came together to create a man who was to become a force of nature. 

 

The gospel highlights the memorial. Jesus admonished Peter, whom John Paul succeeded, "Feed my lambs. Feed my sheep."  Before all else, the man born Karol Jozef Wojtyła was a shepherd of souls. He was a priest under trying and at times dangerous conditions. The communists, like many leftists in the U.S. today, feared nothing more than the Catholic Church. Thus, they tried to suppress it.  John Paul prevailed and then some.

 

St. John Paul's motto was: Totus Tuus. "All Yours" a shortened version of a saying of St. Louis Montfort: "I am all yours, and all that I have is yours, through Mary, your most holy Mother."

 

Thus, today we celebrate the Memorial of this most remarkable man. Poet.  Playwright.  Philosopher. Priest.  Diplomat.  Bishop. And finally Pope, a Pope whose impact on the world will not be fully understood for decades. 

 

_____________________________________________________

 

Would have posted earlier today but it turned out to be "one of those days."  However, it seems wrong to allow this particular memorial to pss without a homily.  I've rarely admired a man as much.   

 

Too miserable of a day to have the energy to flip through photo files.   

 

Render Unto Caesar_Homily for the 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time

 

18 October 2026

Is 45:1, 4-6

Mt 22:15-21

There is much truth in the old saying, "politics make strange bedfellows." Political scheming and plotting for power can bring together people who have little in common and who frequently detest each other. We see the real ugliness of politics reenacted every four years during the dreadful time leading up to presidential elections. Even worse, it seems today that politics is a 24 hours aday seven days a week 365 days a year preoccupation of many. This preoccupation is somewhere on the spectrum from overvalued idea, to obsession, to delusion. Too many are not shy about expressing their opinions any time, any where, or to any one. The same applies to Church politics which are every bit as ugly as democrat vs. republican. It is amazing how people will compromise themselves in the pursuit of power. The last presidential campaign was a real screamer, with each party being as ugly, angry, nasty, and hypocritical as the other.

Today's gospel shows that the same dynamic existed in the Ancient Near East.

The Pharisees and the Herodians were definitely not drinking buddies, unless one side was trying to slip poison into the other side’s drinks. The Pharisees wanted nothing to do with the Herodians who were supporters of non-Jew ruler Herod Antipas. And the Herodians held no truck with the Pharisees. The Herodians were mostly servants of the Roman Empire in contrast to the Pharisees who awaited the Messiah to free them from that same empire. Strange bedfellows indeed. However, in the case of today’s Gospel the two put aside their differences to team up against Jesus in order to entrap him with a difficult question.

In this particular scenario, the reason for the question is as important as the answer. It was the reason for the question that formed the kind of unholy alliance such as those we routinely see in the American political scene. The question illustrates the classic concepts of: A rock and a hard place. No win situation. Lose-lose.

The question was skillfully formed. Like most politicians going in for an attempted kill, Jesus' interlocutors opened with a fawning tribute to Him: "Teacher, we know that you are a truthful man and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Tell us what is your opinion" They then asked the question, "Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?" Because of the opposite positions of the Pharisees and the Herodians Jesus was in what appeared to be a double-bind. Had Jesus agreed that it was lawful to pay the census tax he could have been discredited by the Pharisees for placing secular law above the Law of God. Had he said it was unlawful to pay the tax he could have been accused of treason by the Herodians.

Jesus recognized their malice. Rather than blurting out a yes or no answer or beginning a long rambling rationalization arguing both sides of the question, He asked for a coin. After asking whose image was on the coin Jesus famously replied, "Render unto Caesar that which belongs to Caesar and unto God that which belongs to God."

Jesus' response has been analyzed under different lenses over the centuries. Some admire the rhetorical skill of his answer. Some use it to make philosophical statements about the separation of church and state. But Jesus was not intending a witty response to a hostile question, nor was he commenting on the various church-state issues that continue to rankle the U.S. today. Jesus’s reply was not meant to show off his rhetorical skills. nor was he making a philosophical statement about the separation of church and state. He was not suggesting that the church should be confined within certain parameters and never get involved with politics.

Jesus broadened the question and raised a challenge to his questioners If the coin belongs to Caesar because it bears Caesar’s image then what belongs to God is that which bears God’s image. And because God creates every human in His image and likeness every human being--including Caesar--bears God's image and ultimately belongs to Him.

We heard an echo of the Shema Yisrael, the central prayer in Judaism, in the first reading from Isaiah. The shema reminds the one who prays, "I am the LORD and there is no other, there is no God besides me. . . .

"I am the LORD, there is no other."

Unlike the coins of the world that bear the images of rulers, living and dead, all humanity bears the image of God. This includes the child in the womb and the old man dying of Alzheimer's. We bear that image from conception until natural death.

It is a mortal sin to destroy it.

 

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One of the greatest experiences of my adult life was tertianship in Australia. Eight months, four in Sydney (our base) and four in a variety of locations. Besides the prayer, reading, and various experiences directly related to be Jesuits, we had a reasonable amount of free time, musch of which I spent with the camera. A few days after we officially began on 20 January we went to Seven Mile Beach in Gerroa, NSW to get to know each other. Astonishingly beautiful beach. Twelve jaws collectively dropped when we arrived.

 

A man and his dog on the beach early Sunday morning

Australians love anything to do with the water. A kayaker on Sunday morning returning from an ocean session.

The Australian lifeguard boats compete in races. This was a women's team heading out early Sunday morning.

Sunset later on Sunday Evening. I walked that strip of beach every night for the ten nights we were there.

 

Fr. Jack, SJ, MD