Asking Questions of Jesus...

Asking questions of Jesus... not always a good idea. He answers them!



Oct. 16 - XXIX Sunday in Ordinary Time


We continue this Sunday with another episode in the series: "Jesus vs the Religious leaders Not surprisingly, the Master wins all the arguments but, we can imagine, with a breaking heart. Why is my message not accepted: not only by the people who see me simply as the latest "prophetic" figure in a time and place when such figures were frequent, but not even by these learned men who should know better?


That is one point. The other is that we are talking here not just of religion but also of politics.


But first, the First Reading from Isaiah which is worth reading in its entirety. It recalls a figure from the Old Testament a pagan, but backed by God. The Persian king, Cyrus, also called "Cyrus the Great" was noted for his benevolent attitude toward conquered people in the period 559-530 B C. He did not treat them with contempt, taking them into exile, but rather with respect. Under him the Persian Empire became the first World Empire. Isaiah, however, makes it clear that the real Power involved is the almighty God and so the Reading parallels the message in the Gospel: the divine power and the secular power must co-exist with mutual respect and collaboration.


The Responsorial Psalm repeats the theme of the First Reading: God is supreme, He is king and so give Him glory and honor. Nothing new in this but it has been forgotten and ignored by one secular power after another down the centuries and in our time it is in danger of being ignored by millions of Catholics who in one way or another are neglecting Him.


The Second Reading does not at first sight appear to have much to do with the First Reading and the Gospel. And at second sight there is equally little connection. Church and State? Religion and Politics? They are not to be found here. We might trace a connection between the Lord's choice of the pagan Thessalonians and his choice of the pagan, Cyrus but the relationship is tenuous at best. Let's leave our holy Patron with Respect and love and move on to the encounter between Jesus and the Religious leaders.


The Gospel tells the story of a carefully-planned trap into which our Master, however, failed to fall. All precautions were taken to make it work and by two groups which had otherwise little in common. The Pharisees we already know - a sect among the Jews noted for their contempt for the common people. The Herodians were not a religious group but probably supporters of King Herod. In any case they served their purpose in coming with an apparently sincere question but in fact impossible to answer without either offending the Romans ("don't pay") or the people ("do pay"). Jesus' divine intelligence cut through the hypocrisy and laid down the law of God: we must be concerned for religion and spirituality but also for the social well-being of others and for our duties to the State, with the emphasis in favor of God not only at the spiritual level but also in terms of honesty in our dealings with the civil law.


~ October 2011 Concord