Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A Author: Fr. Eamonn O´Higgins, LC Source: sacerdos.org Green Stole and Gospel Readings: Isaiah 45:1, 4-6; Psalm 96; 1 Thessalonians 1:1-5b; Matthew 22:15-21 THEME OF THE READINGS There is a loose connection in today’s Readings between the absolute power of the Lord and earthly, temporal power that can serve God’s purposes. The ‘Second’ Isaiah makes it clear that the Persian king Cyrus is to be the unknowing servant of Yahweh’s purpose in releasing the chosen Israelites from the grip of the Babylonian empire. Cyrus’ exploits are to show Yahweh’s unrivalled power working through an earthly king’s achievements. Psalm 96 affirms the evident supremacy of the Lord and the necessary response of praise due to Him. In comparison, ‘all the gods of the nations are things of naught’ (v.5). What is evident to the Israelites is the presence and power of the Lord above and beyond all temporal power. St. Matthew’s Gospel draws a subtler distinction between temporal power and God’s purposes. Jesus sees through the political trap of the Pharisees and the Herodians (opposing groups, united only in their plot against Jesus) and draws a deliberately ambiguous distinction between the civic duty to Caesar and the religious duty to God. He lets the two groups conclude for themselves what is of mere temporal concern and what pertains to the absolute duty to God. St. Paul, in his joyful letter to the Thessalonians, recognizes that the Gospel they have received is not due only to the human preaching of Paul, Silvanus and Timothy, but also ‘in power and in the Holy Spirit’ (v.5). St. Paul is conscious of the effect of God’s power through human instruments. DOCTRINAL MESSAGE The power of God: One of the remarkable dispositions of the Israelites of the Old Testament is their consciousness of the real and effective power of God in daily life and in the dramatic, political history of their nation. They are aware, and suffer the consequences of, the rise and fall of neighboring empires, and yet see beyond this temporal scene to the power and purposes of God being achieved through these shifting events. They also relate their own national misfortunes to their negligence with regard to God. The Christian faith sees this action of God intensified in the work of personal conversion through the Holy Spirit. Catechism references: paragraphs 306-308 refer to God’s Providence and the existence of secondary causes. Temporal power: Historically, there has been a wide spectrum of views on the association of temporal power to God’s purposes. There is what one may call a presumption in favor of respect for all legitimately constituted authority that serves the true good of all people. It seems that necessary social life requires human authority to function. When that exercise of authority serves the integral development of each person, then it fulfils God’s purposes. Serious injustice or abuse deprive the organs of government of their legitimacy and are to be courageously opposed by Christians as an intrusion by Caesar on God’s created truth. Catechism references: paragraphs 1897-1904 deal with human authority and its legitimate exercise. PASTORAL APPLICATIONS Many elements may have combined in a somewhat cynical and diffident attitude on the part of (not only) Christians to politics today. An embedded individualism, the disillusion of countless political scandals, the obsession with image and appeal, the bargaining of fundamental truths, the power of money all seem to paint a picture of politics that is self-serving and corrupt. We also seem to be enclosed in an immanent vision of human realities that revolve around the economic decisions of the economically and politically powerful. These are the parameters of our thoughts and concerns and there seems nothing more to politics than the endless see-saw of competing views, and who can shout louder and spin faster. We also seem to suffer from the belief in a God who has disappeared from the world, who seems to have left it to carry on by itself, in the hands of politicians and their very mundane programs. The effect on many Christians is, perhaps, passivity towards what is of common interest and necessity. The discouragement that existing politics produces causes us to our vocation to seek the common good and to reduce our concern to the sterile lamentations of how badly one group, or another, is doing. We need, first of all, to recall that the common good of all goes far beyond the activities of party politics. The active concern for the good of others is daily within our reach. We also need to remember that we are not resigned subjects to a foreign Caesar, but active protagonists in determining a vision of society. Perhaps we can do more than just vote on what others want to do. As Christians, and with our work of Evangelization, we also need to remember that we do not work alone. The Holy Spirit works with us and through us to multiply the effects of our work. We can also, through careful discernment, discover God’s purposes being revealed and accomplished through human means. We need not hold an isolationist point of view, or think that only what we do, the way we do it, counts. The transcendent, all-powerful God of the Old Testament brings His purposes forward through many means. We also need to discover the many signs of His Providence and to work intelligently with them in a truly catholic spirit.
Posted on: Mon, 13 Oct 2014 09:59:28 +0000
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