29th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2023 - Caesar, God, and Issue 1

 The Lord was born into a very contentious political situation 2000 years ago. Much like our own day there were several political factions in the kingdom of Israel.  One of the groups was known as the Zealots.  Today, if someone called you a zealot it would mean that they possess a great passion for some subject or issue.  Well, the Zealots of the 1st century were passionate about their national and religious identity. They wanted to overthrow the Roman occupying force; for the Zealots saw the Romans as idolatrous and immoral tyrants who needed to be run out of Israel, for God had given the holy land to the Jewish people, not to the Romans.

Politically opposite the Zealots were a group of Jews called the Herodians—the party of King Herod. Herod was part-jew and part-pagan. He wasn’t very religious, his court was filled with grave immoralities. Herod was in many ways the puppet of the roman emperor.  Rome said jump and Herod asked, “how high?” The Herodians would do anything to stay in power, even to betray their country, religion, and people.

A third group we hear about a lot in the Gospels were the Pharisees known for their strict, scrupulous observance of tradition. And it was the Pharisees who were really running the religious show in 1st century Judea. The Pharisees were willing to go along with whoever was in power as long as they retained the freedom to practice their religion as they saw it. For the majority of the Pharisees, religion was a façade. They wanted religious authority for the purpose of control and financial gain. 

In the Gospel today, we heard how the “Pharisees went off and plotted how they might entrap Jesus”. Why would they do such a thing? The Lord exposed their deception. The Pharisees wanted to appear to be these holy religious authorities, but Jesus exposed their lie—that they were more concerned about appearances than actual holiness.

So the Pharisees plotted and conspired with their political enemies, convincing the Herodians that Jesus was a threat to them as well. Do you see the irony? The pharisees who claimed to be concerned about holiness and religious purity join forces with this group of morally and religious lax Jews. 

So, these strange bedfellows approach Jesus, and they call him “Teacher”—brash hypocrisy, as they don’t really come to Jesus to learn from him, but to trap him. Then they say to him, “Tell us, then, what is your opinion: Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?" Now, there were a number of taxes Jews had to pay.  We hear elsewhere in the Gospel about the temple tax: the tax the people had to pay to support the temple and the priests of the temple.  And they had to pay the census tax: a tax most Jews resented paying, as it financed the roman occupying force. St. Matthew, remember, before he followed Christ, was a tax collector, a jew who collected the census tax on behalf of Rome.

So this question posed to Jesus about taxes was a real loaded question. It seemed that no matter how he answered the Lord was going to make a political enemy of one of these groups.

So, you can see the consequences of Jesus’ answer.  If he said no, the Herodians would report him to the Roman authorities for encouraging insurrection. If he said yes, the Zealots would condemn him for being an enemy of the nation of Israel, and the Pharisees would condemn him for a being an idolater. It appeared to be the perfect trap.

And then Jesus the teacher gives his answer.  And the Lord’s answer is how we Christians understand our relationship to whatever civic authority is over us. 

“Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to God what belongs to God”.  It’s an amazing answer, demonstrating that religious truth runs deeper than political alliances. The Lord’s teaching here demands that each individual be honest about what we really owe to God and what we really owe to the government. You and I have a personal responsibility to live up to the demands of justice. 

Do we owe religious worship and unquestioning obedience to civil authorities or to politicians or political parties? No. What if they demand it? Double no. 

Christians are to be neither Zealots, Pharisees, or Herodians. We aren’t to overthrow the government and make the Pope king, as the Zealots might propose. We aren’t to compromise our faith for political expediency like the Herodians. Nor are we to withdraw totally from worldly affairs like the Pharisees, lest we wake up one day with our freedoms stolen by fascists and tyrants. 

Now, the Lord is not saying that God and Caesar are equal. As Christians, our first loyalty is to God. And as long as we don’t have to compromise that first loyalty, we are to justly give to Uncle Sam his due, as my grandfather used to say, for providing for our domestic security, paving the roads and whatnot. Justice demands obedience to Caesar as long as Caesar does not demand we violate objective morality or right religion.

We are also to participate in civic life as justice demands. Pope Francis said, “We need to participate (in civic life) for the common good.” He said, “Sometimes we hear: a good Catholic is not interested in politics. This is not true: good Catholics immerse themselves in politics by offering the best of themselves so that the leader can govern." 

Moreso, the nation needs our prayers and our example of holiness and virtue. Our first president George Washington held that without religion, liberty could not be maintained.  He said, "Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable.”  

We are being good Christians when we engage rightly in civic life. Sometimes that involves simply paying our taxes, and sometimes that involves demanding political accountability if those taxes are being misused or if government corruption is evident. Sometimes, our church leaders, even need to rally us, as our bishops are doing in regards to Issue 1, this November. In this case they offer very clear instruction that Catholics must vote No on issue 1 this November, in defense of the unborn, and to protect parents’ rights against the infringement of Caesar.  

This week, we received from the bishop some yard signs, regarding issue 1, which I've put around church property. Extra signs are available at the church exit. Feel free to put one up in your yard.

I’ve been asked about the legality of placing the signs on church property. While churches are prohibited by law from publicly supporting or opposing individual candidates for elected office, we are not prohibited from supporting or opposing political issues. So our yard-signs, provided by the diocesan bishop, who is well aware of the law, are not criminal; they are the least we can do to oppose this attack on life and liberty, especially in light of some of the propaganda out there which is serving to confuse voters. 

“Faithful citizenship”, promotes Gospel values in the public sphere, opposes unjust laws and policies which violate human dignity, opposes government corruption, and works to safeguard liberty against tyranny. 

In this holy Mass, we give to God what belongs to God, our prayers, petitions, praises, obedience, and divine worship, may what we do here overflow into every facet of our lives, that we may live in righteousness, justice, goodness, and peace, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time 2023 - The Watchman

 This last week we celebrated the feast day of a very important Saint:  Saint Gregory the Great.  Saint Gregory was pope at the beginning of the 7th century and he’s one of only two Popes to be given the title “the great” the other being Pope St. Leo the Great.

Saint Gregory was born into the world of politics—he was the son of a Roman senator.  Because of his great administrative talents and moral integrity St. Gregory came to occupy the highest civil office in Rome, that of Roman Prefect, when he was only 30 years old.  And yet, Gregory desired to devote his life more fully to the service of God, and became a quiet, simple servant of the Lord as a Benedictine monk.

God, however, had other plans for Gregory.  He was asked by the Pope to leave the monastery and become the Pope’s personal representative to Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire.  And Gregory was so talented in administration and preaching and teaching that when the Pope died, all of the priests and people of Rome acclaimed him to be the new Pope.

He is called “the Great” not just because he was a talented leader.  He is called “Great” because he poured himself out in service to the Church in an exemplary, yet humble way.  He knew that true human greatness is not found in athletic trophies or political office or wealth, but through humble service to Christ.  

And I came across a wonderful commentary by Saint Gregory on the prophet Ezekiel, where Ezekiel is receiving instructions by God for his role as a prophet. God says to Ezekiel “You, son of man, I have appointed watchman for the house of Israel; when you hear me say anything, you shall warn them for me.”

A watchman—St. Gregory explains is one who stands on a high place so that he can see the enemy coming from afar. When I visited Scotland at the beginning of the year, I visited Hadrian’s Wall, marking the farthest reaches of the Roman Empire. The Roman Soldiers appointed watchmen would patrol the top of Hadrian’s wall and watch the forests to the north from which the enemy was likely to approach. The watchman would stand vigilant, ready to alarm the encampment, not if, but when, the enemy approached. 

And the enemy was formidable. The Romans at Hadrian’s Wall called the tribesmen up in northern Scotland there, the pictae—from which we get the word picture. The pictae would paint themselves in camouflage and would attack at night. And so the Romans at the edge of the empire had to be extra vigilant, extra watchful because the enemy was cunning and dangerous. After all, the pictae had kept the great Roman Empire from expanding further north.

“You, Son of man, I have appointed watchman for the house of Israel.” God is speaking here to Ezekiel. As a prophet, Ezekiel was tasked with watching and pointing out the spiritual enemies of God’s people—those spiritual idolatries which so tempted the Jewish people and kept them enslaved in sin—kept them from the spiritual greatness God wanted for them. So Ezekiel had to watch and issue God’s warnings to the people. Such is the role of the prophet—to be watchmen. And every Christian is baptized to be a prophet--a prophetic watchman--to stand vigilant against evil--to warn souls and protect souls--to urge souls to turn to God.

Christian parents are to be prophetic watchmen for their children, too right? Parents are to guard their children from things that are harmful to their minds, bodies, and souls.  I can hear my parents saying, “Don’t run with scissors, don’t play in traffic, put down the video games and read a book”  Now, parents must be even more vigilant about the popular ideas their children are being exposed to on the internet and classrooms—ideas, that if followed, lead children away from the life God wants for them. And there are terrible pressures in our society now on parents, which tell parents, pressures to just let the kids do what they want. But children need to be protected, their brains and their virtues are not fully formed; not to mention that the enemy today is camouflaged—they smile, they talk about inclusivity and equality and compassion, but rooted in error, they lead so many young ones astray to distrust and hate of right religion. 

Pope Gregory explained how the bishop in his diocese is a watchman. Next week, there will be a flyer in the bulletin from the bishops of Ohio regarding the upcoming vote on the Amendment to the Ohio Constitution in November. Unlike issue 1 back on August 8, for which Catholics were free to exercise prudential judgment regarding their personal politics, the November issue is not simply a political issue. As one of our local pastors has said, “it is not a matter of Right vs. Left, but right vs. wrong” for the change to the constitution being proposed would open up unfettered access to abortion up until the time of birth as well as impacting parental consent for abortion and transgender issues. The Watchmen are telling us that we need to fast and pray to defeat this repugnant issue. 

In the Gospel, this weekend, Jesus tells his disciples, “Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven.”  Obeying or disobeying the good watchmen with their sound and stern teaching will have eternal ramifications. 

In his commentary on the watchman, St. Gregory also talks about how difficult it is for the watchman to remain focused on his job. Pope Gregory lamented how as Pope, not only did he have to deal with all the problems of the church but also what he called “worldly men”— who did not always have the Gospel as their main priority.

If it was difficult for the pope, a former monk, and man most learned in scripture and prayer, to remain vigilant against distractions, how much more do we need to practice those virtues of the watchmen: focus, vigilance, discipline, balance of work and rest so that we do not grow drowsy in our duties. 

It’s hard to remain vigilant when we are surrounded by the worldly. Have you ever been visiting family out of town and it becomes apparent that they aren’t planning on going to Church that weekend?  It takes a real effort to fulfill our religious obligations when those around us don’t.  It takes a real effort to follow the commandments when it seems like everyone else is disobeying them. When everyone else is shoplifting and pirating, why shouldn’t I? When every one else is disengaging from society just to play video games all day, why shouldn’t I? When every other young couple is cohabitating, why shouldn’t we?

So like the watchman, we must constantly be on guard against that creeping worldliness that seeks to lull us to sleep in our Christian duty to guard our community, our families, and our souls from evil.

May the Holy Spirit help us to be watchful, and vigilant, sober and alert, with hearts unhardened to the voice of the truth and goodness of Christ for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

August 8 2023 - St. Dominic & The Pro-Life Rosary

 St. Dominic is the Founder of the Order of Preachers, also known as the Dominican Friars, and lived around the same time period as Francis and Clare. Dominic was born in Spain around 1170 to an old noble Castilian family. Supported by a priest uncle, he was well educated, and had a great love of Sacred Scripture and for the poor.  

As a young priest, he accompanied his bishop on a diplomatic mission to Northern Europe, and while staying with innkeepers in southern France, he came face-to-face with a heresy that was sweeping through Europe, the Albigensian heresy. 

The Albigensians claimed to be Christians, but also held the erroneous belief that the created material world is evil. They denied that God truly became man in Christ, and also our doctrine of the resurrection, believing material bodies to be evil. They denied the good of marriage, and procreation. 

St. Dominic stayed up all night to convert the Albigensian innkeepers. And he came to recognize within himself this deep desire to help souls in error come to the true faith. Following his mission, Dominic made pilgrimage to the Pope, and brought to the Pope’s attention this heresy that was sweeping throughout Europe. Consequently, the pope personally asked Dominic to devote himself to preaching to and seeking the conversion of the Albigensians. By spreading the devotion of the rosary and demonstrating the Truth of our Faith from Scripture, Dominic won many converts. 

Now, one might say, St. Dominic was successful, because, there aren’t a lot of Albigensians walking around. But, in a sense there are, a lot of them. There are a lot of people these days who hold a lot of the same errors as the Albigensians. There are people who deny that the child in the womb is good, and so they justify it’s destruction. There are people who deny the good of their bodies created by God, and so they justify mutilating their bodies in sex-change operations. There are people who deny the good of marriage and procreation. And of course there are many who deny the incarnation of Christ and the resurrection. 

Tell you what though, I’ve never met anyone who prayed the rosary devoutly who held these errors. The rosary is a means to convert the modern day Albigensians. We need to get rosaries in their hands, and teach them to love this great prayer. The rosary given by Our Lady herself to St. Dominic is the battering ram that can topple these horrible errors which lead souls away from God. This voting day, is a perfect day for praying the rosary for the defense of life and for the conversion of those who do not value bodily life as a gift from the Creator. 

May St. Dominic assist us in our modern day campaign to bring souls to the Truth of Christ, Truth which is a share in God’s beauty and goodness, the Truth which leads to human flourishing and eternal life, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls. 

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That the pope, bishops, and clergy may be filled with constancy in teaching and living out the Gospel, and that our parish may bear witness with great confidence to our life-giving faith in word and deed.

That our nation, and the State of Ohio, especially on this voting day, may be guided by God’s wisdom as we seek the defense of children and families from laws harmful to life.

For an increase in vocations to the priesthood and consecrated religious life, especially for the Dominican Orders. 

For the sick and afflicted, the homebound, those in nursing homes and hospitals, for those recovering from surgery, for victims of natural disaster, war, violence, and terrorism, for the mentally ill, those with addictions, and the imprisoned, for the comfort of the dying and the consolation of their families.

For all the souls in purgatory, for the deceased members of our families, friends, for deceased priests and religious, and for those who have fought and died for our freedom.

Hear Our Prayers, O Lord, and through the intercession of St. Dominic, help us preach the truth of Christ always and everywhere. Through the same Christ Our Lord.

Homily: Tuesday - 32nd Week in OT - Lives consistent with sound doctrine

Following the feast of the Conversion of St. Paul every year is the feast of his two closest collaborators, Saints Timothy and Titus. Yesterday and today, we’ve read through most of Paul’s letter to Titus, we’d finish it tomorrow, but the normal readings are superseded by those for the feast of the dedication of St. John Lateran tomorrow.

Titus was a gentile convert who came to the faith through the preaching of St. Paul. Titus accompanied Paul to the Council of Jerusalem and Paul sent Titus on the nearly impossible task of bring the division-ridden community of the Corinthians to obedience to the faith. Titus was also to take up a special collection for the poor Christians of Jerusalem.

In the Pastoral Letter to Titus, Paul tasks Titus in making sure that the fledgling community in Crete has strong, mature Christian leaders. In this wonderful letter, we get a glimpse at Paul’s vision for the organization of a Christian community including strong leadership and great vigilance over false teachers and moral error.

Today we heard how the Christian leader is to offer sound moral guidance to the different groups of his community. The Old men, the widows and older women, the young people each are to practice self-control, sobriety. The old are given the special task of being good role models for the young in their speech and behavior.

This weekend, as many of you know, I shared a little bit of the Church’s wisdom, apply sound doctrine to the great moral choice of voting. And I got a little flack over it, which was to be expected, sadly. But the Church has the duty to guide the Christian faithful according to the moral and religious truths of the Gospel. We are to be trained, as the reading said, “to reject godless ways and worldly desires and to live temperately, justly, and devoutly in this age.”

Today, we do well to pray for our leaders, leaders of the Church, leaders of government, and that all hearts may be opened to the sound doctrine of the faith. “Love is patient, Love is kind, and love rejoices in the truth.”

The truth of the Gospel is to shape our lives, every dimension of our lives. Jesus gave himself up, as we heard today, “to deliver us from lawlessness”, the lawlessness of moral error, passing fancies, sentimental judgmentalism. May each of us be conformed in our own state of life to the truth of the faith and the heart of Christ for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

Homily: 32nd Sunday in OT 2016 - Principles for voting

How often at work or with friends or in family gathers, when the topics of politics or religion come up, nostrils flare, or an awkward nervousness surrounds the conversation? This happens so much that people say that the two things you aren’t supposed to talk about are politics and religion. Priests even hear this. Father, don’t talk about politics, the church as no business in politics.

How sad it is, that to remain civil with each other, we have to ignore the two things that are supposed to help keep civil. For religion helps us to be civil and respectful, gentle, patient, and kind. And, politics, at its best, is help us bring about civil order, fostering an environment of civility for discussion and working for peace and justice.

Since this Tuesday is election day, here are a few principles to keep in mind as you prepare for the moral choice of voting, and hopefully we don’t have too many flared nostrils or awkward feelings.

Number 1: The Church, herself, as an institution, is not a political organism. Meaning, it is not the job of the Church as an institution to run governments. It’s not the job of the Church to sponsor or endorse a particular candidate, but it is very much the job of the Church to guide her members to think and act in accord with the faith we profess.

So the Church, rightfully speaks about “the duty of politicians” and  “the duty of voters”  to help political leaders and voters act in accordance with the moral law.

Number 2: ‘Catholic’ is a word that has real meaning. We cannot simply pick and choose the teachings of the Church that we like and just follow those and ignore the others, especially for the purpose of political expediency. As Catholics, we are baptized into the Body of Christ, the Church; we inherit our Catholicity by receiving the entire moral and divine law of God. We cannot truthfully call ourselves Catholic, and act opposite of that, saying, “well, I’m just Catholic in some areas of life.” To be Catholic is to accept it all. Our Catholic faith is meant to shape our actions in the voting booth, in the bedroom, at the workplace, in public, and in private. If we choose to call ourselves Catholics, that word has consequences, for what we believe and how we act.

It is especially atrocious when a public leader, a politician, identifies as a Catholic but acts otherwise. Any Catholic politician who says, “I’m Catholic and personally opposed to abortion or euthanasia, but I’m going to keep voting to legalize these immoralities because some people, especially my donors, think otherwise”—that politician is either a liar or coward, but certainly morally corrupt and definitely not a faithful Catholic.

If a person knows what abortion is: the brutally violent destruction of an innocent human life, then one cannot say, “I’m personally opposed…but…” If a politician said, “we’ll, I’m personally opposed to slavery, but I’m going to vote to keep it legal and encourage slavery”, would you vote for that person? Abortion is not only slavery of the unborn, it is brutal murder. And so, a candidate’s view on this issue speaks volumes about their moral beliefs and how they will govern and their vision for the society.

Number 3: There are some moral and political issues which are negotiable, because there can be different valid approaches and even disagreements between Catholics and people of good will.  Some of these include: how to care for the poor, how to stimulate an economy, how to allow immigrants to become citizens, how to provide healthcare, how to care for the environment, national defense. These are negotiable, different approaches, with their own pro’s and con’s.

However, there are non-negotiable issues. Issues which have to do with intrinsic evils. Some of these include: abortion, euthanasia, embryonic stem-cell research, so-called “gay marriage”, and the coercion of people of religious conscience. These are moral issues, Church teaching is clear, and there is no room for exceptions. The Church teaches against them, no matter what, no matter who is running for office, any office. It is not the Church’s fault if a party platform or individual politician isn’t in line with what the Church teaches. The Church doesn’t change her teaching based on who is running to appear non-partisan.

You must consider a politician’s stance on these issues: if you don’t know their stance, you shouldn’t vote.

Number 4:  Perhaps you’ve heard this line: don’t bring morality into politics, or don’t force your morality on me.

But, to say that politics and morality are mutually exclusive is a lie. Every law is a legislation of morality. Every law is based on some sort of moral premise. Laws about trespassing are legislation about the moral good of private property. Even speed limits are legislating about the moral good of not endangering people’s lives through reckless driving.

Archbishop Chaput of Philadelphia said this: “Politics is where the competing moral visions of a society meet and struggle.” And since a large majority of American citizens are religious believers, it makes sense for people and communities of faith to bring their moral truth into the public sphere, and to work to build our society according to an authentic moral vision.

The so-called separation of Church and state can never mean that religious believers should be silent about legislative issues, or public policies, or the appointment of judges, all of which are important this election cycle.

Number 5: Our Catholicism has public consequences. We cannot simply stand-by and watch when immigrants are mistreated, the poor are robbed, unborn children are killed, marriage is redefined, and religious liberty is trampled. If our faith is real, then it will bear fruit in our public decisions and behaviors.

Again, Archbishop Chaput said: as a result, if we believe that a particular issue is evil then we have a duty, not just a religious duty, but a democratic duty, to hold accountable those candidates who want to allow that evil. Failing to do so is an abuse of responsibility on our part.

Finally, Number 6: America has been referred to as “the great experiment in democracy”, but we must remember that it all experiments, all nations, all candidates, all voters are subject to God’s judgment. Are actions have purpose, meaning, and consequences. How we vote makes a difference to our country, our world, and our souls. How we vote, how we exercise our political responsibilities has a bearing on our salvation. And we’ll be held accountable by God for our misuse of that responsibility.

No matter who wins the election this Tuesday, many people will have their hopes smashed.  And so we recall that our ultimate Hope is not in ideologies or parties or politicians, but in our Blessed Lord.

And so, come and pray on election day. Perhaps visit the Eucharistic chapel on your way to vote. If you’ve already voted, wonderful, then you have more time to pray.

Pray for our country, that all may open their hearts to God’s law, that true peace and prosperity may come to this country.

The heart of a truly faithful citizenship is this: we are better citizens when we are faithful Catholics. Trust the Church, trust the Lord. Vote, not as a republican or democrat, but first as a Catholic, with a fully Catholic moral vision for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

Thanks to Fr. Matthew Pfeiffer, pastor of St. Paul, Akron for the inspiration for this homily.