• 2 years ago
Fr. Peter Cameron reflects upon the Gospel of Matthew 22:15-21
Transcript
00:00 In the Gospel for Sunday this weekend, these deceitful people, Jesus calls them
00:07 hypocrites, are going to come to the Lord with a fake problem. They're going to say,
00:11 "We're religious people. How can we possibly pay the census tax? That seems
00:17 to be a violation of our fidelity towards God." And Jesus, rightly, calls them out and
00:25 says, "Show me the coin that you're going to pay the tax with." And then he looks at
00:28 it and it bears the image of Caesar. And that's when the Lord famously says,
00:34 "Pay unto Caesar what belongs to Caesar. Pay unto God what belongs to God." But the
00:40 point is this. These people think that it's not possible to live in reality as
00:45 both a faithful person of God and a good citizen. And what Jesus Christ is saying
00:52 is that this is a non-problem. It's make-believe. When you look at the image
00:57 that you are yourself, because we are made in the image and likeness of God,
01:04 and because of that we have the ability to look at problems with the very
01:10 knowledge and the wisdom and the insight and the understanding of God that comes
01:15 to us through the Holy Spirit. Because faith is a way of knowing. And not only
01:20 that, we can love and love in a way that penetrates all the problems of the world
01:25 with the boundless love of Jesus Christ that enables us to overcome every
01:31 obstacle that otherwise would trip us up and derail us. And also, because we're
01:36 made in the image and likeness of God, we have the freedom that sets us free and
01:41 that makes us God-like in our decisions. So whatever the problems or obstacles or
01:46 impediments before us, we can look at what the possible choices are and decide
01:52 because freedom is a freedom for excellence. It's a freedom for
01:55 flourishing. It's a freedom that always chooses the highest good. And when we
02:01 live the image that we are, then everything changes for the better. And
02:06 you don't have to be a practicing Catholic to understand this. You know who
02:09 understood it very well? It's our founding father, George Washington, who
02:13 in his farewell address said these incredible words, "Of all the dispositions
02:19 and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are
02:26 indispensable supports." Let's live the image of God that we are and go out and
02:33 change the world for the better.
02:36 [BLANK_AUDIO]