October 15, 2011
29th Sunday in Ordinary Time
It was a trap! Asking Jesus a question with "no win" answers. If he says one should pay the tax to the Roman Emperor and occupiers, he is a collaborator. If he says don't pay he will be considered a rebel. Jesus' response keeps him out of a jam and shows the duplicity of the Pharisees and Herodians. The answer Jesus gives, at first, appears to be a clever avoidance of the question: loyalty to Caesar or to God? But Jesus' response is timely for them and us: "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar and render to God the things that are God." We do have a responsibility to legitimate government but God has a sovereign claim on our loyalty. Next week in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus will answer another question regarding the greatest law. Quoting and combining scripture Jesus will say: "Love God with all your heart, mind and soul; and love your neighbor as yourself." Franz Jaegerstaetter courageously lived out God's claim of fidelity that placed him in peril and jeopardy with authority. As a matter of conscience, he refused to fight in the Austrian army allied to Nazi Germany. When everyone encouraged him for the sake of his family and the motherland to be inducted into the army, his wife, Franziska supported him. They were deeply in love with three (soon to be four) daughters. For Franz agreeing to fight was comparable to getting on a train going to hell. Before his trial and execution, Franz wrote: "Words teach, but personal example shows their meaning...People want to observe Christians who have taken a stand in the contemporary world, Christians who live amid the darkness with clarity, insight and conviction." Franz Jaegerstaetter was beatified by Pope Benedict -- a German Pope. His wife and daughters were present at the ceremony.
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28th Sunday Ordinary Time
