Matthew 22: 15-21
Then the Pharisees went and plotted to entrap Jesus in what he said. So they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God in accordance with truth, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality. Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?” But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites? Show me the coin used for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius. Then he said to them, “Whose head is this, and whose title?” They answered, “The emperor’s.” Then he said to them, “Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”
New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.
Faithful Citizenship
In first century Israel, it was difficult for devout Jews like Jesus and his friends to know how to relate to the oppressive Roman occupying power and remain faithful to God’s covenant. U.S. Catholics and others today have an analogous problem – how to be good citizens and faithful Catholics.
Vatican II teaches Catholics to acknowledge goodness and truth wherever they are to be found – in other persons and institutions of any kind. The U.S. Catholic Bishops first published a document with helpful guidelines for this in 1976 and used the term “faithful citizenship” in the title from 2007.
As we approach national elections in November, they have issued updated guidelines for clergy and laity. They remind us of pertinent Catholic principles without endorsing any party or candidate. It is important that we be aware that the social teaching of the Catholic Church is an integral part of her moral teaching and be aware of this teaching when preparing to vote, which is a moral act.
And it is important that we always and everywhere take seriously our vocation and mission as the Church in this world to be a “sacrament of salvation” and so fulfill the mission that God has given us:
“The Church, like a stranger in a foreign land, presses forward amid the persecutions of the world and the consolations of God, announcing the cross and death of the Lord until He comes. By the power of the risen Lord, it is given strength that it might, in patience and in love, overcome its sorrows and its challenges, both within itself and from without, and that it might reveal to the world, faithfully though darkly, the mystery of its Lord until, in the end, it will be manifested in full light” (Vatican II, Lumen gentium, 8).
—Father Bob Hagan, SJ, is a member of a community of senior Jesuits at Saint Ignatius Hall in Florissant, Missouri. He does limited spiritual direction, mostly online; gives sacramental care to the lay Catholics in the adjacent retirement community; writes occasional reflections for Jesuit Prayer; posts various daily items and a longer weekly reflection on the Sunday Mass readings on his Facebook site at Bob Hagan SJ; and drives fellow Jesuits who no longer drive wherever they want to go.
Prayer
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace: where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; and, where there is sadness, joy. Amen.
—Peace Prayer of St. Francis