29th Sunday of Ordinary Time - Fr. Leo
The humility of God is astounding. The creator of all things, sent his Son to incarnate into the human realm as God’s presence with us in flesh. Jesus was born in poverty and began his life as a fugitive. In the desert he showed us that the Father’s will was more important than money, fame, or power. So in today’s gospel, when he is asked about paying the tax to Caesar, it was easy for him to say, give to Caesar what is his, with his inscription, and render unto God, what is God’s.
Jesus’ response to the Pharisees calls us to reflect on the relationship between what we consider material and spiritual goods. They are related. One is not bad and the other good. When Jesus commended those who feed him, clothed him, and visited him, he was praising people’s actions and what they did with their material things.
We also recognize that it is the Spirit in us, that inspires us to give to charity from our means. It is in that experience that we know in our hearts the proper relationship between Spirit, and the goods of this world. By our “means” we understand it to be all our gifts, the most important being love and charity.
For us, being bound by a culture, the clarity of relationship between material things and spiritual things is not always clear. Over time, through prayer, including lexio divina, meditation, and centering prayer, our vision becomes clearer, and our knowing and responding to the Father’s will, becomes more and more like Christ’s.
Let us pray for the gift of the Spirit to teach us the wisdom needed to live in this world as members of God’s Kingdom of love. And may our deaths be the profound experience of the Spirit bringing us into the fullness of God’s presence: the Kingdom of heaven. “Father, thy kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.” We pray this now and forever. Amen