Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to God what belongs to God.
And in this passage from St. Matthew,
our Lord gives instructions to each generation of the mystical body of Christ,
for he teaches us a most profound reality in today's Gospel,
and one that we truly must ponder in this day and in our age.
For the Pharisees were sent literally to entangle the Lord this day,
to make him stumble, or, in the Latin word, to make him a Satan, that is, an adversary.
And so our Lord would not be trapped, and he would show himself,
to be no adversary, no stumbling block to authentic human living.
And in today's Gospel, we are struck by a most profound reality,
a reality that is almost beyond our comprehension,
the reality that the Pharisees and scribes, the Herodians, and all present,
recognized one thing about the Lord and Savior.
For they declare him to be teacher, or, in another translation, master,
or, in the Hebrew,
rabbi.
And so, we must understand this notion of master and rabbi,
if we are to understand what is transpiring today,
and ultimately, the reason why the world is always in opposition to Christ.
For indeed, many of the doctors and fathers have used the expression,
Christ against Pilate, or the church against Pilate,
because it signifies what is transpiring in today's Gospel.
For Pilate was the one who represented both Caesar and Herod,
for it was through Pilate that Caesar would control Herod.
And so, he is the perfect person to summarize this opposition of the world to Christ.
And so, what does this term, rabbi, mean?
It means that he is a doctor of the law,
but it does not mean merely he is a doctor of the law,
for it clearly connotes that he is a potentate, a prince,
and a potentate and a prince endowed with authority.
And the Pharisees, the scribes, the Herodians, and Caesar,
all recognized in Christ a true potentate, a true prince,
one who had authority.
How could they not?
He worked miracles in front of their very eyes,
and yet, this day, they seek to trap him,
as they will seek to trap our Lord until the end of time.
And this is what we must, as it were, understand.
And so, we will come to understand what the Pharisees and scribes also recognize in Christ,
that he fears neither the end,
the anger of Herod, nor the power of Caesar,
would that the Pharisees and scribes had listened to their own advice.
For they, as it were, would fear the power of Caesar,
and so they would manipulate Pilate into doing exactly what they intended to do this day,
deliver the Lord of all goodness up to the death of the Cross.
And so, let us seek to understand why Caesar was called Caesar.
Caesar ultimately was called Caesar because,
in the Punic language,
signifies an elephant and because the first Caesar was recognized as a powerful man because he
single-handedly was able to slay an elephant and so our Lord is recognizing that all Caesars that
is all leaders of all nations have a power of a certain authority given to them but that authority
is not the result of their own power it is an authority given to them by God and so that
authority must be given in accord with the principles of God and so our Lord will instruct
all present I will not get involved in what you want me to get involved in Caesar exercise
rightful authority over you my chosen people for as we know possession is nine-tenths of the law
and the Romans had possessed the Holy Land for over a hundred years at the time and relatively
the Holy Land and all those who are under the Pax Romana lived in
relative authority and so our Lord will instruct all present I will not get involved in what you
want me to get involved in Caesar exercise rightful authority over you my chosen people for as we know
peace the Romans were not want as it were to force their pagan religion on other nations they
understood the value of politics and the value of compromise but our Lord would not compromise
he would not in any way manner shape or form compromise the truth that he had received from
his father and so our Lord will tell the chosen people that you are to give that is to render
or to restore to Caesar what is due him but give to God
worship and piety as that which is rightfully due to God and God alone and in this we must understand a most
profound reality that in the early life of the church every martyr was modded essentially for one crime and we often
don't reflect upon the reality because we don't want to deal with the consequences in our modern day and age what was the crime in which all those holy martyrs during the persecution of the
Roman Empire were accused of and found guilty of? Atheism.
That they did not worship God, and yet our God is Christ, the Son of God,
the second person of the Blessed Trinity.
So we, as followers of Christ, always and everywhere worship the true God.
So what was it that the Christians would not worship,
even though they were the best citizens of the Roman Empire?
Anything she has that is dignified, she owes to the good citizenship
of the members of the mystical body of Christ.
They refused to worship the state, and ultimately the state is signified in its leader,
and so ultimately it is the one who possesses the top authority in the land
who sets himself up as a false god.
And whether he wants the incense swung to him for four years or 40 years or 400 years,
in the case of those who have blasphemed,
HOLY LOOK HERE IS TH Monday.
In the presence of a man like a nice black monk.
And since then, he is here to hold simpler in everything than the black Eve.
And the holy earthந URL 1998 Joe officers and humanitarians.
And in order that those who say that the compleating Catholic body's
thousand and one minded themselves, thinking that they will not undergo death.
Large.
As some of the modern tyrant.
for a pro-death politician who has publicly declared himself to be just that commits mortal sin.
There is no way around it.
We may try to justify in our own minds that economic policies have more precedence,
but even the founding fathers of this nation, flawed as they were,
recognize that in order to preserve a nation, you must first preserve life,
hence life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
First and foremost, life must be defended.
Why? Because it is the mission of every father to protect and provide for life.
St. Joseph understood that so well because he protected and provided for the Holy Family at Nazareth,
and so his fatherhood over Christ was a true fatherhood.
When we elect leaders who would destroy the most innocent of human beings in their mother's womb,
who have no qualms of conflict,
we must always take a conscious conscience of laying a child on a slab
who did not die because of a failed abortion.
In order to let that child die of exposure, we are confronted with a true Caesar,
because that is exactly what the Roman Empire did.
And ultimately, because of its lack of respect for family as defined by God,
it crumbled and so will our nation.
For the Catechism teaches very clearly that a nation who aborts its children
is a nation doomed to extinction.
extinction. And so we must pray constantly that Christ comes to fill the void, because if he
doesn't, then the void will be filled by the greater tyrants to come. For there are always
those who lust for power, seeking an opportunity to worm their way in and gain absolute, complete
control in the temple order over the souls of the citizens of a nation. And we have one liberator
in this kind of assault on the mystical body of Christ. That one liberator is Christ, and it is to
him that we must constantly turn. But ultimately, we must understand, why is it that Christ is
constantly in confrontation with the leaders of this world? What is the mystery here? That despite
the fact that all human beings can recognize Christ as the light and as the truth, why do we
constantly say, why is it that Christ is constantly in confrontation with the leaders of this world?
Why do we set ourselves in opposition to him? Because we become blinded by our passions. Everyone,
in listening to the teachings of Christ as it is taught to the world through the church, everyone
can recognize the logic and the truth of the Catholic position in everything. Because we are rational
creatures, and we have the ability to discern truth. So what is it that constantly, as it were,
puts us in opposition to Christ?
Why is it that the doctors and fathers and some of the writers would coin that phrase, the church against
Pilate, or Christ against Pilate? It is a very simple answer. It is the mystery of iniquity. And so it is
argued by the world that the opposition to the Catholic Church, even in formerly Catholic nations and
countries, is because of the lack of faith in Christ. And so it is argued by the world that the opposition to the
church and the principles of the Catholic Church keep especially walting about unruly giornalism as sticking
to their source, the guidance that Christ is the supreme source. In the complete and uttermostוהобразie
of the spirit that lies beneath the吃 and Ye keep saying, God is always trying to comedize us.
God is never fully open to us,ensions. The only fine line of the Roman eschatology, pagans, or Robbie
Gr begr of faith or faith adventists, is faith. It was the faculty evaluation of the from the
continuity. It is usually the possibility demand � childcare worker all the time, not enough money or
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It is the one unique thingg if we take the time to think, why is it that the Communist and the
are united in one thing.
The very fact that they contradict each other cancels out their argument.
It's the church's fault.
This is pointed out so eloquently by St. Augustine in his City of God.
Why is it that this is the case?
Why is it this universal hatred of Christ and his church as an evil thing?
Because our Lord himself gives us the answer in the Holy Scripture.
And so he will convict us all as he convicted all the Pharisees and scribes.
For he declared to them very clearly,
Who of you can accuse me of sin?
He challenged them constantly with that.
Which one amongst you can convict me of sin?
There isn't one recorded incident in the gospel of anyone picking up the gauntlet.
Not one.
No one.
No one would publicly challenge him in that declaration.
Who of you can accuse me of sin?
No.
They would operate behind the scenes because they knew that it was impossible to convict him of sin.
And so the gauntlet was flung down to them and they could not pick it up.
And yet they would still go about seeking his destruction.
Why?
Because it is clear as St. John tells us,
And this is the judgment.
Because the light is come into the world and men love darkness rather than light for their works were evil.
It is because we allow our passions to blind our intellect.
And so we operate on a carnal level.
And we convince ourselves that happiness comes through technological advances or medical developments.
And so in the name of saving ourselves,
our lives,
we will slaughter innocent youth in infant stem cell research.
So that we can hold on to a few more years in this life.
And yet all of us know,
even if we were to delay our death,
which we cannot,
for it is appointed once for man to live and then to die.
And God is the ultimate arbiter as to when we live and when we die.
We have no control whatsoever over both our life
because it is a free gift we received from God,
nor,
over our death.
For in an instant,
under the effects of original sin,
we can be driving down the street
and the other driver coming our way
maybe distracted,
not even maliciously,
just because of the effect of original sin and then we,
like them,
will be judged.
According to how we have responded
to the presence of Christ the King in the world,
and how we have responded to his teachings because
he,
and he alone,
is the light, he and he alone
is the truth and outside of
our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ
there is no light, there is no truth
there is only the darkness
of the blinding of the passions
manifested in our culture
very earnestly by our pursuit
of all kinds of carnal pleasure
and entertainment, whether it be
the carousing at casinos or as
it were the lust to see every movie
that comes out of Hollywood
in order to constantly keep ourselves
entertained, in other words
blinded
in order to constantly allow
ourselves to live in the
darkness because we refuse to
give up the base
life of our passions
and so we must reflect
most earnestly this day
for men will always be striving
to extinguish the light of life
men will always be striving
to
to do this and it will manifest
itself in their evil works
in their opposition to Christ
in their wanton slaughter
of human beings
because they wish to hold
on to power and make no mistake
about it, none of us
can convince Christ
that we can in good conscience
vote for someone who has
publicly declared himself
in opposition to Christ
on all the major
moral teachings of the Bible
and all the major moral teachings
that afflict our society
to the point of some of them
publicly, blasphemously
declaring that Jesus Christ
in the eight beatitudes
has blessed
sodomy
and so many believe
that they can
in good conscience
and remain Catholic
cast a vote
for such a politician
it cannot be done
and we will
not fool Christ
because the Pharisees
and the scribes
Herod and his minions
could not fool Christ
he is truth
and truth is not something
that we determine
we live in the truth
in so far as we humbly
conform ourselves
to what the master has taught
truth is outside of us
and we must seek it
and the only ones who find it
are the ones who seek it
in humility
recognizing
that they are not
they are not the ones
but they are victims
of original sin
universally denied
in our modern world
in other words
the world is declaring itself
in each and every individual
in it it seems
to be immaculate conceptions
but there is only one
immaculate conception
there is one exception
to the rule of original sin
and that is the holy
and blessed mother of God
who gave to us
the light
the redeemer
the Christ
and so
we must as it were
always
turn to God
turn
to the church
and do what she says
even if we don't understand it
for an act of faith
is an act of faith
precisely
and most profoundly
when we do
what we have to do
in obedience
to holy mother church
when we don't
fully understand it
that is precisely
where our faith
burns the brightest
and when we make
that humble act
of conforming ourselves
to the church
when we don't
understand
why she requires
what she requires
that we grow in faith
that we receive
supernatural graces
to penetrate
more deeply
into the scripture
in the teachings of Christ
or as some of the fathers
and doctors of the church
use the analogy
our faith is like an onion
and we got to keep
peeling away the layers
and ultimately
we do so
so that we can get
to the marrow of the gospel
and that is a great journey
and a wonderful journey
it is a journey
wrought with all kinds
of trials and tribulations
but one well worth pursuing
because ultimately
we find
when we penetrate
the marrow of the gospel
we realize
we have entered
into the life of Christ
literally
into his life
he has embraced us
in his humanity
and he went so far
as to perform
the ultimate act
of love for us
having that sacred humanity
slaughtered
for the sake of mankind
so that all of us
may be reconciled
to God his father
when we allow
the blindness of passions
to overtake us
we abandon
our true father
and hence
we abandon
our true home
our Lord came
for one reason
and one reason only
to safely see us
through this pilgrimage
this life
so that we may
ultimately
attain union with him
in the life to come
and that union to Christ
cannot be obtained
except by way
of communion
with God
and so it is
the cross of Christ
that is always
the crux
of the opposition
to him
because you loved
the darkness
rather than the light
you loved
your passions
rather than the one
who sacrificed them
for you
when he was
slaughtered on Calvary
that is what we are
always struggling with
the fact
that love
is manifested
in sacrifice
and we think it is
just
throwing everything
at our children
and so
we must
ask the question
do our children
belong to Christ
or Caesar
do our children
belong to Christ
or Caesar
and are we
going to throw
what belongs to God
to the wolf
to the lion
so that he can
chew him up
and spit him out
literally
so that he can
chew him up
that is what
our modern society is
it is absolutely
involved
at its very core
in the perversion
of what belongs
to God
souls
and most especially
those most innocent
and precious
of all souls
to him
children
children
and when do our children
become good citizens
of our nation
when we raise them
as citizens
of heaven
because then
they will grow up
and be willing
to sacrifice
their very lives
for the good
of their nation
try as we may
to justify
all that we hear
who as it were
is the true
patriot
the one who believes
that we should just
categorically
open the borders
or the one who believes
that the church teaches
every nation
has
sovereign rights
and it has
the right and obligation
to protect
the homeland
in a just way
not as it were
to overburden it
that is the church's teaching
our heart must go out
in compassion
but it must not be
a sentimental compassion
that simply causes
more and more
the deterioration
of the infrastructure
of a nation
because it allows itself
to be overburdened
with a task
it is not capable
of handling
and these are the issues
that we must focus on
and we must
focus on
because compared
to life
the economy
means nothing
because the only economy
that matters
is the economy
of salvation
and so the mother of God
is the greatest
economist
in the universe
because she knows
what true economy
is
receiving her son
and when we have
received him
we have literally
received everything
and there is only
one way
we can
lose
what we have received
from the mother of God
mortal sin
it is not our faults
and failings
it is not our untold
thousands
of peccadillos
it is whether
we have abandoned
the pursuit of Christ
by the commission
of one mortal sin
one
and make no mistake
about it
what the devil
will try to do
is just get you
into one
and once he does that
then he'll say
go pursue
the American dream
go pursue
get married
white picket fence
around your home
build a beautiful
little castle
for your home
don't do anything
wrong again
because if we never
repent of that
one mortal sin
then we will not
attain union
with God
for all eternity
in heaven
we will be cast
into the fire
of Gehenna
where there is nothing
but the wailing
and the gnashing
of teeth
and that is why
Christ came to the world
to deliver us
from it
and so we must
no longer
remain in
opposition
to the teachings
of Christ
the fundamental
error of our
modern age
is the fact
that humanity
has taken it
upon himself
to determine
when life
comes into the world
or not
contraception
and if that fails
we need a safe net
abortion
and those are the issues
that are important
because no nation
can persevere
or be preserved
who has no respect
for life
and that respect
we have for life
must be the respect
Christ had for life
we must be willing
to die
in order that life
may be preserved
how do we die
by standing up
patiently
and charitably
fighting
for the rights
of Christ
in our society
and especially
where Caesar
has put his finger
into those matters
that belong
to God alone
and that is
one of those matters
the most important one
is life
and let us
never mistake
the fact
that once
we have given life
there is an obligation
incumbent
to preserve it
and so we see
the other
primary place
where Caesar
has stuck his finger
where he has no right
to stick it
that is
in the education
of our children
because
we have
to be
we have to be
because
the responsibility
of the parent
and most especially
of the father
is to do what
educate his child
in the ways
of God
and in doing so
there is where
he fulfills
his obligation
of paternity
anyone
anyone
can become
a father
on a base level
but true paternity
is sacrificial
it is
giving up
the pursuit
of power
and self-worth
and success
in order to raise
a family
in the love
of God
that love
that was most
primarily manifested
to us
in the Holy Family
at Nazareth
which is the model
and example
of all true family life
and anywhere
a nation
has taken it upon
itself
to subvert
the teachings
that flow
from the life
of the Holy Family
in Nazareth
they are in opposition
to Christ
not according
to the opinions
of people
who follow him
but according
to the teachings
of the people
but according
to the very words
of Jesus himself
you are either
for me
or against me
you are either
with me
or opposed
to me
and so let us
take up
the banner
of the master
and let us
not deceive
ourselves
where we have
allowed the darkness
and convinced
ourselves
that it is light
if our passions
are our problem
there is an answer
we bring them
to the altar
of God
and beg him
that he remove
the blindness
that they cast
over our intellect
so that we make
an intelligent
sacrificial decision
not a decision
that makes us
comfortable
when it makes us
uncomfortable
that is
the little
uncomfortable
part we have
to put up
when we have
fat wallets
that we sit on
oh it may
feel good
but it is not
following Christ
because our Lord
said very clearly
it is not in the
pursuit of wealth
it is not in the
pursuit of success
it is not in the
pursuit of power
that the human soul
finds its happiness
but it is in the
pursuit
of him
who seems to have
put his power
aside
when his love
burns most brightly
for us
that is
his death
on Calvary
and so
let us sacrifice
ourselves
for him
who first
sacrificed himself
for us
in the world
the church
is always
found to be wrong
because
she simply
happens
to always
be right
go to your
Lord
now
you
I
love
you
you
I
you
you
you
me
and you
for me
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