Weekly thoughts on the Sunday Gospel, readings or a topic...

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seeing your life through the lens of the gospels  
– Matthew 22:15-21
1. The story sees a mixture of religion and politics, a potentially explosive combination. Jesus does not ask us to avoid politics, but that our involvement in the affairs of the world be informed by the perspective of the reign of God. How does the gospel give you a vision of how your involvement in society should be?
2. Pharisees and Herodians were not natural allies but a shared dislike of Jesus brought them together in an attempt to discredit him. Perhaps you experience the same opposition in society today when you profess to being a Catholic. Jesus did not get into an argument with them but simply professed his belief in the priority of God in his life. What have you found helpful in bearing witness to the fact that you are still a Catholic?
3. Jesus recognises that we can be faced with conflicting claims for attention. He does not tell us how to solve that dilemma, but challenges us to make sure that our allegiance to God takes priority. When have you been faced with a conflict of loyalties? What helped you to get your priorities right?  – John Byrne, OSA

The Deep End
Continuing our reading of Matthew 22 today, the Pharisees are not impressed with Jesus’ teachings and decide to ‘entrap’ him, quizzing him about paying taxes. It is a dangerous question they ask because a simple yes or no response from Jesus could mean he is reported to the authorities. Jesus has no time for this and is quite direct with them, asking: ‘Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites?’
The response is brilliant: ‘Give to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.’ This text has sometimes been used to argue that religion should stay out of politics, economics or culture. However, the world we live in is one that falls short of the vision and values which Jesus preached: a dream of a world of love, peace, justice and compassion. Being a follower of Jesus means that one is actively involved in striving for this vision and this includes whatever political, economic or cultural issues we are confronted with. The focus in this passage is getting our priorities straight. Yes, give the emperor his taxes but do not forget what belongs to God, i.e. God’s vision for this world.
The ‘empirical’ view and the ‘Christ-view’ of issues like direct provision, homelessness, evictions, the Black Lives Matter movement, climate action etc are usually very different. The Pharisees, we are told, ‘were amazed, left him and went away’.  – Jane Mellett

(from Intercom)