A Taxing Question
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Tuesday of the Ninth
Week in Ordinary Time
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Father Edward McIlmail, LC
Mark 12:13-17
Some Pharisees and
Herodians were sent to Jesus to ensnare him in his speech. They came and said
to him, "Teacher, we know that you are a truthful man and that you are
not concerned with anyone´s opinion. You do not regard a person´s status but
teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it lawful to pay the
census tax to Caesar or not? Should we pay or should we not pay?"
Knowing their hypocrisy he said to them, "Why are you testing me? Bring
me a denarius to look at." They brought one to him and he said to them,
"Whose image and inscription is this?" They replied to him, "Caesar´s."
So Jesus said to them, "Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to
God what belongs to God." They were utterly amazed at him.
Introductory Prayer: Lord, I come before You humbly. As one who has frequently
fallen into sin, I am aware of my weakness. Your great love, though, assures
me that Your grace can keep me on the path to holiness.
Petition: Give me guidance, Lord, on a big decision that I have to make.
1. Setting the Trap:
The Pharisees and
Herodians use an old ploy ― flattery ― to try to trap Jesus. It is a ploy that
enjoys a long shelf-life. Flattery can cause us to lower our guard.
"You´re an intelligent person, why don´t you …?" Or: "You´re a
good parent, you already have two kids. You don´t really believe the Church
on …?" Being Christian in the world often means living among devious
people. Hence, Jesus warned us to "be shrewd as serpents and simple as
doves" (Matthew 10:16). To maintain a balance, we have to live only for
God. Is it Christ who shapes my day?
2. Lying in Wait: They pose a false dilemma to Jesus. It´s
"either/or." Either Jesus must accept Caesar totally, or rebel
against Rome. Such is how the world sees it. It´s still either/or. Either we
embrace Darwinism (no questions asked), or we cling to Creationism. Either we
are tolerant of alternate lifestyles, or we are insufferable bigots. But
things are more complicated than that. Moreover, the Catholic faith is often
"both/and." Hence, we give to Caesar and to God what belongs to
each. And how do we decide what belongs to whom? That´s where things get tricky.
And that is precisely why we are called as Christians to develop our gifts,
our intelligence, our prayer life ― so as to make the right choices.
Catholicism is not a religion for robots. It demands that we use our freedom
and gifts responsibly to do God´s will. Am I using my gifts well? Do I
develop my skills and intellect so as to better serve God?
3. The Trap is
Sprung, the Game is Over: Jesus´ response floors his critics. Why? Partly because he
throws the question back to them. Now they have to decide what belongs to
Caesar — and what belongs to God. "You must decide," was Karol
Wojtyla´s signature phrase as a confessor. Nothing can so frighten us as
freedom. It frightened Jesus´ audience. How am I using my own freedom? How am
I using the time God gives me?
Conversation with
Christ: Help me realize,
Lord, that You are calling me in freedom. You respect the freedom You gave
me, even if I misuse it. But I don´t want to misuse it. I want to render a
good account of my life at Judgment Day.
Resolution: I will read some Scripture or a few paragraphs from the
Catechism or a papal document today, to try to form myself better in the
faith.
Excerpts
from the DIARY of Saint Faustina Kowalska
140 Pure love is capable of
great deeds, and it is not broken by difficulty or adversity. As it remains
strong in the midst of great difficulties, so too it perseveres in the
toilsome and drab life of each day. It knows that only one thing is needed to
please God: to do even the smallest things out of great love-love, and always
love.
Pure love never errs. Its light is strangely plentiful. It will not do anything that might displease God. It is ingenious at doing what is more pleasing to God, and no one will equal it. It is happy when it can empty itself and burn like a pure offering. The more it gives of itself, the happier it is. But also, no one can sense dangers from afar as can love; it knows how to unmask and also knows with whom it has to deal.
143 +I have wasted many of
God's graces because I was always afraid of being deluded. God drew me to
himself so powerfully that often it was not in my power to resist his grace
when I was suddenly immersed in him. At these moments, Jesus filled me with
such great peace that, later on, even when I tried to become uneasy, I could
not do so. And then, I heard these words in my soul: In order that you may
be assured that it is I who am demanding all these things of you, I will give
you such profound peace that even if you wanted to feel troubled and
frightened, it would not be in your power to do so today, but love will flood
your soul to the point of self-oblivion.
146 Prayer.-A soul arms itself
by prayer for all kinds of combat. In whatever state the soul may be, it
ought to pray. A soul which is pure and beautiful must pray, or else it will
lose its beauty; a soul which is striving after this purity must pray, or
else it will never attain it; a soul which is newly converted must pray, or
else it will fall again; a sinful soul, plunged in sins, must pray so that it
might rise again. There is no soul which is not bound to pray, for every
single grace comes to the soul through prayer.
148 +A noble and delicate
soul, even the most simple, but one of delicate sensibilities, sees God in
everything, finds Him everywhere, and knows how to find Him in even the most
hidden things. It finds all things important, it highly appreciates all
things, it thanks God for all things, it draws profit for the soul from all
things, and it gives all glory to God. It places its trust in God and is not
confused when the time of ordeals comes. It knows that God is always the best
of Fathers and makes little of human opinion. It follows faithfully the
faintest breath of the Holy Spirit; it rejoices in this Spiritual Guest and
holds onto Him like a child to its mother. Where other souls come to a
standstill and fear, this soul passes on without fear or difficulty.
497 O Eternal
Truth, Word Incarnate, who most faithfully fulfilled Your Father's will,
today I am becoming a martyr of Your inspirations, since I cannot carry them
out because I have no will of my own, though interiorly I see Your will
clearly. I submit in everything to the will of my superiors and my confessor.
I will follow Your will insofar as You will permit me to do so through Your
representative. O my Jesus, it cannot be helped, but I give priority to the
voice of the Church over the voice with which You speak to me.
678 The essence
of the virtues is the will of God. He who does the will of God faithfully,
practices all the virtues. In all the events and circumstances of my life, I
adore and bless the holy will of God. The holy will of God is the object of
my love. In the most secret depths of my soul, I live according to His will.
I act exteriorly according to what I recognize inwardly as the will of God.
Sweeter to me are the torments, sufferings, persecutions and all manner of
adversities by divine will than popularity, praise and esteem by my own will.
724 On the eve of
the retreat, I started to pray that the Lord Jesus might give me just a
little health so that I could take part in the retreat, because I was feeling
so ill that I thought perhaps it might be my last. However, as soon as I had
started praying I felt a strange dissatisfaction. I interrupted the prayer of
supplication and began to thank the Lord for everything He sends me,
submitting myself completely to His holy will. Then I felt profound peace of
soul. + Faithful submission to the will of God, always and everywhere, in all
events and circumstances of life, gives great glory to God. Such submission
to the will of God carries more weight with Him than long fasts,
mortifications and the most severe penances. Oh, how great is the reward for
one act of loving submission to the will of God! As I write, my soul is
enraptured at the thought of how much God loves it and of the peace that my
soul already enjoys, here on earth
923 February 7, [1937]. Today,
the Lord said to me, I demand of you a perfect and whole-burnt offering;
an offering of the will. No other sacrifice can compare with this one. I
myself am directing your life and arranging things in such a way that you
will be for Me a continual sacrifice and will always do My will. And for the
accomplishment of this offering, you will unite yourself with Me on the
Cross. I know what you can do. I myself will give you many orders directly,
but I will delay the possibility of their being carried out and make it
depend on others. But what the superiors will not manage to do, I myself will
accomplish directly in your soul. And in the most hidden depths of your soul,
a perfect holocaust will be carried out, not just for a while, but know, My
daughter, that this offering will last until your death. But there is time,
so that I the Lord will fulfill all your wishes. I delight in you as in a
living host; let nothing terrify you; I am with you.
954 Today after Holy
Communion, the Lord told me, My daughter, My delight is to unite myself
with you. It is when you submit yourself to My will that you give Me the
greatest glory and draw down upon yourself a sea of blessings. I would not
take such special delight in you if you were not living by my will. O my
sweet Guest, I am prepared for all sacrifices for Your sake, but You know
that I am weakness itself. Nevertheless, with You I can do all things. O my
Jesus, I beseech You, be with me at each instant.
1122 God of great
mercy, who deigned to send us Your only begotten Son as the greatest proof of
Your fathomless love and mercy, You do not reject sinners; but in Your
boundless mercy You have opened for them also Your treasures, treasures from
which they can draw abundantly, not only justification, but also all the
sanctity that a soul can attain. Father of great mercy, I desire that all
hearts turn with confidence to Your infinite mercy. No one will be justified
before You if he is not accompanied by Your unfathomable mercy. When You
reveal the mystery of Your mercy to us, there will not be enough of eternity
to properly thank You for it.
1123 Oh, how sweet it is to have in the depth of one's soul that which the Church tells us we must believe. When my soul is immersed in love, I solve the most intricate questions clearly and quickly. Only love is able to cross over precipices and mountain peaks. Love, once again, love.
1135 This deeper
knowledge of God gives me full liberty and spiritual freedom, and nothing can
disturb my close union with Him, not even the angelic powers. I feel that I
am great when I am united to God. What happiness it is to have the
consciousness of God in one's heart and to live in close intimacy with Him.
1141 In the evening, He gave me to
understand how fleeting all earthly things are, and [how] everything that
appears great disappears like smoke, and does not give the soul freedom, but
weariness. Happy the soul that understands these things and with only one
foot touches the earth. My repose is to be united with You; everything else
tires me. Oh, how much I feel I am in exile! I see that no one understands my
interior life. You alone understand me, You who are hidden in my heart and
yet are eternally alive.
1142 June 4. Today is the Feast of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. During Holy Mass, I was given the knowledge of the Heart of Jesus and of the nature of the fire of love with which He burns for us and of how He is an Ocean of Mercy. Then I heard a voice: Apostle of My mercy, proclaim to the whole world My unfathomable mercy. Do not be discouraged by the difficulties you encounter in proclaiming My mercy. These difficulties that affect you so painfully are needed for your sanctification and as evidence that this work is Mine. My daughter, be diligent in writing down every sentence I tell you concerning My mercy, because this is meant for a great number of souls who will profit from it.
1146 [Let]
the greatest sinners place their trust in My mercy. They have the right
before others to trust in the abyss of My mercy. My daughter, write about My
mercy towards tormented souls. Souls that make an appeal to My mercy delight
Me. To such souls I grant even more graces than they ask. I cannot punish
even the greatest sinner if he makes an appeal to My compassion, but on the
contrary, I justify him in My unfathomable and inscrutable mercy. Write:
before I come as a just Judge, I first open wide the door of My mercy. He who
refuses to pass through the door of My mercy must pass through the door of My
justice...
1147 When once I felt hurt because of a
certain thing and complained to the Lord, Jesus answered, My daughter, why do you attach such
importance to the teaching and the talk of people? I myself want to teach
you; that is why I arrange things so that you cannot attend those
conferences. In a single moment, I will bring you to know more than others
will acquire through many years of toil.
1148
cJune 20, [1937]. We resemble God most when we forgive our neighbors.
God is Love, Goodness, and Mercy...
Every soul, and especially the soul of every religious, should reflect My mercy. My Heart overflows with compassion and mercy for all. The heart of My beloved must resemble Mine; from her heart must spring the fountain of My mercy for souls; otherwise I will not acknowledge her as Mine.
(Diary
of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-I-249, 257, 263-264, 272, 278, 291-292)
(Diary
of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-I-300-302, 328, 331, 333, 352-353, 424)
(Diary
of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-I-449, 481, 497, 500)
(Diary
of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-II-544-545, 567, 635, 637, 650, 666-668)
(Diary
of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-II-683, 724, 734, 742)
http://www.saint-faustina.com/Diary/DMIMS10.shtml
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