Fr Kevin Kilgore

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Gospel: Matthew 22:15-21

The Pharisees went off
and plotted how they might entrap Jesus in speech. 
They sent their disciples to him, with the Herodians, saying,
“Teacher, we know that you are a truthful man
and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth.
And you are not concerned with anyone’s opinion,
for you do not regard a person’s status.
Tell us, then, what is your opinion:
Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?” 
Knowing their malice, Jesus said,
“Why are you testing me, you hypocrites? 
Show me the coin that pays the census tax.” 
Then they handed him the Roman coin. 
He said to them, “Whose image is this and whose inscription?” 
They replied, “Caesar’s.”
At that he said to them,
“Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar
and to God what belongs to God.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Imagine how surprised, even divided, this community might become if I started preaching about Donald Trump, Joe Biden, ICE, immigration, Iran, guns, taxes, data centers, mail-in ballots, or any other political hot potato.

It’s not my role as a preacher. Nor is it why we gather here on Sunday. We come to build community, to worship God, and to make disciples.

When the backbone of a sermon is political in nature, it becomes an immediate lightning rod, fanning tension within a congregation, and losing its intended effect.

I have no interest being in the hot seat.

And neither did Jesus.

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Jesus did not enter this world in order to divide and conquer until he bore an earthly crown, whose leaves would fade like the evening sun. 

He came in peace, to reveal the face, the voice, and indeed the very heart of God. A heart that beats with unimaginable love, compassion, and mercy for all of his creation.

The Lord’s mission was meant to transcend politics, yet his life was still subjected to it.  

This was not only true at his birth – when Herod feared the arrival of a newborn king – but also throughout his ministry, and even to his death as he was crowned with thorns in mockery.

We see this tension unfolding in today’s Gospel.

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The Pharisees and Herodians – two groups usually opposed to each other – unite under a single purpose: to throw Jesus into the hot seat, trapping him in his speech.

“Teacher, we know that you are a truthful man and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth,” they say. “So, what is your opinion: Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?” 

This question was as partisan as picking a political party is today.  

If Jesus opposed paying the census tax, then they would turn him in to the Roman authorities for being a revolutionary or an insurrectionist, and the Romans would have him crucified.

But if Jesus supported paying the census tax, then he would be seen as no real supporter of the Jewish cause; taxes directly supported Caesar, who occupied Jewish land.

It’s a catch-22.

But no one could ever trap Jesus. Outsmarting his opponents, he asked them for a coin, which not only bore the image of Caesar, but it also proclaimed Caesar to be divine.

No pious Jew could carry such a coin because it broke the first and second commandments – to have no God but God alone, and not to bear false images. Yet where else do the Pharisees draw this coin from? Their very own pockets!

This not only revealed they paid their taxes; they also routinely broke the Commandments. Making matters worse, this unfolds on Temple grounds, God’s house.

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“Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar,” Jesus says, “and to God what belongs to God.”

We’ve all heard those words before. Many interpret them as an affirmation separating the Church from the state. But Jesus is not just giving us permission; he is also challenging us to give to each what belongs to each.

So, what does it mean to give to Caesar? 

In America, this means paying our taxes and voting. Yet how many people cheat, search for tax breaks, loopholes, or evade paying their taxes at all? How many others choose not to vote?

“Give to Caesar,” Jesus says. Pay your taxes. Vote.

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Of course, the more challenging part is to give to God what belongs to God.

In the book of Genesis, we’re told that humanity was made in the image and likeness of God. And if we bear God’s image – just like a metal coin bore Caesar’s – then we must give God our very selves.

Yet, like paying taxes, how many struggle to do so? We can all suffer from the temptation to hoard what we believe to be our own – not only our money, but also our time and talent.

Indeed, our very lives.

Yet when God created the universe and everything in it, he wrote a law into all of creation; everything and everyone is ordered to give itself away.

For example, the sun does not shine on itself; its rays warm and brighten the earth. Rivers do not drink their own water. Trees do not eat their own fruit; they offer it for the nourishment of others.

When we do the opposite, when we hoard what we have – or worse, who we are – then we become less than the stars in the sky.

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May God give us the grace to live like the sun and the stars, giving whatever we may have away – passing things to Caesar, but our very lives to God. 

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Image credits: (1) Biblepure.com (2) The Politics Page, Facebook (3) Pinterest

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Gospel: Luke 12: 1-7

At that time:
So many people were crowding together 
that they were trampling one another underfoot.
Jesus began to speak, first to his disciples,
“Beware of the leaven–that is, the hypocrisy–of the Pharisees.

“There is nothing concealed that will not be revealed,
nor secret that will not be known.
Therefore whatever you have said in the darkness
will be heard in the light,
and what you have whispered behind closed doors
will be proclaimed on the housetops.
I tell you, my friends,
do not be afraid of those who kill the body
but after that can do no more.
I shall show you whom to fear.
Be afraid of the one who after killing
has the power to cast into Gehenna;
yes, I tell you, be afraid of that one.
Are not five sparrows sold for two small coins?
Yet not one of them has escaped the notice of God.
Even the hairs of your head have all been counted.
Do not be afraid.
You are worth more than many sparrows.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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When I entered the seminary, one of the first books I read was a novel called, The Diary of a Country Priest, by Georges Bernanos. 

It’s about a young priest living in a small village in the French countryside. Most of the book is composed of his diary entries, documenting – among other things – the slow erosion of faith unfolding in his parish.

People who were once zealous become lukewarm of heart. 

“Faith,” he writes, “is not something you lose like a set of keys.” It weakens over time. 

This can happen to anyone: life gets busy and we start missing Mass; our prayer life becomes dry or routine; a sudden tragedy strikes, eroding our sense of security; the lure of the world seduces us; or God becomes less involved in our daily decision making.

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I wonder if this what happened to the scribes and Pharisees whom Jesus thoroughly rebukes. All week, we have been reading through the “woes” Jesus directs at them. Today he wraps those woes up with a simple, stern warning: beware of their hypocrisy.

Beneath their masks of piety were evil, plunder, and corruption. 

Most of them were probably good, law-abiding men, whose faith slowly eroded over time, to the point that not even the sternest rebuke from Jesus could shake them from their moral slumber.

It’s a sad truth to contemplate, but how did they become that way?  

Perhaps they developed an attachment to human praise, important titles, or wealth. Maybe their own prayer life ran dry. But what each of them lacked was integrity. 

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“Faith is not something you lose like a set of keys,” the priest writes in his diary. It happens slowly over time. 

Yet the opposite is also true. 

Faith is strengthened minute by minute, decision by decision, one act of surrender, praise, or humility after another.  It demands discipline, work, and grace.

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What is the state of my own spiritual life? And, unlike the scribes and Pharisees, how might I strengthen it today?

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Image credits: (1) Revealed Truth (2) Woe to You Pharisees, Chantal LaFortune (3) Daily Dose with Dr. Shermaine, WordPress

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Gospel: John 15: 1-8

Jesus said to his disciples:
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower.
He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit,
and everyone that does he prunes so that it bears more fruit.
You are already pruned because of the word that I spoke to you.
Remain in me, as I remain in you.
Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own
unless it remains on the vine,
so neither can you unless you remain in me.
I am the vine, you are the branches.
Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit,
because without me you can do nothing.
Anyone who does not remain in me
will be thrown out like a branch and wither;
people will gather them and throw them into a fire
and they will be burned.
If you remain in me and my words remain in you,
ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you.
By this is my Father glorified,
that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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In a recent interview, Pope Leo said the Church is in need of more “martyrs.” Not in the traditional sense of the word. Not people who witness to their faith, offering their life to God in a single act of courage.

But people who are “pruned,” by making small, ordinary sacrifices day after day; who persevere in prayer; who humble their ego; who put the needs of others first; who forgive ills; and who stand up for the truth.

This is a different type of martyrdom – one which happens slowly over the course of time – that can make any one of us a Saint. Today we celebrate a person who followed that path, Teresa of Avila. 

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Teresa was a 16^th century Spanish mystic, nun, and Church reformer. 

Raised in a deeply religious household, she was inspired to enter into religious life as a Carmelite nun. However, after entering the convent, she became disillusioned by her peers’ lax practices, comfortable lives, and mingling with secular society.

They didn’t seem to be living the spirit of the Gospel. So, she started her own order known as the Discalced (or barefoot) Carmelites, whose rule of life was rooted in genuine poverty, simplicity, and prayer. 

Sadly, Teresa faced significant hostility, even from within the Church. But she did not allow criticism, opposition, or naysayers to spoil her dream. She persevered, relying in particular on the strength given to her in prayer and the Eucharist.

Today, there are over 4,000 priests, 12,000 nuns and 40,000 laypeople who follow her rule of life.

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In addition to initiating Church reforms, Teresa was also known for her spiritual writings. Her most famous book being The Interior Castle, in which she identifies seven different stages that the soul journeys through as it reaches union with Christ.

A union that comes as we slowly die to ourselves.

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May Saint Teresa intercede for us today that we would become “living martyrs,” people who witness to our faith – not with a single act of courage – but in a thousand little ways until all people see in us is Christ.

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Image credits: (1) Wiggles and Wonder, Substack (2) Teresa of Avila, Caroline Myss (3) Catholic Art and Jewelry