To Caesar and To God

With joy I celebrate the 21st anniversary of my Confirmation, and I reconnect back with that Mass in one special way.

Since the readings for Sunday Mass follow a three-year cycle, we now cycle back to the same readings that were proclaimed at my Confirmation Mass.  The Gospel reading is the story in Matthew 22 when the religious leaders try to trap Jesus with the question of whether or not it's lawful to pay the census tax.  Jesus responds by asking them whose image is on the coin that pays the tax and then says, "Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to God what belongs to God."

I encountered this reading at Mass on the morning Declaration of Independence Day, July 4, this past summer.  In that context, it is so fitting.

God has created us in His image, to reflect something about His character in this world.  Additionally, as I learned through various orations to celebrate the 250th Anniversary of the Independence of the USA, God has created nations with the role of upholding the common good so that people can flourish, especially in families, the basic social structure of society.

Freedom gives us the opportunity to flourish so we can do what honors God in accordance with how He has created us.

Confirmation offers us the boost of grace from the Holy Spirit, in sevenfold gift, so we can live as the saints God has called and equipped us to be.  Like St. Carlo Acutis said, many of us end up as photocopies, but we are created to be unique saints.  We have the opportunity to live as saints by making an impact for God's glory in this time and place in which we have been placed.

I'm so glad that in the summertime festivities celebrating Independence, I have seen how I can put faith into action by upholding principles steeped in faith that edify this country.  While I strive for the Kingdom of God, this country benefits.

This past Tuesday evening, it was special to start my RE class by taking my students into Ascension Church and showing them the spot where I sat during my Confirmation Mass.  That day 21 years ago continues to be reason for celebration because of what led to it and what has come from it in answering the call to holiness.