Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time
19 OCT 2014
Lectionary: 145

Reading 1 IS 45:1, 4-6

Thus says the LORD to his anointed, Cyrus,
whose right hand I grasp,
subduing nations before him,
and making kings run in his service,
opening doors before him
and leaving the gates unbarred:
For the sake of Jacob, my servant,
of Israel, my chosen one,
I have called you by your name,
giving you a title, though you knew me not.
I am the LORD and there is no other,
there is no God besides me.
It is I who arm you, though you know me not,
so that toward the rising and the setting of the sun
people may know that there is none besides me.
I am the LORD, there is no other.

Responsorial Psalm PS 96:1, 3, 4-5, 7-8, 9-10

R/ Give the Lord glory and honor.

Sing to the LORD a new song;
sing to the LORD, all you lands.
Tell his glory among the nations;
among all peoples, his wondrous deeds.
R/ Give the Lord glory and honor.

For great is the LORD and highly to be praised;
awesome is he, beyond all gods.
For all the gods of the nations are things of nought,
but the LORD made the heavens.
R/ Give the Lord glory and honor.

Give to the LORD, you families of nations,
give to the LORD glory and praise;
give to the LORD the glory due his name!
Bring gifts, and enter his courts.
R/ Give the Lord glory and honor.

Worship the LORD, in holy attire;
tremble before him, all the earth;
say among the nations: The LORD is king,
he governs the peoples with equity.
R/ Give the Lord glory and honor.



Reading 2 1 THES 1:1-5B

Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy to the church of the Thessalonians
in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
grace to you and peace.
We give thanks to God always for all of you,
remembering you in our prayers,
unceasingly calling to mind your work of faith and labor of love
and endurance in hope of our Lord Jesus Christ,
before our God and Father,
knowing, brothers and sisters loved by God,
how you were chosen.
For our gospel did not come to you in word alone,
but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with much conviction.


(The Tribute Money, Titian, 1516)

Gospel MT 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."


Overview of the Gospel:

• This Sunday’s Gospel finds Jesus in Jerusalem just days before his Passion. He continues to
offer his opponents a chance to repent until the very end, even as they conspire on how to
destroy him.

• Taking common cause with the Pharisees, another group, “the Herodians,” join the conspiracy
against Jesus. This group (mentioned in the Scriptures only twice in Mark, and once in
Matthew) were supporters of King Herod. They were comfortable with the Roman occupation
that kept Herod in power and from which they profited economically.

• The Pharisees, on the other hand, despised the Romans and Herod, and advocated passive
resistance to their rule. Two more unlikely allies could hardly be imagined.

• After insincerely trying to flatter Jesus (verse 16), the Pharisees and the disciples of the
Herodians attempt to trick him into making a damaging statement (verse 17). If Jesus had
answered, “Pay the tax,” the Pharisees would use it to discredit him before the people as a
traitor to the Jews. Had he said, “Don’t pay the tax,” the Herodians would have turned him into
the Romans as one advocating insurrection (as it turns out, even though he says the opposite,
he was falsely accused of this at his trial; see Luke 23:2).

Questions:

• In the 1st Reading, we hear about Cyrus, the king of Persia and the most powerful man in the
world of his time. It would be he to issue the decree releasing the Jews from their exile in
Babylon to return to their land. From where does this great king’s power come?

• In the 2nd Reading, Paul reminds of their chosen state before God (verse 4)? What are the
fruits that Paul sees in their lives to confirm this call (v 3, 5)? Where are the fruits in our lives?

• In the Gospel Reading, why do the Herodians (allied to Rome) and the Pharisees (admired
and influential religious separatists) make strange partners? How is Jesus a threat to each?

• What would the social or political consequences have been if Jesus had simply said “Pay
Caesar”? If he had said “Don’t pay Caesar”?

• What does Jesus mean by his answer (verse 21)? What should we give to God?

• What is Jesus teaching about the relationship between Church and State? Which obligation is
primary? Why?

• In your life, what belongs to Caesar? To God? How well are you giving to each? What
prevents you from giving to God what is God’s?
courtesy of Sunday Scripture Study For Catholics

Bible Study--29th Sunday in Ordinary Time--Cycle A
courtesy of St. Charles Borromeo Parish, Picayune, MS--Faith Studies


"God certainly desires our greatest good, more than we ourselves do. Better than we He knows how it can be effected. The choice of these means is entirely in His hands, since it is He Who disposes and regulates all that happens in this world. It is therefore absolutely certain that whatever befalls us, will always be the best for us." --St. Augustine

Beautiful in it's content!
Exellent in tempo according to its high and worthy teachings.
Awesome visual accompaniments!
Wonderfully constructed and accomplished!

Thank you brother ><>W<>< for yet another grand-slam out of the Lord's great ball park of worship and praise!

Thanks,

SAE

Give to God what belongs to God.



It made me stop and think about the news this past week. How horrendous and wretched this world is.

What belongs to GOD???



We have war

Famine

Plagues

Disasters of every kind and human suffering beyond understanding.



What belongs to God?



A 27 year old woman on Nov 1 will take her life because of her terminal diagnosis. She want's to leave this world with her definition of dignity.



We are lost because we no longer recognize what belongs to God.  



In all the FEAR of ISIS and EBOLA and RIOTS... NO ONE HAS SAID... shouldn't we join together and prayer for an end to these things. Should we?



We belong to God but we have made Him nothing because we don't recognize HE is the answer.

Well-said, both Brothers SAE and angelfire!

No one, including our Blessed Lord, ever said it was going to be EASY,

only that it would be WORTH IT!

With His grace, we shall survive and prosper spreading His word and love.