Monday, October 6, 2014

Who Are the Caesars in Your Life?

[Jesus said to the Pharisees who were trying to trick him] “Render to Caesar the things that belong to Caesar and to God the things that belong to God.”

We often think of Caesar as the legal authority of the State. In that context when what Caesar wants from us is in conflict with the Gospel, we have a problem. Do we cave-in to Caesar’s demands or do we risk prison, financial ruin and maybe even martyrdom?

Pope Francis recently beatified 123 18th Century Korean laypeople and one Chinese priest who chose to be beheaded rather than renounce their Christian faith. How many Americans chose prison or expatriation over fighting in or paying taxes for what they believed to be an unjust war? How many people of all nations and all periods in history risked prison and death to speak out against racial or ethnic or religious injustice?

Render to Caesar the things that belong to Caesar and to God the things that belong God.

But Caesar also lives in places other than our governments. We each have a multitude of Caesars in our circles of life. And each of these Caesars holds some power over us and sometimes confronts us with choices: choices between compromising our consciences to be socially accepted or living out the Gospel.

Who are the Caesars in your life? And what choices are you making?

We might find Caesar sitting around our family table during holiday gatherings ranting about other people or ethnic groups, or persons perceived to be different. Caesar might be alive and well in our workplaces, our schools, our social or political groups; bullying others, spreading gossip, making racially or ethnically degrading jokes, anti-Semitic or homophobic remarks. Caesar might even be hanging out in our churches.

There are many Caesars in our life. Once we recognize Caesar and conflict and the price we’d pay for choosing God, what do we do? The answer to that question is very personal and may be different for each of us. But it calls us to make a decision, a choice.

Render to Caesar the things that belong to Caesar and to God the things that belong God.

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Readers of this blog might enjoy these books by Deacon Lex. Both are available on Amazon.com:

Just to Follow My Friend: Experiencing God’s Presence in Everyday Life

Synchronicity as the Work of the Holy Spirit: Jungian Insights for Spiritual Direction and Pastoral Ministry
http://www.amazon.com/Synchronicity-Work-Holy-Spirit-Spiritual/dp/1463518781/