“Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar?” Does the state have a claim on me?
Our Lord took the coin with the image of Caesar on it and told them “Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God that which belongs to God.” You and I know that God has placed in this society in order that we might save our souls. Society requires my support to carry on the essentials of life. What then is the criteria whereby I might judge what should be given to the state? In one word the answer is “death”. Yes, death is the criterion which will decide what should be given to Caesar.
Both St. Peter and St. Paul discuss the need for our support for the local government in order that the Catholic community might carry on its purpose: to achieve the kingdom of heaven. Our actions within society must be such that others are edified by our lives. The power of the saints came from their desire to use their time in this world to prepare for eternity. Hence death became their deliverer from the cares of this world. St. Matthew remarks that the Catholic must not fear the world or the flesh which may be able to end our physical life but not our eternal life. Instead we ought to fear him who can destroy us physically and spiritually. We must be concerned about the manner in which we prioritize our goals in this world.
In this world we are to sanctify our souls but many among us simply concern themselves about the pleasures of this world, the opinion of others or the desire to attain power. Death becomes an unwanted intruder. We know we are meant to be saints but we will settle for “being good to those who are good to us.” When death comes knocking on the door of our hearts all of the sudden we see our failed life so clearly that we wish we could have more time. It will not be there. The image on the coin possessed our life and now the lying, cheating, stealing, getting even are all seen in view of death to be the serious sins that can damn my soul.
We cry out to God to give us more time but time will not take away the awful debt which is owed to God. Sin like a sticky oil arrests the soul and it becomes so blind to the reality of our sinful actions that we can’t simply erase it. In justice we must give to God a clean soul but time for the reparation is over. Death calls and we cannot hide. If only we could confess our sins then we might turn our souls in the direction of heaven. We could have confessed every fortnight and been prepared for this moment of judgment.
With the approach of death our soul recognizes that the state has received the lion share of our life while God Who Created us, redeemed us and wished to sanctify us received the leftovers. Our sense of time deceived us with the impression that we should live forever. The time of testing is over and the soul ought to yearn for the presence of God but instead it fears to enter into the light of God’s scrutiny. How many nights we spent in entertaining ourselves, going to the ball games, partying with buddies. It is now all worthless and our lack of discipline creates a fear of the judgment which is only minutes perhaps seconds away.
Our death is imminent and what does one think about…getting better, receiving a second opinion or making our last will and testament. Imagine the soul desiring to unite its sufferings with Christ but it is still under the curse of the flesh and is so attached to the friends that come or the family that encourages that the soul forget the essence of faith. The time of reparation is lost because the fever takes over and the reasoning in the spirit is gone with the wind. What should have taken place during our monthly life was presented by saints like St. John Bosco who monthly had his boys and Salesians focus on death.
The Exercise for a happy death always sought to give to God what belongs to God…our contrite heart. Hence each month the boys were guided in an examination of conscience in preparation for death. Death became the friend that would open the door to our eternal union with our divine Lord and our Lady. Everyday the boys would follow the pattern of St. Dominic Savio and make Jesus and Mary their best friends. They would rather die than to commit a sin. Love dominated and love conquered all difficulties.
How we need to take the reality of death back into our daily life to attain the balance which comes from giving God what belongs to Him and learning to give to the Caesars of this world that which helps to carry on peace and societal order. May our Lord and our Lady grant that our Church regain this priority and obey God. Let our leadership consecrate Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and all will find their home in the Catholic church.
In the hearts of Jesus, Mary and Joseph,
Fr. Richard Voigt
P.S. Remember to pray as many rosaries as you can in a day. Don’t let time pass you by but discipline yourself to pray always.
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