Sunday Reflections

There is a wide variety of responses of people to voting.  It seems in most democratic countries the percentage of people who vote in an election is dropping.  Sometimes people feel that their vote is so insignificant that it isn’t worth voting.  “What difference will my vote make?”, they say.

Throughout history, though, one vote has made all the difference in the world.

By one vote, in 1645, Oliver Cromwell took control of England, and four years later, by one vote King Charles I was executed.

By one vote in 1776, the Founding Fathers of the United States of America, chose English – rather than German – as the official language of their nation.

In 1875, by one vote the Assembly in France decided to  become a republic and get rid of the monarchy forever.

So, one vote can and does make a difference!*

This weekend’s gospel (Matthew 22:15-22) made me think of this, and the responsibility that we have as citizens.  When the Pharisees asked Jesus whether it was lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, they were hoping to trap him and accuse him of civil disobedience.  By his simple, yet profound, response, “Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to God what belongs to God”, he does not fall into their trap. 

Throughout history there has arisen a notion of ‘dualism’ – that only the spiritual is good, and that the material is bad.  Yet, how can that be, since Jesus took on human flesh?  This dualism has served as an excuse for some people to be passive and to disconnect with the movement of history and of society.  From the fifteenth and nineteenth chapters of John’s gospel Jesus tells us that we are “in the world”, but “not of the world”.  Although we live in the world, we are not “of the world” because our values and virtues are those of the kingdom God.  Often what we would put at the top of our list – like humility, and generous self-giving – are way down the list of “the world”.  We are called to be “light”, “leaven”, and “salt”.  We are to make a difference in the world!

This weekend is also Mission Sunday.  Through our Baptism we are called to share in the mission of Christ and his Church.  Once again, each one of us can make a difference.

In our First Reading, from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah (45:1, 4-6), we discover that we are called by God for a purpose.  God gives grace and power to those who respond to his call.

In the Second Reading, from the First Letter of St. Paul to the Thessalonians (1:1-5b), St. Paul encourages the leaders and faithful of Thessalonika to work with faith and love for God.  We have been chosen and blessed by God to share in the mission of Christ and his Church.

This is a call to action for each of us – not being passive or inactive, but being agents of change and renewal, and grace for the people of God.

Although Mission Sunday makes us think of missionaries far away – and that is the purpose of our Special Collection – we are all part of a missionary Church.  Each of us, in our own way – at home, at work, at school, and among our friends – are called to make manifest Christ, and the mission of his Church.  It is not for someone else to do – the Bishop, or the priests and sisters, or the catechists – but every baptized person.  Together we work for the resurrection of society, as missionaries here and now.

Let us, indeed, give to “God what belongs to God” – ourselves as faithful stewards of our time, talents and treasure – so that the mission of Jesus Christ may be fulfilled in us.  Let us show the ‘power of one’ and transform the world, beginning with ourselves.

*This introductory story is taken from Illustrated Sunday Homilies, Year A, Series II, by Mark Link, S.J.  Tabor Publishing, Allen Texas.  Page 111.