This Sermon is prepared by
Rev.Fr.Peter Jayakanthan sss
Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament
Corpus Christi Catholic Church,
Houston, Texas, US
29th Sunday of Ordinary Time-Year-100% of integration…….0% to Alienation!!Is45:1, 4-6; IThes1:1-5b; Mt22:15-21Dear Sisters, Brothers and Children, I welcome you for the Eucharistic Celebration. We offer our first day and first moment for the Lord by praising and singing as a Eucharistic community. We pray that the fruits of the extraordinary synod on family will motivate all the families to keep Jesus as center of their life and offer 100% of their yes to God, faith and Church. We also lift up all the leaders of our country and the countries throughout the world to the Almighty that they may lead their people towards religious values with the special focus on freedom of religion.“I am the state” was the repeated statement of Louie XIV. He was trying to prove that He was the absolute, the ultimate and supreme power in France. Kings and leaders ruled with the title of the great had their arrogance. They tried to show their rule was free from religion; in other words no religion and no faith. They acted as if they were gods. The state, country and people were alienated from religion. Henry VIII said, “I am everywhere”; he wanted to rule over the Church and papacy like other power hungry leaders. Thomas More was executed by him for saying, “100 to God and Church, 0% to state and King.” In our time we observe how freedom from religion is given importance, downplaying freedom of religion. There was an argument to deny relief assistance to churches and faith-based organizations after Hurricane Katrina and Rita. Religion is being alienated from the life of the people. The Little Sisters of the Poor were prosecuted in court for not approving of the Obama care which allows abortion, sterilization and contraceptive services. We profess freedom of religion, but in reality and in practice there is freedom from religion. ‘I don’t want God I don’t need God I can decide and rule my life’, Brittny Maynard 29 year woman who plans to have a pill on Nov 01st 2014 is a new model for all those who alienate God, religion and faith from their life. I understand her physical struggle and emotional pain but I cannot accept her view. Life comes from God, it is in His hands. The readings of today’s liturgy motivate us to challenge others not to alienate God and religion rather to integrate and build a better humanity on Earth. We have two persons who motivate us. The Prophet Isaiah keeps the spirit filled life of King Cyrus before us to possess the integration of secular life and religion. Matthew tells how Jesus never falls into the trap of alienation or compromise but stands-up for the integration. We can find the well preserved tomb of Cyrus in Pasargadae of Southern Iran. His name as Cyrus II or Cyrus the Great was recorded in the Hebrew Scriptures nearly twenty-two times. He was a victorious ruler moving up to Mesopotamia and Palestine. He supported the people of Israel and won against The Babylonians and released and liberated them from the clutches of slavery and exile after 70 years. Cyrus proved his religiosity and policy of integration, by sending them back to the Promised Land, to build the Jerusalem Temple and their life. He also handed over all the vessels of the Temple which was plundered by Nebuchadnezzar. He encouraged them to restore and rebuild their secular and religious life. The two popular and important titles offered to the kings of Israel are Shepherds and The Anointed. Here Isaiah affirms and calls this Pagan king Cyrus as the Anointed one of Yahweh. He said, ‘God chose Cyrus as an instrument, though he was a pagan, the hand of Yahweh was with him.’ He was a sincere ruler, a servant of the people and faithful to the Almighty. He strikes balance as a person and as a leader. He believed and acknowledged the role of God and religion in the life of people of Israel. Am I an integrated person like Cyrus? Matthew places three groups before Jesus. They are The Pharisees, Sadducees and Herodians. The Pharisees were rabid nationalists and totally anti-Roman, while the Herodians were willing to collaborate with the Romans, hoping to benefit from them. The Sadducees were an elite and wealthy whose political compromise with the Romans distanced them from the common man. Together with the chief priests, these three groups accused Jesus of “associating” with sinners and challenged his authority to teach in the Temple. The earlier opinion of the resurrection, what is the greatest commandment and the connection between Messiah and David. In today’s passage, we have Pharisees and the Herodians. Palestine was the colony of Rome, so they were supposed to pay tax to the Roman ruler, Tiberius Caesar. The taxes were divided into ground tax, income tax and the census tax. The census tax was paid by each citizen. The tax was equal to one day’s wage, and the coin they used had the image of the ruler Tiberius with the inscription ‘Tiberius son of Divine Augustus’. Here the Pharisees, as the fanatic Jews, never accepted the rule of Rome, so they did not want to pay tax; on the other hand the Herodians were in good terms with Rome, receiving benefits from Rome as they paid the tax. Jesus became the common enemy for both the groups so they wanted to entrap Him. If Jesus said ‘yes you have to pay tax’, the Jews would disregard him; if he said ‘no’ then the Herodians would hand him over to the Roman emperor. Through the words “Give what belongs to Caesar to him, and what belongs to God to God” Jesus is challenging the alienated approach of the Pharisees and the compromising attitude of Herodians, which reveal their arrogance and prove their destruction. Jesus is challenging them, and us, to possess the integrated approach. Religion, God and faith are essential, and part of our life system. It needs to be part of the State and government. By birth we become the citizens of the country of our birth, and by Baptism we become the citizens of Heaven. A loyal Christian is always a loyal citizen. Failure in good citizenship is also failure in Christian duty. Our priority is allegiance to God. As the famous martyr St Thomas More said of himself: "I die the King's good servant, but God's first." So 100% integration signifies that God is very much part of our whole life. 0% is never alienate myself from God. Dr. William Osler was a well-known Canadian Physician. He became the first chief of staff at Johns Hopkins. He strongly believed in learning from seeing and talking to patients, diminishing the class lectures. During rounds, accompanied by number of interns after stopping by the bed side to examine then he used to write some time G.O.K. One day a student courageously asked the learned Dr. He expressed with a smile G.O.K means God Only Knows. He told the students there is vast sea of truth that is beyond our grasp, that is the reality of God, He is imminent we need to integrate Jesus to our every reality. Gandhi said “I could not live for a single second without religion. I go further and say that every activity of a man of religion must be bound to God, that is to say, God rules your every breath.” We shall lift to God all those alienate God or compromise Religion and faith in their political and secular life that they may be challenged to recognize the absolute reality of the Almighty-Amen. 
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