29TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - RENDERING UNTO GOD AND CAESAR AS FAITHFUL WITNESSES TO THE GOSPEL...........

As we open this 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time, we are taught by today's Liturgy of the Word, the message of Sacred Truth that resounds through Slvation History, "I Am The Lord Your God, There Is No Other".  Our Sunday Gospel from Matthew 22:15-21; calls all Catholic-Christians to prioritize our discipleship, by rendering until Caesar, what is Caesar's, and unto God , what is God's.  At the crux of this teaching is that we as citizens of this World must honor our civic and financial responsibilities to  society and government, for the mutual welfare of ourselves and others; but that also as members of the Community of Believers, and heirs to the Kingdom of Eternal Life, we must assure that our greatest concern is to render unto the Universal God, all our allegiance, loyalty, and glory, as Faithful Witnesses to the Lord of Creation.  By keeping our temporal and spiritual commitments in the balance everyone of Jesus Christ's Disciples must bear; remembering the commands and precepts of the Divine Triune God, always surpass the demands and prerogatives of Human Authority and Governance, we can, and will, succeed in maintaining the proper order - keeping the Lord Our God, and our daily, lifelong, relationship with the Holy Trinity, as our foremost commitment in life and faith.  Where do you stand presently ?  Is your foremost passion anchored in personal, political, or earthly concerns, that puts and allows Caesar to govern your positions and responses to life; or  are you instead focused on the interpersonal and selfless initiatives of God, the Supreme Being, in faith and fidelity to Gospel Values ?  As another election year draws near which rendering will form and shape your choices in candidates, issues, and attitudes ?  The everlasting truth of the Gospel of Christ, or the fleeting platforms of partisan persuasion ?  As an avid follower of politics, and government, with undergraduate degrees in those subjects, I still know that as a Catholic Christian Disciple and Priest of Jesus Christ, that God's Will, for me and for all faithful citizens is that we practice what we profess, in the Living and True God who reddems us.  May each of us apply the rendering of our treasure, to more than Human endeavors in partnership and loyalty to the Divine plan of Salvation..........."I Am The Lord Your God, There Is No Other",   Fr.  Troy