Last year, we over paid the State of Pennsylvania tax by about twenty dollars. Not only did the State keep the twenty bucks, but it also penalized us another fifty. Imagine getting THAT notice in the mail: You gave us too much money, so now you have to give us more! Amazing but true. You did indeed read that correctly: we were penalized for over paying. Tax collectors never change. Jesus knew them well, too. And he loved them dearly as His Father's children.
Well, Our Dear Lord’s advice to the Pharisees and the Herodians comes to mind (Mark 12:13-17): Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God. Thank goodness, we can look to Heaven for our afterlife and to guide us in this life. Thank goodness, Our Lord Jesus Christ has risen to open the gates of Heaven, to relieve our souls of our misdeeds, to guide us to true love and happiness. I can’t help but think about the ancient pagans who believed their rulers to be demigods. Oh my, imagine if our idea of a heavenly afterlife were based on serving the government. I think if my only hope for an afterlife were with the State of Pennsylvania, I would prefer to remain six feet under!
So as we struggle with this world, I, for one, will keep my eyes on the Kingdom of Heaven. Despite the frustrations of this life, I’ll rejoice in how Our Lord conquered all by conquering death. Even a powerful empire couldn’t hold Him down, the government who condemned Him in their faulty and obscured wisdom. In fact, it was this empire that was crushed, and out of its ashes grew the holy seat of the Vatican.
As the government slips its hands into my shallow pocketbook, I’ll be diving deep into the depths of our Catholic Truth. While the government plans to grow, I plan to lose myself and make myself smaller so Christ will be my refuge.
So I will give to Caesar what is Caesar’s. And surely—surely!—I will give to God what is God’s.
God bless.
Caesar will certainly get his, and hopefully a lot more - like the wrath of God perhaps?
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