XXIX ORDINARY SUNDAY Homily Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not? Well, show me the coin… Funny you should happen to have that coin (with a graven image of a selfproclaimed God!) in your pocket!! Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar… And to God what belongs to God. Caesar’s power –whether or not he knows and acknowledges– is God-given and temporary. And God’s power is everywhere and always. It governs eternal life. And God can read hearts –not just words & appearances! So, we need to be open to God writing straight with crooked lines? If God could free the Israelites from exile in Babylon by using Cyrus –another foreign, pagan king– as we heard in the prophet Isaiah, then who is to say that he can’t work grace in our lives through people we don’t like? Like it or not, many of life’s questions are not yes or no, black or white. We are not to be ruled by the world’s values… but neither are we to opt out, to isolate ourselves and refuse to participate in society. Our bishops remind us, for instance, that we have a responsibility to vote, but to do so only after carefully considering, how the positions of candidates on a range of issues correspond to our Gospel beliefs in the sanctity of life and the dignity of the human person. Like Jesus, we must refuse the lies and deceptions of those who would have us believe that things are simple and self-evident when they are not. But like Jesus, we must also refuse to run from the challenge of defending our principles, even if others dislike or misunderstand us because of our honesty and our integrity. We must strive always to repay to God what is God’s –and that includes ourselves. We are created in God’s image and likeness; and therefore, unlike Caesar’s coin, we are stamped with God’s image and God’s imprint. We belong first to him. For example, take in consideration that the only measure on November ballot on which the Bishops of California have taken a position is supporting the Proposition 47, because it is aligned with Catholic social teaching. While reclassifying minor offenses, it frees up law enforcement to focus valuable resources on serious offenders. The savings enables resources to be directed to restorative activities, assistance for victims of crime and mental health and drug treatment programs that are not available under current sentencing guidelines. Pope Benedict reminds us in Sacramentum caritatis that public worship at Eucharist has consequences for how we relate to others… it commits us to public witness to our