29th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A)
Liturgy of the Hours, 1st week, psalter
Comments on the liturgy of the day from the September/October 2020 issue of the “Sulla Tua Parola” Missal.
The Gospel phrase “Therefore give back to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God” contains a truth that concerns us very closely: are we capable of giving God the right place in our lives? Do we give God what belongs to God? Giving God what is his means loving the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind (Mt 22:37), which is expressed concretely in love for our neighbor.
FIRST READING
From the Book of the Prophet Isaiah (Is 45:1,4-6)
Thus says the Lord to his anointed, Cyrus: “I have grasped him by the right hand, to subdue nations before him and strip kings of their robes, to open doors before him and no gate shall be closed. For the sake of Jacob, my servant, and Israel, my chosen one, I have called you by your name, giving you a title, though you knew me not. I am the Lord and there is no other, apart from me there is no god; I arm you, though you do not know me, so that all may know, from the rising of the sun to its setting, that there is none besides me. I am the Lord, there is no other.” The word of the Lord.
Commentary on the first reading
The temptation to feel that they were God’s people, the only ones, has always dwelt in Israel’s consciousness. At times, the ultimate and definitive reason for being his people was overlooked: to include all the other peoples of the earth in this election. We need only think of God’s promise to Abraham: “In you all the nations of the earth shall be blessed” (cf. Genesis 12:3; 18:18; 26:4; 28:14). The prophet Isaiah makes this blessing evident in reference to Cyrus, king of Persia. Israel is undergoing the dramatic experience of exile in Babylon; its oppressors had always treated it very harshly. At a certain point Cyrus manages to prevail over Babylon and adopts a different strategy toward the subjected peoples. He allows Israel to return to the promised land and rebuild the Temple. God’s compassion for humanity knows no obstacles. Even a king who does not know the Lord can become an instrument of his salvation if he obeys the law of love written in every heart. The good that comes from God sometimes travels unexpected paths.
SECOND READING
From the first letter of Saint Paul the Apostle to the Thessalonians (1 Thes 1:1-5b)
Paul, Silvanus and Timothy, to the Church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: grace to you and peace. We always give thanks to God for all of you, remembering you in our prayers and continually calling to mind your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ before our God and Father. We know, brothers and sisters loved by God, that you have been chosen by him. For our Gospel did not come to you in word alone, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with complete conviction. The word of the Lord.
Commentary on the second reading
We are faced with what scholars almost unanimously consider the oldest text among all the writings of the New Testament. Precisely for this reason, we can glimpse in it the dawn of the Christian experience. We can see, as if in a watermark, all the freshness of the newness brought into the world by Jesus of Nazareth. It is beautiful to see that, from the very beginning of the letter, Timothy and Silvanus are also mentioned alongside Paul. The Christian experience is first and foremost the experience of fraternity, of a new way of being together around Christ, the crucified and risen Lord. Over the centuries, theological reflection has developed an idea contained here in seed form and formulated what are called the “theological virtues,” namely: faith, hope and charity. Paul gives thanks to the Father for active faith (not therefore something made up of beautiful and sterile ideas, but something that changes reality), steadfast hope (how can we not think of Pope Francis’s recurring phrase, “Do not let hope be stolen from you”) and demanding charity (because true love is never something simple).
GOSPEL OF THE DAY
From the Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 22:15-21)
At that time, the Pharisees went off and plotted to entrap Jesus in speech. They sent their disciples to him, with the Herodians, saying: “Teacher, we know that you are a truthful man and teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. And you are not concerned with anyone’s opinion, for you do not regard a person’s status. Tell us, then, what is your opinion: Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?” Knowing their malice, Jesus said: “Hypocrites, why are you testing me? Show me the coin that pays the census tax.” Then they handed him a denarius. He said to them, “Whose image is this and whose inscription?” They replied, “Caesar’s.” At that he said to them, “Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.” The Gospel of the Lord.
Commentary on the Gospel of the day
The liturgy has us begin the reading of the Gospel with the formula “at that time”; for us, who have the grace of engaging in something close to lectio divina, it is our task to go and see which time is being referred to. Let us take the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 22, and try to see what the immediate context is that explains the strange alliance between the Pharisees and the Herodians. Jesus had engaged in a dispute, told in the form of a parable: that of the king who holds a banquet for his son’s wedding. The banquet saw the invited guests desert, followed by the invitation to call everyone who was found at the crossroads, both good and bad, as the text specifies. It is clear that this parable sounded subversive both to the Pharisees, who saw themselves as those deserters among the invited guests, and to the Herodians, who could hardly tolerate the presence of a king in this parable. When it comes to trying to entrap Jesus, the forces of evil unite and attempt their trap. The snare is perfectly laid, but they had not reckoned with Jesus’ style, which, more than giving answers, raises questions. The answer is never prepackaged.
