Twenty-Fourth Monday of Ordinary Time

First of all, I ask that supplications, prayers, petitions, and thanksgivings be offered for everyone, for kings and for all in authority, that we may lead a quiet and tranquil life in all devotion and dignity. This is good and pleasing to God our savior, who wills everyone to be saved and to come to knowledge of the truth.

We all need to pray for our leaders. Our leaders from the local to national levels can have a great influence over our lives as well as the morals of society as a whole. The laws, decisions, and regulations made today will have far-reaching effects and we as a people of faith have the responsibility to not only elect people with well-formed consciences, but also to pray for all politicians in order to give them the strength they need to resist the temptations of public office and make policy decisions that lead to quiet and tranquil lives for their constituents. We also have to pray for our officials so that we will have an environment that leads our people greater devotion to God and dignity for all.

Do we pray for our leaders? How can we do a better job of supporting politician who have well-formed consciences? What can we do to ensure our local and national governments are guided by good people?

O Lord, guide our leaders and help them to be good and faithful servants to you and all your children.

Amen.

Ninth Tuesday of Ordinary Time

“Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.”

We have responsibilities to the world, but we also have them to God, too. Whenever these do not conflict, then we are obliged to perform both duties. It is a good thing to act as a responsible citizen and we should not shirk our worldly tasks. However, when they conflict with doing God’s Will, then we have the obligation to put God first and our country second. This does not mean that we should look for loopholes and try to rationalize our own selfishness or laziness. It means that we should be discerning about how our government acts and if it is acting contrary to our Christian morality, then we should attempt to work within the system to bring it back into compliance with God’s message of love, mercy, and grace. As Jesus says, render to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s, then we shall be acting not only rightly, but for the good as well.

What are our obligations to our family, friends, neighbors, country? What are our obligations to God? When they are in conflict with each other how do we resolve the crisis?

O Lord, help us to remember to repay you first and the world with what is left over.

Amen.