Our Gospel gives us the framework for how we are to think about religion and the state to this day. In this passage Christ exclaims: “render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s.”
Here Caesar retains the right to rule, but he must do so with God placed in his sight. Caesar therefore must follow divine law in a spirit of obedience. This same spirit of obedience to God’s law is to be followed by all governments and by all people of God.
We live in a world that is highly influenced by the spirit of relativism. Relativism is to go so far that one states that truth differs from individual to individual. It is true that there may be many different valid ways in which one can rule and govern, but at the end of the day we cannot allow these to overshadow the truths that have been revealed to us by God.
As Americans we must remember that one political party does not have all the answers. If I were to preach on the sanctity of human life some would accuse me of being a Republican. If I were to preach on the importance of taking care of the environment I would be accused of being a Democrat. Our Catholic faith does not perfectly fit into a political party, but instead informs us of the truths of the Gospel message that must be brought into the world and lived.
In America we enjoy the concept of the separation of Church and state. Despite this separation we must understand that our Catholic faith cannot be separated from our public witness, our political choices, and our political actions. We cannot profess to be Catholic from within the pew and then head back into the world to live as if we have encountered nothing here.
To live out the fullness of the Gospel message can be difficult at times, but the more that we conform ourself to the cross of our Blessed Lord the more possible that it becomes. We cannot allow ourself to live in fear of what will come of us if we hold firm to these truths contained here for our Blessed Lord will take care of us.
Increasingly the world seems to be moving away from these Divine Commands. Sadly, many Catholics seem to overlook these commands at the sake of tolerance. With this attitude we see the breakdown of marriage within society. We have overlooked the human person for the sake of convenience and thus promote abortion. We have looked the other way when it comes to marriage being between a male and a female to the detriment of these individuals with same sex attraction.
