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First Reading
Thus says the LORD to his anointed, Cyrus... — Isaiah 45:1a
Front view of a barrel-shaped clay cylinder resting on a stand. The cylinder is covered with lines of cuneiform text. On the cylinder Cyrus announced a number of reforms that he made after conquering the country. These include arranging for the restoration of temples and organizing the return to their homelands of a number of people who had been held in Babylonia by the Babylonian kings. For these reasons the Cyrus Cylinder has been called the earliest known document in the history of religious toleration
. It is preserved in the British Museum. (cf. HistoryofInformation.com). This image is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
EXCERPT: Incredibly, on the inscribed clay cylinder, King Cyrus gives credit for his rise to power to YHWH (Yahweh), the God of Israel, as prophesied by Isaiah. —Michal Hunt
Responsorial Psalm
EXCERPT: Empires, nations, and governments rise and fall throughout world history, but no earthly nation or ruler can come to power without God granting that ruler or nation authority —Michal Hunt
Second Reading
We give thanks to God always for all of you, remembering you in our prayers, unceasingly calling to mind your work of faith and labor of love and endurance in hope of our Lord Jesus Christ — 1 Thessalonians 1:2-3
SOURCE: www.toledoblade.com
EXCERPT: Paul preaches that our Christian virtues are found in the labors/works of love we offer when we live in the image of Jesus Christ and continue His earthly ministry.” — Fr. Eamon Tobin
Gospel
"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." — Matthew 22:20-21
:"The Tribute Money," a Painting by James Tissot (1836-1902). Jesus is being watched carefully by the priests and scribes, who hope to have him arrested as a threat to Roman rule. Asked whether tribute should be paid to Rome, Jesus points to a coin inscribed with the likeness of the emperor and raises another hand to the sky, saying, “Render therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesar’s, and unto God the things which be God’s.” Distinguishing between terrestrial and divine authority, Jesus evades the trap as his hostile audience crowds around him, intently listening to his response. The image visually parallels the much earlier scene Jesus Among the Doctors in the Holy Childhood, though the priests’ early wonder at his precocious wisdom has now turned to frustration and mistrust. SOURCE: Brooklynmuseum.org
EXCERPT: While the Roman coin used to pay the tax had the image of the Roman emperor on its face, God created the emperor, and he bears the image of his Creator. Therefore, like all human beings, the emperor is subject to Yahweh’s sovereignty as the Divine King over his life. — Fr. Eamon Tobin
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Front view of a barrel-shaped clay cylinder resting on a stand. The cylinder is covered with lines of cuneiform text. On the cylinder Cyrus announced a number of reforms that he made after conquering the country. These include arranging for the restoration of temples and organizing the return to their homelands of a number of people who had been held in Babylonia by the Babylonian kings. For these reasons the Cyrus Cylinder has been called the earliest known document in the history of religious toleration
. It is preserved in the British Museum. (cf. HistoryofInformation.com). This image is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
Thus says the LORD to his anointed, Cyrus... — Isaiah 45:1a
First Reading
Isaiah 45:1, 4-6
Reflections
Commentaries
Sunday Readings
Cyrus, the Instrument of God
An earthly ruler can become God’s instrument of salvation. This is what God announces through His prophet Isaiah concerning Cyrus, the pagan king of Persia, in the First Reading. Isaiah foretells the appointment of a man named Cyrus, a name in Persian meaning “shepherd,” to accomplish the will of God (Is 44:28), beginning with the redemption of God’s people from the Babylonian captivity (Is 41:2-5, 25; 44:24, 28; 45:1-5, 13; 48:14-15). As God’s vehicle for good, King Cyrus not only restored the covenant people of Israel/Judah to their homeland after the years of the Babylonian exile, but he commissioned the rebuilding of the Temple of Solomon that the Babylonians destroyed (Ezra 3:7). King Cyrus of Persia historically fulfilled his divinely appointed destiny, and he is the only Gentile in the Bible to be called God’s Messiah (Is 45:1).
Exploring the Text
PHOTO CREDIT (TOP OF PAGE): Front view of a barrel-shaped clay cylinder resting on a stand. The cylinder is covered with lines of cuneiform text. On the cylinder Cyrus announced a number of reforms that he made after conquering the country. These include arranging for the restoration of temples and organizing the return to their homelands of a number of people who had been held in Babylonia by the Babylonian kings. For these reasons the Cyrus Cylinder has been called the earliest known document in the history of religious toleration
. It is preserved in the British Museum. (cf. HistoryofInformation.com). This image is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

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Give to the LORD, you families of nations, give to the LORD glory and praise; give to the LORD the glory due his name!— Psalm 96:7-8
Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 96:1, 3, 4-5, 7-8, 9-10
Reflections
Commentary
Sunday Readings
Yahweh is the Divine King Among the Nations
In today’s Responsorial Psalm, we sing, “The Lord is King, and he governs the people [of the earth] with equity!” (Ps 96:10). Empires, nations, and governments rise and fall throughout world history, but no earthly nation or ruler can come to power without God granting that ruler or nation authority (Jn 19:11; Rom 13:1). Sometimes even hard-hearted men receive that authority, becoming God’s instrument to reveal His power, as in the Egyptian Pharaoh of the Exodus (Ex 9:16; Rom 9:17). At other times, invading armies became instruments of redemptive judgment on apostate and unrepentant covenant people, as in the armies and nations of the Assyrians, Babylonians, Greeks, and Romans (see 2 Mac 6:7-16).
Exploring the Text
PHOTO CREDIT (TOP OF PAGE): Flags from all over the world in courtyard at United Nations, UN, Palais des Nations, Geneva, Switzerland, Europe. The United Nations Office at Geneva is housed at the historic Palais des Nations, originally built for the League of Nations in the 1930s. A beautiful art deco building overlooking Lake Geneva, the Palais is the largest centre for conference diplomacy in the world.
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SOURCE: www.toledoblade.com
We give thanks to God always for all of you, remembering you in our prayers, unceasingly calling to mind your work of faith and labor of love and endurance in hope of our Lord Jesus Christ — 1 Thessalonians 1:2-3
Second Reading
1 Thessalonians 1:1-5B
Reflections
Commentaries
Sunday Readings
Preaching the Gospel
In the Second Reading, St. Paul tells the Thessalonian Christians that they can fulfill the destiny for which God created them by becoming images of Christ and instruments of God’s love and peace. Paul preaches that our Christian virtues are found in the labors/works of love we offer when we live in the image of Jesus Christ and continue His earthly ministry. Our works of love and charity joined with the righteous deeds of others within the Christian community give vitality to Jesus’ Kingdom of the Church whose members, as St. Paul reminds us, are divinely elected by God.
Exploring the Text
PHOTO CREDIT (TOP OF PAGE): SOURCE: www.toledoblade.com
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:"The Tribute Money," a Painting by James Tissot (1836-1902). Jesus is being watched carefully by the priests and scribes, who hope to have him arrested as a threat to Roman rule. Asked whether tribute should be paid to Rome, Jesus points to a coin inscribed with the likeness of the emperor and raises another hand to the sky, saying, “Render therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesar’s, and unto God the things which be God’s.” Distinguishing between terrestrial and divine authority, Jesus evades the trap as his hostile audience crowds around him, intently listening to his response. The image visually parallels the much earlier scene Jesus Among the Doctors in the Holy Childhood, though the priests’ early wonder at his precocious wisdom has now turned to frustration and mistrust. SOURCE: Brooklynmuseum.org
"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." — Matthew 22:20-21
Gospel Reading
Matthew 22:15-21
Reflections
Podcasts
Commentaries
Sunday Readings
Paying Caesar’s Tax
In the Gospel Reading, when confronted by the religious and civil leaders concerning the payment of the Roman Emperor’s tax, Jesus makes the point that God has authority over all men, even kings. While the Roman coin used to pay the tax had the image of the Roman emperor on its face, God created the emperor, and he bears the image of his Creator. Therefore, like all human beings, the emperor is subject to Yahweh’s sovereignty as the Divine King over his life.
Exploring the Text
PHOTO CREDIT (TOP OF PAGE): :"The Tribute Money," a Painting by James Tissot (1836-1902). Jesus is being watched carefully by the priests and scribes, who hope to have him arrested as a threat to Roman rule. Asked whether tribute should be paid to Rome, Jesus points to a coin inscribed with the likeness of the emperor and raises another hand to the sky, saying, “Render therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesar’s, and unto God the things which be God’s.” Distinguishing between terrestrial and divine authority, Jesus evades the trap as his hostile audience crowds around him, intently listening to his response. The image visually parallels the much earlier scene Jesus Among the Doctors in the Holy Childhood, though the priests’ early wonder at his precocious wisdom has now turned to frustration and mistrust. SOURCE: Brooklynmuseum.org
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The Catena Aurea
Saint Thomas Aquinas
The Catena Aurea (or, Golden Chain) is a compilation of Patristic commentary on the Gospels and contains passages from the Church Fathers. In this masterpiece, Aquinas seamlessly weaves together extracts from various Fathers to provide a complete commentary on all four Gospels.
Click on banner above to toggle an annotated list of the Church Fathers that Aquinas compiled in his multi-volume commentary.
Matthew 22:15-22
PSEUDO-CHRYSOSTOM. As when one seeks to dam a stream of running water, as soon as one outlet is stopped up it makes another channel for itself; so the malevolence of the Jews, foiled on one hand, seeks itself out another course. Then went the Pharisees; went to the Herodians. Such as the plan was, such were the planners; They send unto Him their disciples with the Herodians.
GLOSS. (ord.) Who as unknown to Him, were more likely to ensnare Him, and so through them they might take Him, which they feared to do of themselves because of the populace.
JEROME. Lately under Cæsar Augustus, Judæa, which was subject to the Romans, had been made tributary when the census was held of the whole world; and there was a great division among the people, some saying that tribute ought to be paid to the Romans in return for the security and quiet which their arms maintained for all. The Pharisees on the other hand, self-satisfied in their own righteousness, contended that the people of God who paid tithes and gave first-fruits, and did all the other things which are written in the Law, ought not to be subject to human laws. But Augustus had given the Jews as king, Herod, son of Antipater, a foreigner and proselyte; he was to exact the tribute, yet to be subject to the Roman dominion. The Pharisees therefore send their disciples with the Herodians, that is, with Herod’s soldiers, or those whom the Pharisees in mockery called Herodians, because they paid tribute to the Romans, and were not devoted to the worship of God.
CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. lxx.) They send their disciples and Herod’s soldiers together, that whatever opinion the might give might be found fault with. Yet would they rather have had Him say somewhat against the Herodians; for being themselves afraid to lay hands on Him because of the populace, they sought to bring Him into danger through His liability to pay tribute.
PSEUDO-CHRYSOSTOM. This is the commonest act of hypocrites, to commend those they would ruin. Thus, these break out into praises of Him, saying, Master, we know that Thou art true. They call Him Master, that, deceived by this shew of honour and respect, He might in simplicity open all His heart to them, as seeking to gain them for disciples.
GLOSS. (non occ.) There are three ways in which it is possible for one not to teach the truth. First, on the side of the teacher, who may either not know, or not love the truth; guarding against this, they say, We know that Thou art true. Secondly, on the side of God, there are some who, putting aside all fear of Him, do not utter honestly the truth which they know respecting Him; to exclude this they say, And teachest the way of God in truth. Thirdly, on the side of our neighbour, when through fear or affection any one withholds the truth; to exclude this they say, And carest for no man, for Thou regardest not the person of man.
CHRYSOSTOM. This was a covert allusion to Herod and Cæsar.
JEROME. This smooth and treacherous enquiry was a kind of challenge to the answerer to fear God rather than Cæsar, and immediately they say, Tell us therefore, what thinkest Thou? Is it lawful to give tribute to Cæsar or not? Should He say tribute should not be paid, the Herodians would immediately accuse Him as a person disaffected to the Emperor.
CHRYSOSTOM. They knew that certain had before suffered death for this very thing, as plotting a rebellion against the Romans, therefore they sought by such discourse to bring Him into the same suspicion.
PSEUDO-CHRYSOSTOM. He makes an answer not corresponding to the smooth tone of their address, but harsh, suitable to their cruel thoughts; for God answers men’s hearts, and not their words.
JEROME. This is the first excellence of the answerer, that He discerns the thoughts of His examiners, and calls them not disciples but tempters. A hypocrite is he who is one thing, and feigns himself another.
PSEUDO-CHRYSOSTOM. He therefore calls them hypocrites, that seeing Him to be a discerner of human hearts, they might not be hardy enough to carry through their design. Observe thus how the Pharisees spoke fair that they might destroy Him, but Jesus put them to shame that He might save them; for God’s wrath is more profitable to man, than man’s favour.
JEROME. Wisdom does ever wisely, and so the tempters are best confuted out of their own words; therefore it follows, Shew me the tribute money; and they brought unto Him a denarius. This was a coin reckoned equivalent to ten sesterces, and bore the image of Cæsar. Let those who think that the Saviour asks because He is ignorant, learn from the present place that it is not so, for at all events Jesus must have known whose image was on the coin. They say unto Him, Cæsar’s; not Augustus, but Tiberius, under whom also the Lord suffered. All the Roman Emperors were called Cæsar, from Caius Cæsar who first seized the chief power. Render therefore unto Cæsar the things which are Cæsar’s; i. e. the coin, tribute, or money.
HILARY. For if there remain with us nothing that is Cæsar’s, we shall not be bound by the condition of rendering to him the things that are his; but if we lean upon what is his, if we avail ourselves of the lawful protection of his power, we cannot complain of it as any wrong if we are required to render to Cæsar the things of Cæsar.
CHRYSOSTOM. But when you hear this command to render to Cæsar the things of Cæsar, know that such things only are intended which in nothing are opposed to religion; if such there be, it is no longer Cæsar’s but the Devil’s tribute. And moreover, that they might not say that He was subjecting them to man, He adds, And unto God the things that, are God’s.
JEROME. That is, tithes, first-fruits, oblation, and victims; as the Lord Himself rendered to Cæsar tribute, both for Himself and for Peter; and also rendered unto God the things that are God’s in doing the will of His Father.
HILARY. It behoves us also to render unto God the things that are His, namely, body, soul, and will. For Cæsar’s coin is in the gold, in which His image was pourtrayed, that is, God’s coin, on which the Divine image is stamped; give therefore your money to Cæsar, but preserve a conscience void of offence for God.
ORIGEN. From this place we learn by the Saviour’s example not to be allured by those things which have many voices for them, and thence seem famous, but to incline rather to those things which are spoken according to some method of reason. But we may also understand this place morally, that we ought to give some things to the body as a tribute to Cæsar, that is to say, necessaries. And such things as are congenial to our souls’ nature, that is, such things as lead to virtue, those we ought to offer to God. They then who without any moderation inculcate the law of God, and command us to have no care for the things required by the body, are the Pharisees, who forbad to give tribute to Cæsar, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created. (1 Tim. 4:3.) They, on the other hand, who allow too much indulgence to the body are the Herodians. But our Saviour would neither that virtue should be enfeebled by immoderate devotedness to the flesh; nor that our fleshly nature should be oppressed by our unremitting efforts after virtue. Or the prince of this world, that is, the Devil, is called Cæsar; and we cannot render to God the things that are God’s, unless we have first rendered to this prince all that is his, that is, have cast off all wickedness. This moreover let us learn from this place, that to those who tempt us we should neither be totally silent, nor yet answer openly, but with caution, to cut off all occasion from those who seek occasion in us, and teach without blame the things which may save those who are willing to be saved.
JEROME. They who ought to have believed did but wonder at His great wisdom, that their craft had found no means for ensnaring Him: whence it follows, When they had heard these words, they marvelled, and left Him, and went their way, carrying away their unbelief and wonder together.