“You must pay the price if you wish to secure the blessing,”
~ Andre Jackson
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It was was a beautiful sunny Sunday morning after torrential rain storms here in Stillwater. I attended 10 o’clock Mass at St. Francis Xavier. It’s a lovely traditional church with all the beautiful stained glass, statues, and altar decor.
The Gospel today was the story of the Pharasees trying to entrap Jesus by asking him if it was lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar. So, instead of incriminating himself, “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.”
Father talked about the monetary taxes and dues we must pay for the earthly things we want, and we have no choice. If we want to have something, we need to pay for it with money. We have to pay our taxes and our bills. The kingdom of heaven is earned by our actions here on earth. But with God, we are given free will, and the choice is ours as to how we live our lives. We aren’t forced to do anything.
My take on it…pay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar. Money is a man-made commodity. We put faces of people on currency. We use it to take care of our earthly tribute, pay our bills, pay taxes, and buy things. We are created in the image of of God, so we should pay tribute to God by following his commandments.
It was funny, before Mass was over, Father said he wouldn’t be there next Sunday because he was going to visit his sister. He gets invited every fall for a visit and a mandatory Notre Dame game. So after Mass, I shook hands with Father and showed him a picture of my son Joe, wife Lindsay and baby Belle at Notre Dame yesterday. He smiled.
I stopped and lit a candle afterwards in front of the beautiful statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
Toni Andrukaitis 
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