421. Twenty-ninth Sunday of Ordinary Time (A)

Meditations no. 375 (unofficial computer-aided translation)

Prudence, a necessary virtue.

In St Matthew’s Gospel we read: Tunc abeuntes Pharisaei, consilium inierunt ut caperent eum in sermone; the Pharisees went and took council that they might trap him in his talk. Don’t forget that this hypocritical approach is a common tactic even in our own times. I suspect that the tares of the Pharisees will never be wiped out in this world; they have always managed to grow at such an amazing rate. Perhaps our Lord tolerates this growth to make us, his sons, more prudent, for the virtue of prudence is essential for anyone whose job it is to judge, to strengthen, to correct, to fire with enthusiasm, or to encourage. And that is exactly what a Christian has to do, by taking advantage, as an apostle, of the situations of his ordinary work to help the people around him.

At this point, I raise my heart to God, and I ask him through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin - who is in the Church and yet above the Church, who is between Christ and the Church, protecting us and reigning over us, the Mother of all mankind, as she is of our Lord - through her, I beg that he may grant the gift of prudence to every one of us, and especially to those who, immersed in the bloodstream of society, wish to work for God; because it will stand us in very good stead to learn to be prudent.

The scene from the Gospel continues to unfold: the Pharisees sent their disciples with some of those who were of Herod’s party, and said: Master… Note how craftily they call him “Master.” They pretend to be his admirers and friends, treating him as they would a person from whom they expect to receive instruction. Magister, scimus quia verax es, we know that you are truthful… What infamous guile! Have you ever come across such double-dealing! Take care then how you pass through this world. Don’t be overcautious or distrustful. But you should feel on your shoulders - remembering the image of the Good Shepherd depicted in the catacombs - the weight of the lost sheep, which represents not just a single soul, but the entire Church, the whole of humanity.

If you accept this responsibility with good grace and zest, you will become both daring and prudent in defending and proclaiming God’s rights. And then, because of the integrity of your life, many people will come to regard you as teachers and call you so, even though you have no such ambition, for we have no interest in earthly glory. But, at the same time, don’t be surprised if, among the many who approach you, there are some who sidle up to you with no other purpose than to flatter you. I would like you to register deep in your souls those words that you have so often heard from me: we must never let anything, neither slander, nor backbiting, neither human respect, nor the fear of what others may say, and much less the praise of the hypocrites, stand in the way of the fulfilment of our duty.

Justice: the rights of God and of men.

Read the Gospel scene attentively, in order to take advantage of these wonderful lessons in the virtues which should throw light on the way we act. When they had finished their hypocritical and fawning preamble, the Pharisees and Herodians came to the point, Tell us therefore what you think: is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar or not? And St John Chrysostom writes: “Take note of their astuteness, for they don’t say, ‘Tell us what is right or suitable or permissible,’ but ‘tell us what you think.’ They were obsessed with the idea of betraying him and of making him hateful to the authorities.” But Jesus, knowing their wickedness, said, “Why do you test me, you hypocrites? Show me the coin of the tribute.” So they offered him a denarius. Then Jesus said to them, “Whose are this image and this inscription?” They said to him, “Caesar’s.” Then he said to them, “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”

As you can see the dilemma is as old as our Lord’s answer is unequivocal and clear. There is no clash, no opposition, between serving God and serving men; between the exercise of our civic rights and duties and our religious ones; between the commitment to build up and improve the earthly city, and the conviction that we are passing through this world on our way to our heavenly homeland.

Here too, as I never tire of repeating, we can see that unity of life which is an essential condition for those who are trying to sanctify themselves in the midst of the ordinary situations of their work and of their family and social relationships. Jesus does not allow any division here: No one can serve two masters, for he will either hate the one and love the other, or if he subjects himself to the first, he will despise the other. The exclusive choice of God that a Christian makes when he responds fully to his call, impels him to refer everything to our Lord and, at the same time, to give his neighbour everything that justice requires.

There is no excuse for protecting oneself with apparently pious reasons, in order to deprive others of their due. If anyone says, “Yes, I love God,” while at the same time he hates his brother, he is a liar. But they also lie who deny God the love and reverence -the adoration - due to him as our Creator and Father; or who refuse to obey his commandments with the false excuse that such obedience is incompatible with serving men, since St John clearly states that in this we know that we love the sons of God, if we love God and keep his commandments. For loving God means keeping his commandments; and his commandments are not a burden to us.

You may hear many people who, in the name of efficiency, and even of charity, make speeches and invent theories with the aim of curtailing the outward signs of respect and homage towards God. They seem to regard everything done to honour God as excessive. Take no notice of them. Keep on your way. Such speculations only lead to controversies that at best get nowhere, and quite often cause scandal among Christians and end up hindering the fulfilment of our Lord’s precept that we give everyone his due and practise the holy virtue of justice with gentle perfection.

Justice in the fulfilment of our duties.

Christ our Lord, who so often forgave others and cried over Jerusalem, continues speaking to us today about justice. It’s a virtue, our Father wrote, which will lead us with priestly soul and lay mentality to consider our dependence on God in everything, to render to God what is God’s and to Caesar what is Caesar’s.

Justice, my daughters and sons, fosters in us the spirit of devotion, prayer, and piety which is useful for all things. It brings us to relate to God as I strive to relate to him, with my poor human heart, the same heart with which I loved my mother and father, and with which I love you. Thus we become contemplative souls in the midst of everyday concerns.

By practising the virtue of justice, we will be friends of freedom - first, the legitimate freedom of others, because only thus will we have the right to defend our own, the freedom Christ won for us. And we will defend the truth, which always makes us free: Veritas liberabit vos. We will be thankful, friendly, generous, hard-working. We will be sincere, loyal and faithful friends: vos autem dixi amicos! (I have called you friends!), Jesus said. We will be obedient to our Directors, within the bounds set by our particular law. And we will be glad to make up for whatever mistakes we may make, remembering what I’ve so often taught you: that one of my greatest joys is to rectify, when it’s a matter of justice to do so.

We have to work: for God created us to work, even before original sin. After original sin, the Creator directed man to work as a punishment, and therefore we’re also obliged to work as a matter of justice.

Duties of justice fill our life, encompassing all our relations with God and others. We know that our dedication to the service of God and souls is nothing extraordinary: we’re simply doing our duty. We can never go too far in our self-giving: ours is poor coin to pay God back what we owe him in justice. This consideration will lead us to get rid of any false compassion for ourselves when the fulfilment of our duties requires sacrifice.

Let us turn to our Lady, the prudent and faithful Virgin, and to St Joseph, her husband, the perfect model of the just man. They, who lived the virtues we have just contemplated in the presence of Jesus, the Son of God, will obtain for us the grace we need to have the same virtues rooted in our souls, so that we may resolve always to behave as good disciples of the Master: prudent, just and full of charity.