St. Joseph Catholic Church

Parish Office Hours-Monday to Thursday 8 am until 4 pm   Friday 8 am until noon.  Lunch Monday to Thursday 12:30 pm to 1:30 pm

October 25, 2020
The 613 commands of the Mosaic Law are distilled into two commands: Love of God (Dt. 6:5) and your neighbor (Lv 19:18)  These summarize both the Jewish  and the Christian Laws. The command to love God and neighbor is called the Shema. It is the opening words of the Jewish, twice-a-day ritual prayers. It is written on parchment and placed in a mezuzah box attached to door frames to be touched as the person goes through the door.  A devout Orthodox Jews wears a pouch on the left arm (close by the heart) and on the forehead with the Shema enclosed to remind the person of the very basics of moral theology. The question as to which commandment was the greatest was one frequently discussed among the rabbis. Jesus was asked to name one, but responded by naming two. That is because for Him, the second followed directly and necessarily from the first. Love of neighbor arises out of love of God.  Hence, we must not separate them. However, in practice we often do.

What is new is not the fact that Jesus brought these two commandments together, but that he made them of equal importance. Here in a nutshell, we have the whole teaching of the Bible. The only real failure for a Christian is the failure to love. There is a terrible sterility about the lives of those who claim to love God, but in reality dispense themselves from all obligations to love other people. Such people have at best only half of the Gospel. There are others who go to the opposite extreme. They exhaust themselves in working for a better world, but never think of God or pray to Him. Though the latter are on firmer ground, they too have only half of the Gospel. Christ showed us how to live the total Gospel, that is, how to love God and to love our neighbor as well. He didn't say they were the same thing, but that we can't have one without the other.

Unless we love ourselves we cannot love others properly. So to begin with we must love ourselves. But if we love ourselves in a wrong way, then we become incapable of loving anyone else. We can't offer warmth to others if our own fireplace is cold and empty. The Jews were reminded continually that they themselves were once strangers and exiles in Egypt, depending on the kindness of others. Now that they are settled, they have a duty to be kind to the stranger in their midst. God commanded his people to remember so that history would not repeat itself. He wanted them never to forget the experience of being a minority without power in Egypt.  Having felt the pain of injustice and oppression themselves, they must never inflict that pain on others.  What the prophet wants to convey is just how abominable it is in God's eyes when we mistreat anyone, especially the defenseless. As a people who have experienced God's love in a very special way, we must now show that love to others. To seek to be attached to God while treating others unjustly would be a contradiction in terms. The health of a society can be measured by the way it treats the least in their midst.

Please continue to stay safe, and pray for a safe and effective vaccine.

A MESSAGE FROM FATHER JOSEPH UKO
October 18, 2020  Twenty-Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time

The common theme of today's readings is the nature of our obligations to God and to our country. The readings show us how, with God's help, we can be ideal citizens of both earth and heaven.  Jesus' opponents try to entrap Him on the question of taxation. Jesus' response is, repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God. Caesar's image and inscription are on the Roman coin. Thus, they belong to Caesar. The Pharisees and Herodians, who represented opposite political views, take extreme positions against Jesus. If Jesus opposed the payment of taxes to the civil government, the Herodians could charge him with instigating a tax revolt against Rome. If Jesus approved payment of the Roman taxes, the Pharisees could charge him for being unfaithful to Judaism. The coin called the denarius was particularly offensive to the Jews because it had a picture of Tiberius Caesar on it., and Jews were against graven images.  In his answer Jesus implied that there need not be conflict between the demands of the state and those of God. The state has a role, but its power is limited and does not supplant God.  We give God something that we do not give any earthly ruler. . . that thing is worship. And that is precisely why we are gathered here - to worship God, creator of the universe and Lord of all.

Jesus does not ask, but the next question is implied: Where do we find God's image and inscription? The answer is, in us, His children. God created us in His image and inscribed His law on our hearts. No matter what their allegiance to Rome, Jesus' message to his opponents is that they belong to God. Caesar may claim the coins to be his own, but he cannot claim people, they are claimed by God.  Every Christian has a dual citizenship . . . citizen of this world and citizen of heaven. Failure to be a good citizen is a failure in Christian duty. To cheat the state is to cheat one's fellow citizens, and to cheat one's fellow citizens is to cheat God. We gladly serve the secular powers, praying that they will rule wisely and justly. Christians should not shy away from public office, but see it as an opportunity to serve their fellow men and women and thereby God.

Every Christian living in the modern world is faced with difficult decisions. There are so many little "Caesars" vying for a piece of our conscience. Whatever we must give to Caesar, let us make sure that we do not give him our conscience. Our first loyalty is to God. Take this verse from today's Responsorial Psalm to heart and pray it all week: "Give the Lord glory and honor." We give God our very selves, our first fruits of time, talent, and treasure. We give God our primary allegiance before nations and kingdoms, political or economic systems, institutions or ideologies. The stewardship pledge of our financial offerings to our church is an expression of our gratitude to God, giving back to God all that He has given us.  Active participation in the various ministries of our parish is an offering to God of our time and talents. We need to check our hearts' investment. . . our daily choices . . .  and look for the patterns.

Please continue to stay safe, and pray for a safe and effective vaccine.