The King's Good Servant, But God's First - Oct. 18, 2026
Good morning, brothers and sisters.
Today, we have readings that align along the uncomfortable theme of politics, or how we should interact with secular government.
If you’re like me, you’re already feeling inundated with political ads, which seem to be growing yet more vicious. But rather than run from an uncomfortable topic, I think we need to take it head-on, especially when our readings direct us this way.
These readings highlight the key concept that we have an obligation to respect authority and obey just human laws.. but should not follow such laws when they contradict God’s laws: only God deserves our absolute allegiance.
Let’s look at our readings.
In the first reading, the prophet Isaiah describes King Cyrus the Great, who was the Persian pagan king who defeated the Babylonians and released the Jews from their captivity, so they could return to Jerusalem. He even helps to fund the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem. Isaiah describes Cyrus as God’s anointed one – the Greek is Christos and the Hebrew is Mashiach or Messiah. Thus, Isaiah believes that God was using Cyrus as his instrument to defeat Judah’s enemies and restore His people, and glorify His holy name.
Throughout the Bible, we see many similar examples, where God ordains rulers as his instruments for a particular purpose. Looking at the New Testament, St Paul writes in Romans chapter 13, that political leaders rule by consent of God, and so we should obey them and pay our taxes:
“Let every person be subordinate to the higher authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been established by God. Therefore, whoever resists authority opposes what God has appointed, and those who oppose it will bring judgment upon themselves. …This is why you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, devoting themselves to this very thing. Pay to all their dues, taxes to whom taxes are due, toll to whom toll is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due.”
These last words, to pay taxes to whom taxes are due, are echoes of our Gospel for today. When Pharisees try to trap him, Jesus asks for a Roman denarius, asks whose image it is, then says those memorable words: “...repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.”
Thus, we should give to Caesar – to the secular government over us – what it is due.
In other words, we have a moral obligation to obey the law and respect our local, state, and federal government – as long as they do not contradict divine law. Here are some concrete examples:
-we should obey traffic laws like lower speeds through school zones;
-we shouldn’t cheat on our taxes
-we shouldn’t ignore a jury summons-we should obey building codes and licensing requirements. -We should participate in the political process, informing ourselves about candidates and voting – because voting is not just a right but a responsibility.
In sum: we should give our respect and obedience to secular authority. We need to pay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar. At the same time, human authority is not absolute: Caesar is not God.
Going back to our first reading, Isaiah twice prophesies: “I am the LORD and there is no other” and adds “there is no God besides me.” So Cyrus, even though he is anointed by God for this task, is not God. Nor is Caesar God. Whoever your favorite politician right now is, he or she is not God; no politician deserves our absolute allegiance.
The Bible is full of examples of heroes who disobey unjust rulers or laws that violate divine law. Think of the 3 men in the Old Testament (named Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego) who refuse to bow down to a golden statue set up by the Babylonian king, and prefer instead to be thrown in the fiery furnace. They must disobey the king, in favor of God’s law.
In the Acts of the Apostles, Peter tells the Sanhedrin: “We must obey God rather than men.”
Eventually, he is martyred by the Roman Emperor Nero for professing Christ rather than worshipping the Roman gods. Christian history is filled with examples of men and women who were martyred because they refused to bow to an unjust, persecuting ruler. Think of St Thomas More, who spoke those words: “I die the King’s good servant, and God’s first” shortly before he was beheaded. [NB: 'and' was exchanged with 'but' for the play and movie A Man for All Seasons.]
Moving to modern times, there were more martyrs in the 20th century than all the prior centuries combined. One of them was Franz Jägerstätter, an Austrian farmer and conscientious objector who refused to fight with Nazi Germany, and was executed for that choice – he was beatified in 2019, and his story is told in the film A Hidden Life.
Such conscientious objection can still happen today.
Most of us know about the recent news about the Fort Hood shooter, who is due to be executed by firing squad next month, and viewable by livestream. [NB: because of the huge outcry, it has recently been announced that it will not be livestreamed.]
Several bishops have objected, including Archbishop Broglio, the prelate who oversees U.S. Military personnel, and who instructed any Catholic soldiers assigned to this task to request religious exemption.
The Catholic Church has spoken strongly against capital punishment, just as it has spoken strongly against abortion and euthanasia. Thus, our parish has joined with others in collecting signatures to try to repeal the new law (Chapter 188) that expands abortion to the extreme: allowing abortion even for viable babies, for virtually any reason that a physician can give.
Underpinning these positions is the fundamental belief that each human is made in the image and likeness of God, with inviolable human dignity. "Each person" includes immigrants as well, and many U.S. bishops have spoken up in favor of immigrants. Our own Archbishop Henning and Bishop Cristiano – who lives nearby – supported our governor and legislators to pass the PROTECT Act (back in August); this prohibits ICE from making warrantless immigration arrests in locations like schools, hospitals, and courthouses.
Thus, we Catholics should be active in the political process, we respect and obey secular authority – but we also acknowledge that no politician is God, and none of our major political parties in the U.S. align perfectly with Catholic teaching on all the issues. Just like the 3 men from the Old Testament, we cannot bow to a golden statue, whether that be of a golden donkey or a golden elephant.
For example, Church seems to lean to the right when it supports the unborn, traditional marriage, the primacy of the family, the rights of parents to educate their children, and religious liberty. So too when it teaches on sexual morality and gender issues.
But the Church seems to lean to the left on other concepts, such as “the preferential option for the poor”, the “universal destination of goods” – or idea that the goods of creation are for all of us, particularly for those most in need. Over the last century, grassroots groups like Catholic Action supported labor unions to defend the rights of workers, fought segregation and racism. Finally, Pope Francis and others have focused on the environment, which tends to be more of a priority for the left.
Thus, although the Church has taken strong stances on particular laws, such as the recent abortion law, or recent physician-assisted-suicide bills, it does not endorse wholeheartedly a single political party, and it will never dictate exactly which candidate we should vote for. Instead, it encourages us to educate ourselves about candidates, weigh their stances on given topics given Catholic principles – acknowledging that some issues like the right to life can carry greater weight – and make our best decision.
At times, it may feel like choosing between the lesser of two evils… though I do know folks who have voted for 3rd party at times.
I think if Pope Leo had run for president, he would’ve won the Catholic vote by a landslide. And we all pray that he will quickly recover and be healed of his lung cancer.
As it is, here in the U.S., none of our politicians are infallible.
So we give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar: respect and obedience as far as they are due.
But we give to God what belongs to God.
If we give our taxes to Uncle Sam, are we willing to give our entire lives to our Eternal Father?
If we’re willing to put a political sign on our yard, are we willing to wear a crucifix on our chest?
If we’re willing to profess our political leanings around the water cooler at work, are we willing to defend our faith if it’s ridiculed in public?
If we’re willing to sign a petition, are we willing to sign ourselves up to be a lector at Mass or to come to Eucharistic Adoration?
In the coming days, as polarized advertisements try to draw our attention constantly to politics, I pray we can keep our eyes fixed on Christ.
The Roman coin was made in the image of Caesar, but each of us is made in the image of God. Just as the coin belonged to Caesar, we belong to our Heavenly Father.
The Roman denarius bore the inscription of Caesar, but the coins we carry today carry more important words: that motto “In God we trust.” In Him alone is our trust.
Amen.
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