What Authority are You Really Submitting to?

Welcome to a New Week! I am excited to see what The Word has to share with us this week. If you have been following me, you are probably noticing that I am only sharing my reflections from M-F. One of the reasons is that I don't want to be setting myself up for expectations that are not realistic for me right now, but the other is that I am hoping you are truly sitting down and doing your own reading and reflection on the weekend, especially on Sunday.

My hope is that you are hearing God speak directly to your heart through the Mass readings and through the insights that your priest is sharing each weekend!

With that said, let's roll and get this party started! Be sure to READ or LISTEN to today's readings.

Today's Gospel hits me hard, especially during this time of year when the election process is in full swing. During this moment in our nation's history it seems so hard to be trusting God on this one.

When Jesus is asked about paying the temple tax, he paid it. He didn't do it because he believed in the tax or necessarily believed it to be good, right or just. He did it to set an example. Taxes were part of life and an obligation of the people. Whether Jesus thought they were right or wrong, he would do his part. How often do we have to set an example for others when it might be challenging?

We may not be of this world, but we still have to live in it and abide by the rules of those in authority. This can be so challenging when the people leading us don't have the same principles or values that we do!

We are taught in several places in scripture to respect authority and to submit to authority. I believe Romans 13:1-7 sums up this Gospel teaching for us. Jesus is the ultimate example of submission!

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. For rulers are not a cause of fear to good conduct, but to evil. Do you wish to have no fear of authority? Then do what is good and you will receive approval from it, for it is a servant of God for your good. But if you do evil, be afraid, for it does not bear the sword without purpose; it is the servant of God to inflict wrath on the evildoer. Therefore, it is necessary to be subject not only because of the wrath but also because of conscience. 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.

During these uncertain times, I am comforted that I am a child of God and heir to the Kingdom! I am comforted that my hope is in Him and not in man. Regardless of how I feel, I must follow the authority above me as long as it is not in direct violation of God's laws.

We need to remind ourselves that by submitting to authority, we are ultimately submitting and being obedient to God. When we remember this, it makes it much easier to do!