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YOUTH & YOUNG & ADULT CHOIR
EMERGENCY RELIEF INFORMATION
CATHOLICISM
WELCOME TO GOD’S ONE, HOLY, CATHOLIC
AND APOSTOLIC CHURCH!
Welcome to Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults or R.C.I.A for St Joseph Parish in Vacaville, CA. Should you either want to learn more about the Catholic Faith or you are considering joining the Catholic Faith. Whatever your reasons for being here – you are welcome. Please Contact the Parish Office if you are interested at 707-447-2354 or email Dennis and Edith at tremethicks@att.net
“THE OBSERVANT TAX-COLLECTOR”
Before being called by Christ to be one of his twelve Apostles, St Matthew was a tax collector operating in a customs house, somewhere in the north of Galilee. Since this profession required that he be able to read, write and especially keep records, these skills he would put to good use in writing his gospel account of Jesus’ mission. His literary style, as an evangelist, may be more artificial than that of St Luke, but there is no doubt that the gospel excerpt you have just heard is truly dramatic. The question put to Jesus, as to whether it was permissible for Jews to pay tribute to Caesar, gives a clear insight into the minds and strategy of the Pharisees. They were trying to walk Jesus into a political trap that would set him at odds with the Roman authorities, who were the rulers of Israel at that time, or, failing that, would discredit him before his own people. To avoid giving rise to suspicion of their intent, they decided not to get personally involved themselves. They sent some of their disciples along to Christ instead. It is quite likely that the leaders of the Pharisees stayed in the background because they wanted the followers of Herod, the Roman appointed tetrarch of Galilee, to take part also in the plot against Jesus, even though these Herodians, who openly advocated cooperation with the Romans, were normally their most bitter enemies. READMORE
Gospel: Matthew 22:15-21
“Jesus refused to be drawn into a sterile argument, about paying taxes to Caesar“
The Pharisees went and plotted to entrap Jesus in what he said. So they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God in accordance with truth, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality. Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?”
But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites? Show me the coin used for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius. Then he said to them, “Whose head is this, and whose title?” They answered, “The emperor’s.” Then he said to them, “Give therefore to the emperor the things that belong to him, and to God what belongs to God.”
