TAXATION: THE MORALITY OF IT ALL

Paying taxes is one thing that people most commonly complain about. In the time of Jesus, this was also the case. Given the nature and type of society we live in and the demands we make upon our governments, then taxation is here to stay. Government bashing is common everywhere. Nearly everyone has something to say in the way their government is failing to deliver what they think it should provide to its citizens. Most of the time it boils down to complaining about how much tax one has to pay and the perception that the return is somehow lacking.

Jesus does not condemn the practice of paying taxes. In Romans 13, Paul tells us to be good citizens of our countries, obedient in all things, provided that the state is not asking us to do anything immoral. It seems to me that we will be left with the logical conclusion that as far as the Scriptures are concerned, we should pay our taxes. Why? The answer is simple: If we do not pay our taxes, the services that the government provides will cease. Without taxes, the government would not be able to provide the service by which we get a passport and we therefore could not travel abroad. This would be more than just a minor inconvenience in a country where something like 40 percent of the GNP comes from the remittance of wages of foreign workers. The road system upon which we drive and travel would fall into disrepair, and so on.

We have a moral responsibility to help the government provide these services. We would be among the first to complain if they no longer exist. The government also has a moral responsibility to give a proper accounting of how the taxes are spent. The judgment of God will lie heavily upon those who participate incorruption, especially endemic corruption, because it is theft, a mortal sin that deprives a person of the possibility of gaining eternal life. Fr. Steve Tynan, MGL

 

Reflection Question:

Do I pay my taxes promptly and fairly? If in government, do I use the money of the people for their good or my own?

 

Father in Heaven, Your generosity to me has known no bounds in terms of the gift of salvation. Help me to give generously in return, including doing my duty in paying tax.

 

St. Rhian, pray for us.

THE STONE WE REJECTED

Do you have any regrets in your life? I have — and there are many of them. My regrets come from an error of judgment and the rejection of something in or for my life that I should have accepted. For example, I regret not taking up the chance to learn a musical instrument when my parents offered me. I regret this so much that I wish they had forced me to do it. Why don’t I just start learning one now? Well, maybe I should. But the excuse I give is that I am too busy to have the time to learn an instrument properly. And if it is worth doing, it needs a minimum level of commitment and effort. Is this reason good enough? Maybe not, but it holds sway in my mind as I write this reflection.

Jesus tells a parable and then interprets it through the image of a rejected stone. This is a powerful image. When we consider that the stone is a metaphor for a foundational truth in our lives, it becomes all the more important.

The people to whom Jesus was speaking knew exactly what Jesus meant through the parable but they reject His criticism and seek to get rid of Him from their lives. This rejection is a rejection of the truth of the Gospel. It is a refusal to submit one’s life humbly to the will and plan of God. It is tantamount to replacing God as the authority figure in one’s life.

Regret can lead to depression. When we realize that we have made a mistake, let us be mature enough to admit it, repent of it and then get on with remedying the situation no matter how embarrassing it might be. Nothing is worth going into depression. We all make mistakes. Let us simply try to do our best to make the right choices, and change and fix whatever errors we make. Jesus must be the cornerstone — in fact every stone — on which we build our Christian lives. We can learn about Him through the lives of others, but ultimately it is Jesus and the Gospel upon which we must build. Fr. Steve Tynan, MGL

 

Reflection Question:

Do I have any regrets in life? What are they? Can I do anything to fix the problem they created? What am I going to do about them?

 

Father, You are the source of all goodness. Help me to draw from the truth in the decisions that I make for my life so that I will regret as little as possible later.

 

St. Paul the Simple, pray for us.

BUILDING ON THE RIGHT FOUNDATION

We cannot build our lives on any foundation of our choice if we want our lives to have meaning and good influence on those who meet us. Yes, there are many options that we could choose for a foundation, but there is only one that will endure the test of time until the Day of Judgment. We live in a world that does not necessarily welcome talk about truth and absolute moral norms, but if we want to live according to the will of God, we have to focus on them.

We live in a world where moral and ethical debate is more likely to be characterized by opinion than by truth. It is almost irrelevant to speak about “feeling something is right” unless we do the necessary research to determine that our feeling is worth following. Ethical and moral truth can be illuminated by gut feelings but these are not enough foundation to build our moral lives on. Whether we like it or not, moral truth is eternal and unchanging. Yes, we may understand these truths better  today than we did 100 years ago, but then again, maybe we do not.

In the Gospel, Jesus talks about building our houses on the right foundation. This is no less true when it comes to morality. If we want to live in the truth (and it is only the truth that can set us free [John 8:32]), then we must be willing to listen to what God says through the Scriptures and revelation, and what the Church says, which God has raised up to guide our decision making in the moral arena and to form our consciences well. Gut feelings are not necessarily an indication of a well-formed conscience. If we can say we have studied an issue thoroughly and consulted the Scriptures and the teachings of the Church and reflected upon what they have to say to us on the matter, then we can say that we have done what is necessary to form our conscience judgment.

This is not easy, but if something is worth the effort, and hopefully the promise of eternal life is, then we will be willing to do whatever it takes to make the best moral choices. Fr. Steve Tynan, MGL

 

Reflection Question:

How seriously do I take the responsibility to form my conscience well?

 

Jesus, help me to realize the importance of every moral decision I make so that I can make it as best as I can by forming my conscience well on the matter.

 

St. Fridolin, pray for us. 6

WHAT IN REALITY IS TRULY WISE?

There are all sorts of authorities in today’s world that claim to be sources of wisdom. Are they truly such, or are they merely pretenders placing the crown of wisdom on their own heads without any real objective reference point? I think the latter is more likely to be the case. We live in a world where there is very little attention given to objective moral truth unless it is to reject it as “old fashioned and past its use-by date.” This is very unfortunate, especially when it comes to moral issues, for unless there are absolute moral values that we can rely upon, then there is no such thing as a morality that is binding upon all.

People today tend to want to be their own source of authority on virtually everything that affects them. Unfortunately this is not conducive to either seeking wisdom or recognizing it once it is discovered. In fact, it is merely a recipe for emotive arguments that are based on a person’s feelings, which, more often than not, lead to erroneous judgment regarding truth.

I am a firm believer in objective moral truths and the relevant truths that relate to any independent sphere of study, and thus believe that there is wisdom to be learned. This wisdom is immutable and available to all who are willing to sort it out from the multitude of erroneous positions presented to us by society and individuals. True wisdom consists in coming to the understanding of the truth inherent in any aspect of our lives or the world; inherent because it is essential to its existence. God placed the truths relevant to us and the ways of the universe in our respective beings when He created us.

We do not create wisdom – rather we come to an understanding of it. Even so-called breakthroughs in science does not create wisdom. It reveals what has always been there but hidden through error, sin or something else that bars us from recognizing the truth. Fr. Steve Tynan, MGL

 

Reflection Question:

Who or what do I consider as sources of wisdom in my life? Are these people or things truly worthy to be considered sources of wisdom?

 

Father in Heaven, from whom all truth comes, help me to open my mind to the truth of the Holy Spirit so that He can lead and guide me in Your ways every day of my life.

 

St. Gerasimus, pray for us.

FOR THE SAKE OF POSTERITY

There are only two ways that a person can leave his or her mark in the world: for good or for bad. In both cases, a person will be remembered for what he has done. Most people, deep down in the recesses of their being, desire to leave a mark in the world so that succeeding generations will not forget them.

Today’s first reading implies that this will be the case for most of us. However, there are some who succeed in doing something that will cause them to be remembered by future generations.

Hitler and so many others will be remembered for generations because of the evil they committed. Let us seek to do good and be remembered for that. Ultimately it is not important if the world does not acknowledge the good we do because it is what God sees in our lives that is important. He sees everything, even that which we do in secret. It would be nice to be remembered for our good deeds, but that is not essential. Knowing that God is aware of what we are doing ought to be enough acknowledgment for us.

One of the implicit dynamics of doing good is that it tends to foster more good. That is, when we make the sacrifice to live a holy and righteous life, we will inspire others to do the same. This is not just a side benefit of good deeds; it is inherent in their nature. This is how a culture of goodness is developed. It becomes a power to be reckoned with in the midst of all the other cultures around us. As Christians, we ought to develop a counterculture of Christian values in the midst of the world. This means not just assuming the values of the cultural milieu around us but discerning what is Christian within it and accepting it and rejecting the values that are opposed to the Gospel. This requires constant and diligent work and attention – implying that becoming a saint will not be an easy task. No, it’s not, but the rewards and potential influence of a saint’s life are certainly worth the effort of gaining it. Fr. Steve Tynan, MGL

 

Reflection Question:

Have I ever considered how strongly I am influenced by the society in which I live, the friends I spend time with, etc.? I wonder if all of these influences are doing me good?

 

Jesus, help me to discern the values of my society that are worth promoting and teach me how to correct those that are not aligned with the Gospel.

 

St. Owen, pray for us.

WHO HAS ULTIMATE CONTROL?

This book of the Bible, part of the wisdom literature of the Old Testament, begins today’s section with something like a hymn in praise of the Creator. We are told that all creation obeys the will of God. What on earth, or anywhere in the universe for that matter, does this really mean? I think there is a simple answer to that question that involves our understanding that as the Creator, God has placed an inner logic or law within it that governs the way the world and the universe work. This needs to be understood in both a simple and more complex way. Simply speaking, God has created the world and within His creation there is a natural law that governs the behavior of the creation. In other words, the scientific world can seek to discover the various laws of the universe through its disciplines and thus help us to understand better the way things work and hopefully suggest ways and means for humanity to improve the world’s living situation.

The more complex or subtle understanding is expressed by St. Augustine at the start of his autobiography, Confessions (1:1). Here he tells us that God has created us for himself and we will be forever restless until we rest in him. Augustine recognizes that there is a fundamental truth to the fact that human fulfillment (indeed all fulfillment) is all about being in relationship with God according to His plans for our lives. The difficult aspect of this is having to let go of our human capacity to achieve things and recognize that the most important aspect of our life — fulfillment — rests in the hands of God. This makes a lot of sense since God has created us in the first place. But this does not mean people will readily accept this reality. The world is full of people seeking inspiration and fulfillment in all the wrong places. Let us pray that we will never be numbered among them.Fr. Steve Tynan, MGL

 

Reflection Question:

How much time and effort do I spend following my own path in seeking human fulfillment? Is it worth it?

 

Jesus, I need You to show me the path that leads to fulfillment in my life. Help me to discern Your plan for my life. Please grant me the grace to follow the true path once I discover it.

 

Blessed Mary Angela Truszkowska, pray for us.

 

THE DESIRE FOR ETERNAL LIFE

We see in the desire of James and John something unbecoming of a true disciple. A disciple’s reward is doing what his Master tells him to do, not seeking to gain favors from him. It is no wonder that the other disciples become incensed when they find out about the request of James and John. However, Jesus, in His infinite wisdom, is able to defuse the situation by refusing to entertain the brothers’ request and secondly by using the incident and response of the others as the basis for a teaching.

Jesus assures them all that anyone who desires to be first must willingly place oneself last. What does this mean? The desire for honors is the desire for leadership and attention. Jesus tells the disciples that leadership comes with a cost, one that is probably initially surprising to the group. Leadership is all about service. The disciples will come to understand this much better after the death and resurrection of Jesus.

Jesus’ response to James and John is to question their willingness to serve and thus lay down their lives. If I were one of the brothers, I think I would be fairly ashamed about what I had done at this point. By expressing their desire for favors the brothers are ultimately saying that they deserve better than the rest, perhaps even setting themselves up over the others in their own eyes. Jesus does not follow their line of reasoning and comes back to the crucial question: It is not at all a matter of what someone deserves (because we all deserve to be judged and condemned for our sins), but how fully a person is willing to serve his brother or sister. This is what the Kingdom of God is all about, laying down one’s life in the service of the people of God. James will do this in the ultimate manner when he is martyred for the sake of the Gospel.

As we seek to find our own places within the plan of God for everything, we can be pretty sure that it will contain some very difficult sacrifices.Fr. Steve Tynan, MGL

 

Reflection Question:

How serious am I in trying to discover God’s will for my life? Do I try hard enough to achieve this goal?

 

Jesus, You have revealed to us the love of God, our Father. Help us to always put first His plan for the salvation of all.

 

Sts. Jovinus & Basileus, pray for us.