Capital

A homily for the Twenty-Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time, October 22, 2023

Is 45:1, 4-6, 1 Thes 1:1-5b, Mt 22:15-21

“What’s in your wallet?”

Every time I hear Samuel L. Jackson ask that in the credit card commercial, I actually stop and think and try to remember what’s in my wallet.

For the record, none of what I carry is that particular card.

In the long pouch of my wallet are a few bucks, and in the card slots are a debit card and a credit card from not that bank. 

I carry a triple-A card in case my car breaks down, and an AARP card and a Medicare card in case the rest of me breaks down. 

The rest of my wallet holds photos of my loved ones at various stages of our lives, starting with a 40-year-old wedding photo of Andrea and then family photos until Erin and Ian grew up and moved out.

I even had my debit card embossed with a photo from our overseas trip this past summer.

So: What’s in my wallet? Mostly symbols of love.

Now, if God had a wallet, what would be in it? There’s no need for money in Heaven, and since in Paradise time doesn’t exist as we know it, there can’t be monthly payments on some sort of Almighty Mastercard.

So what’s in God’s wallet? Unlimited love. Neverending love.

For many years, I’ve often heard the ending of today’s Gospel interpreted a particular way.

At that [Jesus] said to them,
“Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar
and to God what belongs to God.”

Often, Our Lord’s answer to the hypocritical Jewish leaders has been offered up as a call for us to make donations to religious institutions while we’re paying the light bill and income taxes. And indeed — contrary to some mistaken notions — religious institutions do have to pay light bills and taxes.

So, yes, rendering to God in the same currency as we render to Caesar or Uncle Sam or Reddy Kilowatt is a valid interpretation. 

But I think it’s a shallow one.

While God’s houses on Earth need earthly currency, God doesn’t. God’s currency is Wisdom. Understanding. Counsel. Fortitude. Knowledge. Piety. Fear of God.

Justice.

Love.

And God sends the Holy Spirit to us to help us keep our spiritual wallets filled with all of these. Filled with God’s currency. 

God’s gifts to us to spend the right way.

Given to us from God’s wallet the way a grandparent might fish out a twenty for a favorite child.

A long time ago, when the grade-school me first received an allowance, my parents gave it to me on a Friday because, as Mom used to say, the money would burn a hole in my pocket. All 25 cents of it. And I was supposed to make it last through the upcoming week.

Kids, ask your grandparents about that.

And these days, in our consumer-driven economy, our purses and wallets sometimes glow red-hot, and we succumb to impulse purchases.

I may be the guiltiest person here. Sorry, Mom.

Yes, money can burn a hole in our pockets.

But what about God’s currency, which also fills our pockets? Do we feel a burning desire to spend it?

Are we present for people who need an ear to hear, or simply someone to sit with them when they’re burdened?

Do we mentor people in our lives, guiding them with the light of Christ we all received at our Baptisms? 

Do we recognize injustices that push people to the outer limits of society, and act to tear down the walls that fear and hatred have erected?

Do we share the material gifts God has given us with our sisters and brothers who are less fortunate? Do we care for our two greatest God-given gifts — our very selves and our fragile planet?

God keeps our spiritual wallets full, because God’s love never runs out. God keeps our spiritual wallets full because we are called to spend God’s currency continually. God challenges us to empty those spiritual wallets.

And if I may quote another old credit card commercial, when we shower God’s love on everyone we meet, when we are Christ to one another, that’s priceless.