§ 89

"THE THINGS THAT ARE CÆSAR'S"

By James J. Dean

(Sermon delivered at a solemn military mass in Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Philadelphia, Pa.)

"Render to Cæsar the things that are Casar's, and to God the things that are God's."

The occasion which brought forth the words we have chosen for our text, my dear friends, occurred during the closing days of our Savior's public career. The high-priests had already decided upon His death and only awaited a favorable opportunity to put their designs into execution. They dared not lay violent hands upon Him because they feared the anger of the people who, a few days before, had received Him with acclamation and had greeted Him as their king. Their only hope lay in compromising Him before the Roman authorities. If they could make Him appear in the light of a dangerous agitator, the governor would be obliged to put an end to His preaching and they themselves would be spared the odium and the responsibility. The intrigue was cleverly planned. The leaders of the movement chose representatives from two powerful and opposite sects and sent them to our Lord with orders to entrap Him. The Pharisees were the strongest supporters of national independence; the Herodians were staunch upholders of the Roman power. Yet, these two parties, always bitter enemies, united their forces to oppose and, if possible, to destroy the popular Galilean. After agreeing upon their plan of campaign, the emissaries came to Jesus and, with affected scruples of conscience and a pretense of justice, began their attack with flattery. "Master, we know that Thou art a true speaker and teachest the way of God, neither carest Thou for any man; for Thou dost not regard the person of men. Tell us, therefore, what dost Thou think: Is it lawful to pay tribute to Cæsar or not?" No more insidious question could have been asked. This matter of the Roman tribute was a thing which excited violent feelings and gave rise to bitter dissensions. The people paid it only under protest, yielding to superior force until the promised Messiah should relieve them of

their yoke. The Galileans above all were fierce opponents of the tax. Surely, they thought, this new Prophet in his character as a Galilean, with his Messianic pretensions and his popular sympathies, will condemn the symbol of his country's servitude. This was the chance for which they had long waited; but Jesus, knowing their hypocrisy, unmasked them with a single word. "Why do you tempt me, you hypocrites? Show me the coin of the tribute." And they brought Him a penny. "Whose image and inscription are these?" He asked. They say to Him, "Cæsar's." "Render, then, to Cæsar the things that are Cæsar's," He replies, "and to God the things that are God's."

There was a proverb in the schools of those days that in whatever place the money of a king was current, the inhabitants of that place thereby acknowledged him their ruler. Now, there were two kinds. of coin then current among the Jews; the one sacred, the other profane; the one for the service of the Temple, the other for the Roman tribute and for the ordinary business of the day. Our Lord availed Himself of this distinction to formulate anew an almost forgotten truth-the difference between the two societies to which man belongs and the two most essential duties which devolve upon him. Materially, by his physical and political life, man belongs to human society, to his people and to his country; spiritually, by reason of soul and conscience, he belongs to religious society and to God.

"Render to Cæsar the things that are Cæsar's; and to God the things that are God's." This simple formulary is the basic principle of all law and order, the perfection of which is only possible through a right understanding between liberty and authority. Whenever popular feeling, always chafing under restraint, allows itself to be carried away by the spirit of rebellion, it is held in check by the duty of rendering to Cæsar the things that are Cæsar's. And whenever political authority, naturally inclined toward despotism, would force itself into the domain of conscience, it is met by the counter obligation of rendering to God the things that are God's.

The policy of the Catholic Church, based upon the teachings of her Divine Founder, remains the same throughout all ages. She requires of her children no allegiance to a foreign power, but an unstinted devotion and a self-sacrificing love for their own country. "My kingdom," says Christ Himself, "is not of this world." So we, too, have a kingdom over which the government has no control, but it is not of this world. We render to God the things that are God's; at the same time we render to the civil authority all that even Cæsar could demand. In spiritualities, the Church; in temporalities, the State. Such is our motto, and the illustrious Leo XIII. has well said that "Between the duties which they

respectively enjoin neither can come into collision with the other." He serves his country best who keeps the Faith.

The one political tenet of the Catholic Church is obedience to lawfully constituted authority. She demands of her adherents respect for their superiors and support for the established government; she insists that her followers exercise their civic rights according to the dictates of conscience and that they rank themselves always on the side of justice and morality. She holds, according to the teaching of St. Paul, that "There is no authority except from God;" consequently that obedience to the civil power in matters which pertain to its jurisdiction is an obligation which binds in conscience, and the sacrifice of private interestseven of life itself-for the honor and integrity of the nation is not a matter of choice but of solemn duty.

In time of peace and prosperity we, of all peoples, are apt to grow materialistic and to place our personal welfare above and beyond everything else in life. Our American people, however, have the happy faculty of rising to an emergency in a way that astonishes the world. In spite of outward appearances, there dwells deep down within us. all something nobler than personal interests, than personal kinships, than party feeling, and this is the need and the will to devote ourselves to that more general interest which we call the Common Weal, the Commonwealth, the Republic or the State. This profound will, this spirit of self-sacrifice is the virtue we call Patriotism.

Our country is not a mere concourse of individuals or of families dwelling on the same soil, holding relations more or less intimate, of business, of pleasure, of memories-happy or unhappy. It is, rather, an association of living souls subject to a social organization which must be defended at all cost, even the cost of blood, under the leadership of those who have been chosen to preside over its destinies. And it is bcause of this general spirit that the people of a country live a common life in the present, through the past, and in the hopes and aspirations of the future. The spirit of Patriotism, the organic bond which holds together the members of a nation, has always been placed by the finest thinkers at the head of the natural virtues. And the religion of Christ makes of Patriotism a positive law; there is no perfect Christian who is not also a perfect patriot. According to the teaching of St. Thomas Aquinas, family interests, class interests, party interests, and the material good of the individual take their place in the scale of values below the ideal of Patriotism. In the light of this teaching, and it is Catholic doctrine, Patriotism is seen in its religious character; it is a sacred thing, and a violation of national dignity is, in a manner, a profanation and a sacrilege.

As a necessary corollary to this doctrine of Patriotism there devolves upon every citizen a duty to revere and respect the emblem which typifies the nation's sovereignty. The intrinsic value of yonder flag can be measured in dollars and cents, but the things for which it stands are priceless. Just as in the Catholic devotion to the saints and reverence for their relics or their images, we consider not the picture or the graven figure but the reality and the history which they recall to mind; so in our respect for the Flag we heed not the bunting which may be purchased for a mere pittance, but turn our thoughts rather to the ideals for which it stands and the glorious history which has been its portion. And yet the emblem itself, because of its symbolism, is worthy of our utmost reverence. Who can gaze upon those broad stripes and bright stars without feeling his heart beat faster and the blood course more quickly through his veins? When you see it floating proudly to the breeze, whether in the quiet of a peaceful day or amid the smoke of battle, are not your aspirations raised to a higher level by the wealth of meaning suggested in its majestic coloring? The Red, emblematic of the blood of herces; the White, indicative of the sincerity of purpose which has always characterized our national aims and aspirations; the bright Stars on a field of Blue, tokens of hope to the oppressed of all the world. All this and more is contained in that banner which you bless this morning under such splendid auspices.

There is still another duty devolving upon us because of the love we bear our country and the reverence we owe its Flag, and that is respect for the uniform of its brave defenders and a serious effort to surround them with every comfort consistent with military discipline. At the present moment we are greeted with the sight of a nation grown hysterical almost to the point of folly over those who have sprung from the work-shop, the mine, the factory and the farm at the first call of danger and in support of our vaunted freedom. This is, perhaps, quite natural; yet the true patriot is he who, even in time of tranquillity and peace, looks upon the military and naval service of his country, not as a refuge for the unruly or the vicious, but rather as a work for men with red blood in their veins and the love of true liberty in their hearts. Pardon me if I express myself strongly in this matter, but there is little of true Patriotism in the hearts of those who turn out fifty thousand strong to watch with morbid interest the funeral of a dead hero and at the same moment would refuse the hospitality of their homes to the men who wear the khaki or the blue. I know that such conditions do not prevail now. But is not the change due largely to a spirit of selfishness? A realization that our homes and our very lives are in danger?

How tersely, yet how eloquently the poet-laureate of the service expresses this idea.

"It's Tommy this, and Tommy that, and chuck 'im out, the brute,

But it's thin red line of heroes when the guns begin to shoot."

Show me the man who at all times and under any conditions will go out of his way to greet the man in uniform and to extend the glad hand of fellowship, and I'll show you the man upon whom the country can depend in time of peril or when danger threatens.

What arrant nonsense we hear from time to time concerning the moral conditions which prevail in army camps or in training posts. If the word of one who has lived the life, the testimony of one who has shared their joys and sorrows, be of any value in helping you form a true estimate of the real worth of our gallant boys-then you will pay no heed to these foul mouthings of irresponsible and self-appointed reformers. An experience of many years has forced upon me the conclusion-not unwillingly, I assure you that there cannot be found anywhere a finer, cleaner type of young manhood than in our American Army and Navy. That such may continue to be the case, that the type may be improved if possible, depends in large measure upon your wholehearted coöperation and support. Your duty is not ended when you have knitted a sweater or a scarf, filled a comfort bag or furnished your quota of "smokes." Moral support, personal friendship, a cheery word, a helpful letter-all these have a value which only one who has been in the service can fully appreciate. Neither ought you forget those contributions of a financial nature which render possible a continuance of the magnificent work so splendidly undertaken by various societies for the care of the sick and wounded, or the supplying of healthy recreation and amusement. These are the side lights of war, if you will; yet they serve to dim the glare of the rockets and soften the screech of the bursting shell. They help to bring your loved ones to the supreme test clean in body and pure in soul and, thus, to fit them for that everlasting peace which their heroic sacrifice merits. Throw out your Service Flag to the breeze and with it send forth your heart's best love and your soul's fondest affection to those whom its bright stars so vividly recall. Add to the number should the need arise and, if God in His wisdom and mercy require of them the sacrifice of all they hold most dear, let your grief be tempered with joy; not mere earthly joy, but rather that spiritual rejoicing which must fill every heart, even that of the sorrowing parents, when they realize that their flesh and blood can rise beyond mere personal ambition in the cause of justice and in defense of the hearths and altars of their country.