Render Unto Caesar

The relationship between Church and state has been discussed through the centuries, especially animated since the theological discussions of the High Middle Ages with the Protestant Reform and the renewal efforts of the Council of Trent. What is the role of the Church and what is the domain of the civil government in human affairs? The Second Vatican Council weighed in on the discussion with its Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World (Gaudium et Spes). “Gaudium et Spes” are the opening words of this document, which are translated as the “joys and hopes”. It is there where we read the challenging description of the Church’s mission in the modern world:

“The joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anxieties of men of this age, especially those who are poor or in any way afflicted, these too are the joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties of the followers of Christ.” (paragraph 1)

In our faith life, we live in our contemporary world which is divided in its political and religious values. The challenge in our decision making brings the two dimensions together in minds. The question is the applying of our religious values, the movements of our hearts, and our faith life to the social and civil realities which daily confront our world.

Migrants and Neighbours
In reading our local newspapers, in the articles, editorials, and in the letters to the editor, the diversity of opinion shows the divide in various solutions to the challenges posed in our local communities by immigration. In reading the information, as well as in conversations with local people, the situation is simply posed as “legal or illegal”. If such were the case, the resolution would be simply legislative on both federal and state levels of government.

The theologically practical challenge is what we believe about our human family, about the common sharing of the goods of the earth, about how the Church and we, as believers, are joined to the other members of the human family. The long social teaching of the Roman Catholic Church is consistent in presenting the nobility of the human family, the worth and dignity of each person, and the respect which enables the pursuit of life both humanly and spiritually. Joined to these faith values is the value of human labor, the need for a just wage, and the care and nurture of all in the human family.

Moral Decision-Making
These faith values influence our moral decision making about civil matters. What the Church teaches, what we believe, and how we translate these values is the challenge of an integrated faith life. Most succinctly, the question is how we love and take care of our neighbour. The political solutions are many, after we have viewed our migrant neighbours as the poor and powerless in God’s Kingdom. Love, respect, the care and nurture of our brothers and sisters brings us along the way to common solutions.

Eucharistic Metaphore
Our local celebration of the Eucharist and church life are metaphors of moral challenge and behaviour. Each Sunday we gather around the Lord’s Table. We are there by the invitation of our common Father as children through baptism in Christ. The Spirit of life is shared with each believer as we hear God’s Word and share the same Eucharistic food. After praying the Lord’s Prayer, we move forward for the moment of communion. There, the exchange of faith brings about a new reality of relationship: The Body of Christ. Amen. As reminded by St. Ambrose, we relearn each Sunday that we “become what we eat”. We eat and we become the Body of Christ. The challenge of the Eucharist is to take our liturgical “amen” to our daily living. In that daily “amen” we discover Christ in our brother and sister.

Christ the Redeemer Parish has, since its founding, found the Lord both at its liturgies and its service to our neighbors. For over thirty-five years, Spanish speaking people have worshiped at the Lord’s Table in their language, with their music, in their culture. This was possible because they shared our common Christian/Catholic faith. Since the beginning, we have served the needy and the poor through common social concern in LINK. Even at this moment, our Latino community grows within our parish and parishioners feed the hungry at the Official Day Labor Center in Herndon.

The challenge for us as believers here at Christ the Redeemer is to enter the conversation and the pursuit of a solution. As you move from the Eucharist Table, pray about the situation, bring words of peace to your neighbors. At the end of Eucharist, one of the charges to the community is: “The Eucharist is ended. Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.” As fed, we are challenged to feed and nurture all of our neighbors.

CDH