FOUR COINS
INTRODUCTION
The title of my homily is, “Four Coins!”
When you have some time, take a penny, a nickel, a dime and a quarter, and look at them. Study them front side and back. A penny for your thoughts?
All four coins have the image of a president on them: Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and FDR. All four have the word “Liberty” on them. All four have the Latin words, “E pluribus unum”. All four have the words, “In God We Trust” on them.
Then, if you want to throw three of them into a fountain for luck or all four of them for extra luck, go for it. That’s 41 cents. Next time you’re exercising or walking through the Bestgate Mall check out the coins in the water pool. I was surprised at all the quarters in there. A while back I heard someone broke in there one night to get those coins. With the way the economy is going, I hope the Mall is well policed with a good alarm system as well as cameras.
I chose the penny, nickel, dime and quarter – because these are the four coins we usually get as change when we buy something – unless we use plastic.
TODAY’S GOSPEL
In today’s gospel, when his adversaries are trying to trap him, Jesus asks to see a coin. If he says, “Pay the tax” they will attack him for supporting the Romans; if he says, “Don’t pay the tax” they will turn him in to the Romans for supporting the anti-Romans.
I’m surprised that the text says he doesn’t know who’s image is on the coin. They tell him, “It’s Caesar’s.”
And he gives his classic response: “Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.”
I still like the ring of the old translation: “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s.” [Matthew 22:21]
CONFLICT
Today’s Gospel places us in the middle of a conflict situation.
How well do I deal with conflict?
Obviously, with the elections coming up, people are in conflict with others on moral and political issues. I can’t wait till Wednesday, November 5th, when this election is over – unless they discover hanging chads in some states.
Have you found yourself in the past year or so – on the spot – when someone brings up a voting question?
As priest various people have asked, “Is anyone going to say anything about the upcoming election from the pulpit?”
To me – stress on “to me”, that is an “uh oh!” question – as well as a “no no!” situation. For several reasons - one key reason being conscience - I am not in favor of endorsing or going after candidates for public office from the pulpit. Besides those reasons, the final vote count is not going to be 100 million + or so to 0 – so no matter what one says, other people are going to be angry – whether the final results are a 51 to 49 situation or 53 to 47 situation or what have you.
If you want to read a good document on the Catholic position for voting, read, “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship: A Call to Political Responsibility from the Catholic Bishops of the United States.” Tap, tap with your mouse the following www. to read this document.
Some folks will be grateful for this document; some folks will experience conflict with this document . I also assume the bishops had conflicts in hammering out the text.
Conflict is part of life.
Look at Jesus in today’s gospel. They might not have got him that day – but they nailed him another day.
As to ongoing conflict, this hasn’t been my experience. I don’t see myself as getting crucified. I follow the principle voiced in the German proverb: "A drop of honey catches more flies than a hogshead of vinegar." On personality tests that I have taken, I end up being a smiling, shifty, wimpy type - someone who doesn't like controversy.
I have been a priest since 1965, yet I have only been burnt or yelled a few times because of comments from the pulpit - as far as I know. When it has happened, it’s been because of spiritual issues I’m off on – like not killing prayer with too many prayers – rarely on how to vote.
Yet, I’m sure the current game that we’re all playing is trying to figure out how other people are going to vote. So I try to be aware of the bully pulpit as well as the angry pew.
A MISTAKE
However, I make mistakes. For example, last Thursday I mentioned the names of John McCain, Sarah Palin and Barack Obama in a homily at a Mass for our freshman and sophomore young people.
I was not trying to influence their minds on how to vote – because they are not old enough to vote. I was talking about the importance of reading. At one point in my homily I said that I've heard people say they want to know who a certain candidate is. When I hear that, I find myself saying inwardly, "Read! John McCain has a book out, Faith of Our Fathers [1999] and Barack Obama has a book out, Dreams From My Father [1995]. Read Barack Obama’s book, The Audacity of Hope [2006]. Read columns. Have an informed conscience. Listen to the debates etc."
My mistake was that I was totally oblivious to any adults in the church – in fact I really didn’t see them – only these two classes of kids – and I was trying to use as examples what’s going on in our country and world and not just the world of school and shoes and sports.
I heard afterwards there were comments. I didn't know if those who made them were joking, neutral, or angry.
Being sensitive, that word “comments” hit me.
Being defensive, I said, "Uh oh!"
My first reaction was the feeling that I was stupid. I know the reality that once you mention a person’s name – just their name – that can cause instant reaction. It can push another’s button. Dumb, dumb, me. That’s why some people wear political buttons – to push buttons. That’s why some people have bumper stickers, to bump people.
My second reaction was to examine my motives. Was I pushing a political candidate? No. I was trying to stress to these kids the importance of reading – not just school books – but books they find themselves looking for time to read. I asked if they have their quiet places – on a porch or a corner - where they can turn pages and enjoy the various places in the world and the human heart that books can take us to.
I thought the message of my homily was clear: the importance of reading. In hindsight, however, I didn't think it was that good a sermon. I didn’t feel much of a connection.
However, after I heard there were comments, I backtracked in my mind. Where did I get the idea to push the theme of reading from? I thought and thought. Finally I had an answer. While I was working on the homily for our high school kids, I was also working on a flyer for someone who had asked for help in putting together a prayer service for autumn.
While looking for a good poem on autumn to put in a flyer, I came upon a poem by Rita Dove entitled, “The First Book.” I had never read this poem before. It was in a book by Bill Moyers, The Language of Life [1995]. It has some poems I like and interviews about particular poems. He asked Rita Dove where the idea for her poem came from.
She said she went into some classroom of her daughter's school and discovered that various kids were scared of reading. She thought about growing up in a household where people loved to read, so she wrote the following poem.
THE FIRST BOOKOpen it.
Go ahead. It won’t bite.
Well … maybe a little.
More a nip, like. A tingle.
It’s pleasurable, really.
You see, it keeps on opening.You may fall in.
Sure. It’s hard to get started;
remember learning to use
knife and fork? Dig in:
you’ll never reach bottom.
It’s not like it’s the end of the world –
just the world as you think
you know it.
I thought that was a great poem. I used it in my homily and I told the kids that I didn’t really start reading till a high school teacher in the 3rd year of high school triggered a love for reading. I couldn’t find enough time to go through James Fennimore Cooper’s stories.
Then I mentioned a book by Victor Klemperer, I Will Bear Witness [1998]. I said it was on the best seller list a few years back and my niece Maryna gave it to me as a Christmas gift. Books, I said, can take you to places you could never enter. Holding up the book I said, “This is the diary of Jewish man in Dresden, Germany during horrible times – 1933 - 1941. If you’re nosey and interested in other people, a book can take you into all kinds of places.”
I mentioned a few other books and felt great after Mass standing in the back of the church saying good-bye to kids flying by when one boy asked me, “What was the name of the author of that book about that man in Germany?” I said, “Victor Klemperer.” He said, “I’ll find it on line.”
Then the next day I felt crummy when someone said I was pushing someone for president in the pulpit.
CONCLUSION: FOUR COINS
I began this homily by saying, “The title of my homily is, ‘Four Coins.”
I then said when you have time take a penny, nickel, dime and quarter – and look at them back and front – and see what they trigger in you.
Let me make 4 closing points looking at these 4 coins.
1) The word “Liberty” might stand out. It’s a word on all 4 coins. Liberty is a great American button, buzz, value word. If they were making coins today, would the word be “freedom” instead of “liberty”? I think “freedom” is more current. Our big holiday is July 4th – a free day – our Declaration of Independence Day.
We hope that all peoples of our world can have freedom.
To St. Paul, Jesus, Isaiah, freedom, liberty is also a powerful theme. [Cf. 2 Corinthians 3:17; Galatians 2:4; Isaiah 61:6, Luke 4:18]
Is it for me? Do I try to obtain the freedom of the glory of the Children of God? [Cf. Romans 8:21;
2) “E pluribus unum,” our national motto, is also on all 4 coins.
Our country is a plurality – yet we are called, “The United States”. We have to learn to deal with various viewpoints, a multitude of understandings. This can very difficult – but when we are one, this is our strength.
Our parish is many. We have to learn to deal with many viewpoints – understandings – many comments. This too can be difficult – but when we are one, it can also be our strength.
When there are mis-understandings, it seems that it’s better to talk to each other more than about each other. Here I am talking about something publically that happened to me privately. Here I am talking to people who weren't there. I'm making myself look better than a few people who made a comment. Moreover, I heard this secondhand. In fact, I don't know what the comments were or who made them. So the question: should I say this in a homily? Aren't I being defensive? Yes. Then I said to myself: This is a good example of a conflict situation. So I choose to use this as an example of conflict. Hearing the process behind another's motives or reasons, might bring out the importance and the power of pause and "Go figure." and "Go talk."
3) Four Presidents. There is a different president on each of these 4 coins. Each president is very different from the others – and we will have different ones to come. Will there be changes on our coins 1000 years from now? Will we even have coins? In 2003, the GOP in congress tried to get Ronald Reagan on the dime to take the place of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, but it didn’t pass. Nancy Reagan was against it as well.
4) "In God We Trust." All four coins have “In God We Trust” on them. Religion is part of the fabric of life. That is the Christian position. It’s tricky. America was founded by some people who wanted to avoid the religious wars of Europe. If you really want to do some research, study this issue on line. We have quite a history.
I noticed that Thomas Jefferson had lots of issues about Christianity, priests, etc. Yet the nickel with his image on it - as well as the other three coins each have that great message, “In God We Trust.” Obviously, trust in each other is one of life’s big questions - in marriage, the market, in politics, in milk products. No wonder the last resort is, “In God We Trust.”
MONARCH
