Per Ipsum

Render to Caesar what is Caesars and give to God what is God's.                                                                                Mark 12:17 When this is quoted, people often leave off the question and give it as an example of Jesus's wisdom—sometimes it is simply cited as an example of cleverness. The question before it is interesting: Is it lawful to pay taxes to the Romans or not? By "lawful" they meant under Jewish law of course. The question is an example of religious scrupulosity and legalism being wielded as a weapon against the Lord who spoke over the top of the details of law most of his earthly life. Standing against that was the state, Roman law and the hammer of Roman power to enforce it. I was thinking about that moment this morning when I read about the Supreme Court ruling in the case of Masterpiece cakes vs a gay couple who wanted a custom cake. Do all Americans have the right to buy cake? Arguably they do. Does a baker have the r

When Christ came as high priest of the good things that have come to be, passing through the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made by hands, that is, not belonging to this creation, he entered once for all into the sanctuary Hebrews 9:11 Once for all. The great mystery of the Mass is that every time—every time—we stand at the foot of the cross and enter into the passion. Does it mean it occurs over and over? No! God's time isn't our time. We enter into the saving act which occurred once for all and the "greater and more perfect tabernacle," as opposed to the Holy of Holies in the massive temple in Jerusalem.I think I'll just let that one settle in for a while and see how much of it I can fully grasp.