Homily for 29th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Homily for the
29th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Oct. 22, 2023
Is 45: 1, 4-6
The Fountains, Tuckahoe, N.Y.
St. Francis Xavier, Bronx
Our Lady of the Assumption, Bronx

“Thus says the Lord to his anointed, Cyrus…” (Is 45: 1).

Cyrus the Great (Wikipedia)

The passage from Isaiah that is our 1st reading today is unusual if not unique in the Scriptures.  God’s prophet speaks not to the Chosen People nor to one of their kings but to a pagan ruler.  And he calls that ruler “his anointed.”

To be anointed is to be marked and set apart as sacred.  You may recall that the anointing of King Charles not long ago was a special part of the coronation ritual, done by an archbishop out of public sight.  You know that 4 of our 7 sacraments involve anointings, 3 of them leaving permanent spiritual signatures that this person belongs to Jesus Christ, viz., Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Orders.  Most important, we call Jesus of Nazareth “Christ,” which is the Greek word for messiah, which means “anointed.”

Thus the Lord God is identifying Cyrus as a man chosen, set apart, and sacred to himself.  He goes further to say to Cyrus:  “I have called you by your name, giving you a title.  It is I who arm you … so that toward the rising and the setting of the sun people may know that that there is none besides me” (45:4-6).  God has called Cyrus and given him power over a vast territory for some great purpose that will glorify God.

So who is this Cyrus, the Lord’s anointed?  He was the warrior king of several Middle Eastern lands who between 559 and 529 B.C. by inheritance and conquest put together the biggest empire the Western world had known up till then, the Persian Empire:  “so that toward the rising and the setting of the sun people may know that that there is none besides” the God of Israel.

Cyrus allowed the exiled Jews who wished, to go home to Judea and rebuild Jerusalem.  He returned to them the sacred vessels that Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had taken from the Temple, and he ordered public assistance be given to the returning exiles.  In the verse immediately preceding our passage today, we read:  “I say of Cyrus:  My shepherd, who fulfills my every wish; he shall say of Jerusalem, ‘Let her be rebuilt,” and of the Temple, ‘Let its foundations be laid’” (44:28).  For this purpose the Lord God called him and anointed him, tho he was a pagan monarch.

Isaiah is telling us that God is the lord of human history.  He sets kings, presidents, and prime ministers over nations to do his work—his work of justice, peaceful harmony, and service of the common good of humanity.  That’s why St. Paul instructs 1st century Christians to pray for their rulers (1 Tim 2:2) and St. Peter commands, “Fear God, honor the king” (1 Pet 2:17).  That’s why Jesus tells us to give to Caesar what he’s entitled to (Matt 22:21).

As we know all too well, kings, presidents, prime ministers, and legislatures often don’t fulfill their responsibilities of justice, peace, and the common good.  Insofar as they answer to us, their citizens, we share in their responsibilities for public policy by what we advocate for and how we vote.  For all rulers over nations and those who exercise power, we owe prayer that God may direct them to “run in his service” (cf. Is 45:1), even if they do so unconsciously; to “give the Lord glory and honor” (Resp. Psalm); to “give to God what belongs to God” (Matt 22:21).  Kings, presidents, prime ministers, legislatures, and other public powers have complex responsibilities, extremely difficult tasks even if they eagerly desire justice, peace, and the common good.

If they have other motives—personal power, greed, vengeance—we need to pray for their conversion.  If despite good intentions they pursue mistaken policies, policies that run against God’s laws, policies that don’t honor the natural dignity of every person, we need to pray that they be enlightened and act with courage.  If they do well, we need to thank God for that and continue our prayerful support.

Jesus’ question, “Whose image and whose inscription is this?” (Matt 22:20) refers not merely to a Roman denarius but to the image of God that every human being is.  God truly wants to “grasp the right hand” of everyone in authority (cf. Is 45:1); indeed, of every one of us, that we all might carry out his purposes in our families, our workplaces, our neighborhoods, and our parishes.  He has called all of us by name—and anointed us in Baptism; he has given all of us a title (cf. 45:4):  children of God, “brothers and sisters loved by God” (1 Thess 1:4).