Enter yo
WEEK OF: October 22, 2023
YAM IN ACTION
office@stmarthayam.com ~ www.stmarthayam.com
Youth Office Schedule ~ Monday & Wednesday (5:30pm – 8:30pm) Tuesday (5:30pm-7:30pm) &
Friday (6:30pm-8:30pm) All other days by appointment only
Reminders
FALL RETREAT REGISTRATION
Fall Retreat 2023 is open to our Confirmation and all High School Teens. Fall Retreat will be held at
St. Joseph Salesian Youth Retreat Center in Rosemead November 17-19, 2023. Space will be limited, so please hurry.
Faith Sharing Class for Confirmation Year 1 and Year 2 is October 23, 2023, from 7pm to 8:30pm. Please bring your Bibles, Notebooks and Pens.
Parent Virtus Class
Parent Virtus Class (Spanish) is scheduled for October 24, 2023 from 7pm to 8:30pm in the hall.
All parents of Year 1 and Year 2 must attend this class.
OKTOBERFEST – is October 28 from 8am to 11pm. Bring your families and enjoy the fiesta. RCIA and Youth Ministry will handle the Drinks Booth. Sign-up to help in the booth and get service hours.
CHALLENGE
29th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A – The Pharisees send their disciples to test Jesus with a question about taxes.
Background on the Gospel Reading
In today’s Gospel Jesus and the religious leaders in Jerusalem continue their tense exchange of questions and challenges. At this point the disciples of the Pharisees, together with the Herodians, try to entrap Jesus by their question about the payment of taxes.
Matthew sets up an unusual partnership between the Pharisees and the Herodians. The Herodians were supporters of Herod Antipas, a Jewish political leader who collaborated with the Romans. Such collaboration would have required a compromised observance of the Mosaic Law. The Pharisees, on the other hand, taught scrupulous observance of the Mosaic Law and opposed Roman occupation. Herodians favored the payment of taxes; the Pharisees opposed it. The Herodians and the Pharisees approach Jesus, asking that he take sides in their dispute. If Jesus answers with the Pharisees, he shows himself to be an enemy of Rome. If he answers with the Herodians, he offends popular Jewish religious sensibilities.
Jesus’ response to this attempt to trap him exposes the guile of his questioners. From his first words to them, Jesus shows that he is very much aware of what they are trying to do. He asks to see a Roman coin, which is readily provided to him. It may have come from the hand of a Herodian, but the Pharisees show themselves to be quite willing to accept this compromise. Jesus has already exposed the Pharisees as hypocrites.
Jesus takes his response one step further. He asks that his questioners examine the coin. Agreeing that it is Caesar’s image on the coin, Jesus tells them that it must belong to Caesar. Avoiding the question of lawfulness altogether, Jesus answers their question with simple logic. Then, going further still, Jesus tells them that their obligation is to pay to God that which belongs to God.
Jesus’ response to the Herodians and Pharisees suggests the ethic that Christians ought to adopt. It reminds us of the importance of keeping things in their proper perspective. Do we attach ourselves to worldly things at the expense of the love and honor that we owe to God? Matthew 22:15-21
If you can attend Mass in person and you are longing for Him in the Eucharist, then Jesus wants to see you. Come to Mass this Sunday and be transformed by His Word and by the Eucharist.
“Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” 2 Corinthians 9:7
ur text here...