Render unto Caesar ...

 

Then the Pharisees went and plotted to entrap him in what he said. So they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, "Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God in accordance with truth, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality. Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?" But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, "Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites? Show me the coin used for the tax." And they brought him a denarius. Then he said to them, "Whose head is this, and whose title?" They answered, "The emperor's." Then he said to them, "Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor's, and to God the things that are God's." When they heard this, they were amazed; and they left him and went away.

Matthew 22:15-22

 

aa

Tribute Money

BACKER, Jacob Adriaensz

approx. 1633

Nationalmuseum

Stockholm,

Sweden

 

http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/diglib-fulldisplay.pl?SID=20201017482925101&code=act&RC=57747&Row=18

 

Jacob Adriaensz. Backer was influenced by Rembrandt's portraiture and history painting. Like Rembrandt and his pupils, he painted many study heads, so-called tronies, and he often dressed his figures in oriental or fantasy costumes. He rarely painted multi-figure scenes, concentrating instead on a few large figures with compositions closer to Rubens's classical style.

The Tribute Money was earlier attributed to Backer's teacher Lambert Jacobsz., however, it is undoubtedly an early work by Backer, which calls to mind paintings by Lambert Jacobsz.

https://www.wga.hu/html_m/b/backer/tributem.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is not the man who has too little,

but the man who craves more,

that is poor.

~ Seneca

 

 

 

 

Every great and deep difficulty bears in itself its own solution.

It forces us to change our thinking in order to find it.

~ Niels Bohr

 

 

 

 

 

 

Flowers and books are wonderful!

 

 

 

 

Sixth Annual Rocky Mountain Literary Festival

ON-LINE

October 17, 2020 - November 14, 2020

Greg Dobbs introducing the Festival to online viewers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Life always waits for some crisis to occur 

before revealing itself at its most brilliant.

~ Paulo Coelho

 

 

 

 

 

October 4, 2020   Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A

                  Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 24)

             

Previous OPQs may be found at: 

 

 

 

Agnus Day, by James Wetzstein

Agnus Day appears with the permission of www.agnusday.org

 

 

 

tribute_denario.jpg

 

color_green.jpg

 

 

Exodus 33:12-23 with Psalm 99 or
Isaiah 45:1-7 with Psalm 96:1-9, (10-13)
1 Thessalonians 1:1-10
Matthew 22:15-22

 

 

 

Exodus 33:12-23

Moses said to the Lord, "See, you have said to me, 'Bring up this people'; but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. Yet you have said, 'I know you by name, and you have also found favor in my sight.' Now if I have found favor in your sight, show me your ways, so that I may know you and find favor in your sight. Consider too that this nation is your people." He said, "My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest." And he said to him, "If your presence will not go, do not carry us up from here. For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people, unless you go with us? In this way, we shall be distinct, I and your people, from every people on the face of the earth."

The Lord said to Moses, "I will do the very thing that you have asked; for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name." Moses said, "Show me your glory, I pray." And he said, "I will make all my goodness pass before you, and will proclaim before you the name, 'The Lord'; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. But," he said, "you cannot see my face; for no one shall see me and live." And the Lord continued, "See, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock; and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by; then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back; but my face shall not be seen."

Psalm 99

God is ruler;
   let the peoples tremble!
God sits enthroned
   upon the cherubim;
let the earth quake!

God is great
   in Zion;
God is exalted
   over all the peoples.

Let them praise your great
   and awesome name.
Holy is God!

Mighty Ruler, lover of justice,
   you have established equity;
you have executed justice
   and righteousness in Jacob.

Extol the Sovereign our God;
   worship at God's footstool.
Holy is God!

Moses and Aaron
   were among God's priests,
Samuel also was among those
   who called on God's name.

They cried to God,
   and God answered them.

God spoke to them
   in the pillar of cloud;
they kept God's decrees,
   and the statutes that God gave them.

O Sovereign our God,
   you answered them;
you were a forgiving God to them,
   but an avenger
of their wrongdoings.

Extol the Sovereign our God,
   and worship at God's holy mountain;
for the Sovereign our God
   is holy.

or

Isaiah 45:1-7

Thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus,
   whose right hand I have grasped
to subdue nations before him
   and strip kings of their robes,
to open doors before him —
   and the gates shall not be closed:
I will go before you
   and level the mountains,
I will break in pieces the doors of bronze
   and cut through the bars of iron,
I will give you the treasures of darkness
   and riches hidden in secret places,
so that you may know that it is I, the Lord,
   the God of Israel, who call you by your name.
For the sake of my servant Jacob,
   and Israel my chosen,
I call you by your name,
   I surname you, though you do not know me.
I am the Lord, and there is no other;
   besides me there is no god.
I arm you, though you do not know me,
   so that they may know, from the rising of the sun
   and from the west, that there is no one besides me;
I am the Lord, and there is no other.
   I form light and create darkness,
I make weal and create woe;
   I the Lord do all these things.

Psalm 96:1-9, 10-13

O sing to God
   a new song;
sing to God,
   all the earth.

Sing to the God,
   bless God's name;
tell of God's salvation
   from day to day.

Declare God's glory
   among the nations,
God's marvelous works
   among all the peoples.

For great is God,
   and greatly to be praised;
God is to be revered
   above all gods.

For all the gods of the peoples
   are idols,
but God made the heavens.

Honor and majesty
   are before God;
strength and beauty
   are in God's sanctuary.

Ascribe to God,
   O families of the peoples,
ascribe to God
   glory and strength.

Ascribe to God the glory
   due God's name;
bring an offering,
   and come into God's courts.

Worship God
   in holy splendor;
tremble before God,
   all the earth.

Say among the nations,
   "God is ruler!
The world is firmly established;
   it shall never be moved.

God will judge the peoples
   God will judge the people
with equity."

Let the heavens be glad,
   and let the earth rejoice;
let the sea roar,
   and all that fills it;

let the field exult,
   and everything in it.
Then shall all the trees
   of the forest
sing for joy before God;

for God is coming,
   for God is coming
to judge the earth.

God will judge the world
   with righteousness,
and the peoples with God's truth.

1 Thessalonians 1:1-10

Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, to the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:

Grace to you and peace.

We always give thanks to God for all of you and mention you in our prayers, constantly remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. For we know, brothers and sisters beloved by God, that he has chosen you, because our message of the gospel came to you not in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of people we proved to be among you for your sake. And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for in spite of persecution you received the word with joy inspired by the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place where your faith in God has become known, so that we have no need to speak about it. For the people of those regions report about us what kind of welcome we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols, to serve a living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead — Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath that is coming.

Matthew 22:15-22

Then the Pharisees went and plotted to entrap him in what he said. So they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, "Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God in accordance with truth, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality. Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?" But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, "Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites? Show me the coin used for the tax." And they brought him a denarius. Then he said to them, "Whose head is this, and whose title?" They answered, "The emperor's." Then he said to them, "Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor's, and to God the things that are God's." When they heard this, they were amazed; and they left him and went away.