The Twenty-Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time (2026)
This homily for the 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time includes an opening appeal (marked by brackets)
for the 2026 Stewardship Appeal for St. Pius X Parish in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin
As I was preparing this homily and reflecting on this Sunday’s Readings, I was reminded of a holy man—a husband and father who was also an emperor—whom the Church will remember on October 21.
The man we now know as “Blessed Charles of Austria” became emperor of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the midst of the First World War, inheriting the responsibility of leadership at a time when the power-plays of political leaders were costing millions of people their lives. He believed that as emperor, his responsibility was to care for the people entrusted to him and worked to bring the war to an end. When the monarchy collapsed, he lost his throne and was exiled with his family to an island off Portugal, where he died in 1922 at just thirty-four years of age.
Charles was committed to his faith in every stage of his life and not long before his death, he reflected on the guiding principle by which he had tried to live: “I strive always in all things to understand as clearly as possible and follow the will of God.” For Charles, being a Christian was not something separate from being an emperor, a husband, or a father. His faith shaped how he understood his responsibilities and how he sought to serve others.
Bringing faith into dialogue with politics wasn’t easy for Charles and it certainly isn’t simple for us. Politics is a very human enterprise, shaped by competing interests, imperfect choices, and people who do not always agree about what is best. Even when we share the same faith, we may disagree about how its principles should be applied. We need discernment, prudence, and patience as we try to determine the best way forward.
We see that tension in today's Gospel. Jesus' opponents ask whether it is lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar. It’s a trap. If Jesus says yes, he risks appearing to endorse Roman rule and compromise religious convictions. If he says no, he risks being treated as an enemy of the state.
Jesus refuses to be trapped by their question. Instead, he tells them to give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.
The First Reading offers another perspective on authority. God chose Cyrus, the Persian king, to bring about the liberation of the people of Israel. Cyrus did not belong to God's chosen people, yet God worked through him. His story reminds us that God's work is not limited to the people we expect, and that we must remain attentive to how God's purposes might be accomplished even through those who are different from us.
All of this reminds me of something I learned years ago and have often repeated when talking about morality and social justice: “Faith is always political, but it can never be partisan.”
Our faith is political in the sense that it shapes how we live in the world, how we treat others, and understand our responsibilities toward one another. Our commitment to the dignity of every person as a child of God and to the common good should shape our participation in public life (see Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1905–1917).
But our faith can never be reduced to a political party, a candidate, or an ideology. No party has a monopoly on the Gospel, and no political preference should be beyond the scrutiny of faith. We must continually ask how the Gospel challenges our assumptions and shape our choices. That takes humility, especially when we are convinced that we already know the right answer.
[And this brings me to our own life together at St. Pius X as we begin our stewardship season.
One of the things I have always appreciated about this parish is seeing how people respond to the needs of others. There are efforts of advocacy, outreach, generosity, and commitment to making this parish a place where people are welcomed and treated with dignity. These are expressions of faith that extend beyond what we profess at Mass.
Each of us is part of this parish because, in some way, we were welcomed here, and we have a responsibility to help ensure that others can experience that same welcome. This parish offers us a place to worship, to grow in faith, to share our gifts, and to work together for the good of others.
That kind of community doesn’t happen by itself. It takes discernment, prudence, and patience. We’re invited to ask some challenging questions:
Are we asking too much of people, or too little?
Are we offering enough opportunities for people to share their gifts?
Are we using our resources in ways that reflect our priorities and the mission entrusted to us?
Are we listening to one another and making room for different perspectives as we decide what our parish needs most?
Stewardship is not simply about meeting a budget or programming. It is about recognizing what God has entrusted to us—our time, our abilities, our relationships, and our financial resources—and deciding how we will use those gifts to build up the Reign of God and the good of others.
In the coming weeks, you will have opportunities to update your giving information, provide current contact and census information, and share your thoughts about the priorities that should guide our parish in the years ahead. Please check your mailboxes, both physical and virtual, and let us hear from you. Your participation will help us understand our needs, plan responsibly, and discern together where God may be calling us.]
Pope Benedict XVI once described the Gospel as “the revolution of love,” a love that comes from God and “silently changes the world” (Angelus, February 18, 2007). That revolution begins in the choices we make, the gifts we share, and the care we offer one another.
Blessed Charles of Austria understood that following the will of God meant allowing his faith to shape how he lived and served others. In his own way, he reminds us what it means to give to God what belongs to God.
Jesus reminds us that our responsibilities in the world matter, but our deepest allegiance belongs to God. And we give to God what belongs to God when we allow our faith to shape not only what we believe, but how we live, how we serve, and how we care for the people and the community entrusted to us.
Almighty ever-living God,
grant that we may always conform our will to yours
and serve your majesty in sincerity of heart.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever. Amen.
-Collect for the Twenty-Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time
