Rendering unto Horace?

Today’s Gospel ends with the well-known command, “Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, but unto God the things that are God’s.”

We often speak of what we as Christians owe Caesar – that is to say, our civil government – and what we owe to God, especially in these days.

Today I humbly submit that there is another problem, not the problem of rendering to Caesar or to God, but of rendering instead to Horace.

Horace was a poet who lived just before the time of Christ, famous for his satires and lampoons. Although he fought on the side of idealists in his youth, he eventually came to be named poet laureate of Rome and to lead a life of luxury. It has been said of him, “He was not a profound thinker; his philosophy is that rather of the marketplace than of the schools.”

As Caesar represents the state, Horace (in his middle age) may represent the not-so-profound aspects of culture.

“Do we render too much to Horace? Do we watch and listen to too much that is empty or shallow… even worse?”

St. Peter reminds us,
“Be on your guard
not to be led into the error of the unprincipled
and to fall from your own stability.
But grow in grace and in the knowledge
of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ.
To him be glory now and to the day of eternity.”

Amen.