In a few days, the President of the United States will be elected. This is one of those moments when the citizens of this country must “render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s,” that is, to fulfill their duty to do their part for the good of our country and its people.

When choosing a president, one should not think about who I personally like more but ask who among all the possible candidates is willing to truly commit to standing at the service of the people and working not for personal ambitions, but for truth, justice, peace and prosperity. Who among them is willing to do not just what is personally beneficial to them, nor just what they must do, but to do more, even if it requires serious effort and sometimes even trust to step into the unknown.

This year, the Twenty-second Sunday after Trinity is the last Sunday in October, on which the Feast of Christ the King has been celebrated since 1925. Pope Pius XI instituted this holiday to confirm important facts that emerge from the following Bible verses:

“And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.” (Matthew 28:18)

“For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.” (Romans 13:1)

“Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.” (Acts 5:29)

St. John, speaking about the healing of the nobleman's son in Capernaum, says that “this is again the second miracle that Jesus did, when he was come out of Judaea into Galilee”. In total, St. John mentions in his Gospel seven miracles that Jesus did. This number cannot be accidental, because according to the biblical number symbolism, seven represents the whole. The seven miracles are:

·      Water turned into wine at the wedding feast in Cana

·      Healing of nobleman’s son

·      Healing the paralytic at Bethesda

·      Feeding five thousand with five loaves and two fish

·      Walking on water

·      Healing the man blind from birth

·      Raising Lazarus from the dead

Today’s Gospel is full of surprises. Who is so stupid as to turn down an invitation to go to the wedding of the son of the king? What ridiculous excuses for not participating in such a glorious event: “they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise.“ Even more incomprehensible is the behavior of those who “took his servants, and treated them spitefully, and slew them“ – how can it even be possible: you are invited to a wedding feast and, instead of going, you kill the one who was sent to invite you?

Today's Gospel tells about a man who was sick of the palsy. Or rather, about quite a few men who were sick of the palsy. One of them was cured, the others were not, because they didn’t realize that they were sick and didn’t want to be cured.

We are not talking about physical paralysis here, but spiritual paralysis. When Jesus saw the man who was sick of the palsy and was brought to Him, He said: “Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee!”