29th Sunday in Ordinary Time - October 22, 2023

10-22-2023Weekly ReflectionFr. Louis Philip Masi

In today’s first reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah, we hear about a very interesting figure in the history of the world: the great King Cyrus. He ruled over one of the largest and most powerful empires the world has ever known. He was very good to the people of Israel even though he was not one of them. While many kings throughout history sought to eradicate God’s holy people, Cyrus justly allowed them to live in peace and to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem. God, as they say, writes straight with crooked lines! God used a king who did not even follow Him to continue to unfold His plan of salvation.

It is important to note, however, that even though God worked through Cyrus and others, all of the problems of God’s people were not solved by rulers of the world; the salvation of God’s people did not come from Cyrus or any others wielding political power. Salvation comes from God alone, as we read in Psalm 62. Christ Jesus [and He alone] is our hope, as Timothy says in his first letter. We must remain mindful of this, lest we fall into the trap of seeing the solution to all of our problems and the salvation of our nation in a particular political party or candidate.

An ancient Christian letter from the second century, the Letter to Diognetus, reveals to us that from the earliest days of Christianity, Christians were fully involved as citizens wherever they lived. The author says, “Christians . . . follow the customs of whatever city they happen to be living in . . . They play their full role as citizens.” But, the author also continues, “they champion no purely human doctrine . . . There is something extraordinary about their lives. They live in their own countries as though they were only passing through.” Why do they live as if they are just visitors in their own homeland? Well, because the true homeland of every Christian is heaven. St. Paul, in his letter to the Philippians, even tells us, our citizenship is in heaven. So we must be good citizens of our land, but never forget that God’s desired ultimate destination for us is heaven. All of our decisions must be made with that ultimate destination in mind, and we must remember that our decisions here on earth will affect our ultimate destination.

In the Gospel today Jesus gives us a striking example of how to be engaged as true and good citizens while not getting trapped in the potholes that politics creates. The Pharisees and the Herodians try to trap Jesus with a question about paying the census tax. They represent two distinct parties that are both trying to get Jesus on their side. While they are hypocrites who are just trying to flatter Jesus to get him to side with them, they recognize something true about Jesus. They say: Teacher, we know that you are a truthful man and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. And you are not concerned with anyone’s opinion, for you do not regard a person’s status. Having recognized this, they should not be surprised when Jesus refuses to be used as a political pawn, and when He makes clear that He is not a political revolutionary as some hoped he might be. The coin that the Pharisees and Herodians show Jesus has the image of Caesar engraved on it, so He says, repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, effectively telling them to be good citizens.

Jesus, however, reminds them that it is not enough to be a good citizen. He adds: [repay] to God what belongs to God. So we need to ask, what belongs to God? Surely not money. Think back to the Book of Genesis when we hear: God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. The Roman coin bears Caesar’s image, but we all bear God’s image. Each one of us bears God’s sacred image, whether we are in our mother’s womb or at the end of life, whether we are of one skin color or another, whether we were born in one place or another, whether we are rich or poor. If Jesus says to give to Caesar the coin that bears his image, Jesus certainly desires us to give ourselves to God — because we are made in His image. If we all bear God’s sacred image, we have no right to destroy or harm any innocent person bearing the image of God. Furthermore, if we are commanded by the Lord to give to God what belongs to God, then we have the responsibility of protecting and safeguarding what belongs to God so that we might actually be able to give to Him what belongs to Him.

Our engagement with the world and politics must be to sanctify the world. It must make our world a place that is more in conformity with God’s plan — a plan, which, like our own nation’s Declaration of Independence, recognizes the importance of life before anything else, because without life, there is no liberty or the pursuit of happiness. We must recognize that our political engagement can be used to promote and defend what is sacred, good, and true so that what belongs to God may be rightly given to Him. Most importantly, in the end and above all, while we strive to be good citizens, we place our hope only in the Lord, Who is our salvation.