TWENTY-NINTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (Cycle A)
Twenty-eight years ago the American Catholic Bishops published
a challenging pastoral letter titled: “Economic Justice for All.” Initially,
it caused a great stir among a number of Catholics and others because
it focused on the United States economy and Catholic social teaching.
Critics commented that the bishops, even though they had consulted
many economic experts, had no right to speak about a subject that the
critics considered to be outside the purview and sphere of religion.
William Buckley, Jr., a Catholic and well-known founder and editor of
The National Review, wrote a biting editorial with a banner headline
splashed across the front cover of his magazine reading: Mater Si;
Magister No! Mother Yes; Teacher No!
Anticipating this very objection, the bishops, in their letter,
addressed this point in a clear, direct and compelling fashion when
they stated:
“Our [Catholic] faith is not just a weekend obligation,
a mystery to be celebrated around the altar on Sunday.
It is a pervasive reality to be practiced every day in homes,
offices, factories, schools and businesses across our land.
We cannot separate what we believe from how we act in
the marketplace and the broader community…”
It is this same message which Matthew’s Jesus addresses in today’s
Gospel as he responds to the dilemma posed by the disciples of the
Pharisees and Herodians in order to trap and ensnare him. In effect,
what Jesus offers his questioners 2,000 years ago and to us today is
a sage, sound and simple guideline, namely:
“In the ordinary, everyday world where we live and work,
we all must render to the government, and even our civic
institutions, whatever obligations they legitimately impose
on us as citizens, consumers, workers and owners, provided,
of course, that this imposition does not in any way damage or
jeopardize our identity as Christians who have been made in
the very image and likeness of the living God.”
Moreover, Baptism does not exonerate us from our civic obligations and
responsibilities. If anything, it imposes on us who have been baptized
into Christ and who desire to follow his teachings fully, an even more
serious responsibility to carry out today’s Gospel mandate.
Thus, the denarius or coin, which was the monetary currency the
Romans used specifically for tax purposes, had come from Caesar and
had his image imprinted on it. Jesus tells his listeners that the taxation
coin belongs to Caesar and should be given back to him.
However, at the same time we repay to Caesar what is Caesar’s,
we need to remember that we humans have come from God’s creative
hands. God has forged us and imprinted God’s image and likeness upon
us. We are first, last and always God’s creatures. Therefore, just as the
taxing coin belongs to Caesar who made it, so we belong to God who
created us.
The heart of today’s Gospel is found not in the question posed by
the Herodians and the disciples of the Pharisees about whether or not
it’s lawful to pay the census tax, but in the pivotal question posed by
Jesus: “Whose image is this and whose inscription?”
Jesus goes to the core of the dilemma, posed by his questioners,
by raising the issue of identity. The coin bears the image and inscription
of Caesar. It is a miniature icon, a Greek word meaning “image.” In
reality, the coin is an Icon of Caesar himself.
On the other hand, whose image do we bear? As human persons,
are we not icons of the living God? As Bishop Fulton Sheen once wrote:
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“That coin bore the image of Caesar, but whose image did
the questioners bear? Was it not the image of God himself?
It was this image that Jesus was interested in restoring [in the
hearts of his questioners]?”
It is this same image, which the American Bishops were and remain
concerned about in their pastoral letter on the economy. As images or
icons of God in this world, we have important responsibilities. Belonging
to God has significant implications in our everyday world. As Christians,
wherever we go, whatever we do, whenever we act, whether in the
social, economic, political or cultural realm, we belong to God. Thus, our
foremost commitment is always to God. We are not part-time Christians
whose responsibilities cease when we move from the church to the
marketplace, from our Sunday worship service to our weekday projects
and activities. While Government and civic institutions have their just
claims which we must fulfill, still to God alone we owe our total identity
and all that we have. Thus, as images of the living God, we must always
repay to God what belongs to God.
Surely, one of the essential ways by which we repay to God what
belongs to God is “our concern and care for the poor.” Pope Francis,
in his now-famous apostolic exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium, “The Joy of
the Gospel,” reminds us that:
“Each individual Christian and every community is called to
be an instrument of God for the liberation and promotion of
the poor, and for enabling them to be fully a part of society.
This demands that we be docile and attentive to the cry of
the poor and to come to their aid. A mere glance at the
Scriptures is enough to make us see how our gracious [God]
wants to hear the cry of the poor.” “. . . God’s heart has a
special place for the poor, so much so that he himself
became poor.”
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My sisters and brothers, 1,600 years ago Saint Augustine captured
the core of today’s Gospel in one of his great sermons when he
proclaimed:
“In the same way as Caesar looks for his image on a coin,
God looks for God’s image in your soul. ‘Give back to Caesar
what is Caesar’s.’ What does Caesar demand from you?
His image. But Caesar’s image is on a coin, whereas God’s
image is in you. If the loss of a coin causes you to weep
because you have lost Caesar’s image, would not any
damage brought in you to God’s image be for you a cause
for [even greater] tears?”
Shall we take to our prayer and reflection this week Christ’s
challenging question about whose image we are serving in our daily
affairs and activities? Do we dare ask ourselves this question about our
human relationships, our business dealings and all our ordinary
interactions? Are we truly ready to repay to Caesar what belongs
to Caesar and to God what belongs to God, especially in our outreach
and care for the poor?
Rev. William J. Watters, S.J.
Pastor, St. Ignatius Church
Baltimore, Maryland
October 19, 2014
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