Twenty-Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A
Is 45, 1-6; 1 Thess 1:1-5; Mt 22, 15-21.
Today's is perhaps among the most misunderstood Gospels, for various reasons, and this is a great pity. Unfortunately it is often taken advantage of either to pit the Church against the State or by treating it as though it were a precise formula proscribing what belongs to the state and what belongs to the Church.
But before sharing some reflections on the Gospel I would like to draw attention to the first reading which can offer us some important food for thought. It recounts how God speaks to Cyrus, the King of Persia, a pagan. And this is the amazing thing: that although Cyrus was a pagan, he did not yet know God, God still speaks to him. God tells him: "I have anointed you, I am leading you by the hand, I have called you by name. Even though you do not yet recognize me, others will get to know me through you.
I find these words very consoling. Many times we tend to think that God is close only to saints and mystics, to those who speak to God on a first-name basis, as it were. Today's reading however points in a different direction, and is baffling to us even today as it was also in Isaiah's time. We must note however that Cyrus does not deny God. He merely does not know him yet. We are all in this position to some extent or other. We are all in a process of getting to know God, perhaps even while navigating through moments of doubt and uncertainty. And even during these moments, God says to each and every one of us here the same things as says to Cyrus: "I have chosen you and I have anointed you (at baptism and confirmation). I have called you by name, I lead you by the hand and others will get to know me, and they will get to know me through you."
Back to today's Gospel, the situation is straightforward. The Pharisees plan to trap Jesus in such a way that whatever he answers, he would offend one side or the other. If he says that he supports taxes, they would say that he is supporting the Romans who were oppressors of the Jews and where Caesar was considered to be god. If he said that he is against taxes, he would get in trouble with the Romans as he would be seen as a rebel against Caesar. To make matters worse, they also try and disarm Jesus through flattery, "You are such a good man we are sure that you will say the truth because you are not afraid of anyone." It is there that Jesus turns the question onto them and asks them what belongs to Caesar? What belongs to God?
These are questions that we must also ask ourselves. Indeed, what belongs to Caesar? In other words, what belongs to the polis, to the city, to the place where we exercise our relationships with one another? Perhaps one way of understanding this is to remember that first and foremost, we belong to each other. Unfortunately, sometimes, we live as though we possess each other rather than belong to each other. Mother Teresa famously once said that "If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other." When we possess each other, we use each other, we define each other according to market value: skills, education, strength and influence. When we realise that we belong to each other, then that is a different story. Then we realise that we are not just a state but we are a community, brothers and sisters of the same family.
Take just one example, that is why I must care for the environment. I do not need to see pictures or data of climate change, to start respecting the environment. Caring for the environment, for example by trying to avoid waste and excess, is first of all a sign of respect for my fellow brothers and sisters and for the generations to come.
And what therefore belongs to God? Well, you got it: everything! We belong to each other, that is true. However we also belong to God. Indeed, we are like a coin on which there is engraved the image of our Lord and Creator. Therefore we come to realise that our identities go beyond the categories which define us: our nationality, skin colour, sexual orientation or political affiliation. After all, we belong to God who created us in his image and likeness.
Today happens to be Mission Sunday. In his message on this occasion, the Pope is encouraging us to break out of our comfort zones and to commit ourselves to be missionaries of God's love even when this is demanding. This we can do through prayer, through testimony of life and communion of goods and by responding in the best way we can according to our vocation and resources, to the great need of evangelisation.
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