FAITHFUL DISCIPLE AND FAITHFUL CITIZEN
29THE SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

“Give to creaser what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God” This is the central message of the Gospel today। Jesus made this statement responding to the question of the Pharisees about paying Tax. They raised this question not with any good motif. Their goal was to tarp Jesus. If Jesus said ‘Yes’, then He would be treated as the enemy of the Jews and on the other hand if Jesus said no, then He would be treated by the Roman Government as a rebel. In either way, Jesus would be in trouble. Therefore, Jesus gave this clever answer: “Give to creaser what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God”

This statement, however, has a deeper meaning। Jesus made this proposal using the Roman coin, which has the picture of Caesar. The question is: Is there anything that does not carry the imprint of God? Is there anything that does not belong to God? When God created human being, He created them in His own image and likeness. The image of God is inscribed in each one of us. So, ultimately, we all belong to God.

The Gospel reading is, therefore, an invitation to restructure our life centering on God. What is, then, our responsibility to the society? Gandhi has an answer to this. He said, “I am in politics because I cannot separate life from belief. Because I believe in God, I have to enter politics. Politics is my service to God”. Yes, you cannot be a good disciple of Jesus without being a good citizen of the country because we live our faith in and through the society.