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.

THE WEDDING FEAST
28th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Recently one of my friends said, “I went to a retreat. It was great. I am a better person now. I should have gone for this much before. Now I know what I was really missing.” We do not know what we are missing until we open ourselves to God. God has a lot to offer for each one of us.

Isaiah in the first reading says, “On this mountain, the Lord will provide for all peoples a feast of rich food…” God has everything for us in his arsenal. However, how do we profit from it depends on each one us.

The Gospel reading is about the parable of the wedding feast. Using this parable, Jesus talks about two kinds of peoples.
People who rejected the invitation of God
People who accepted the invitation of God without any interest (without the wedding garment)

The wedding garment symbolizes our baptism. At the time of our baptism, we put on Christ (wedding Garment).

The question for us today is where am in my relationship with Christ? Am I wearing the wedding garment every day? Am I growing to the person of Jesus?

When Jesus invites a sinner, he does not invite him to stay as a sinner but to grow as a saint.