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29th Sunday |
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“FIRST IMPRESSIONS” By: Jude Siciliano, OP
Dear Preachers:
It is said that there are two things we can be sure of: death and taxes. While death stirs up emotions of grief and loss, discussions about taxes frequently cause heat and rising tempers. Who should be taxed? How much should they pay? These questions are usually followed by the complaint: “It’s not fair!”
As controversial as discussions about taxes are today, they pale in comparison with what they were in Jesus’ time. The Jewish people were heavily taxed by their Roman occupiers. Imagine paying taxes that were used to support a military juggernaut that oppressed and enslaved you.
To add insult to injury, the official coins used to pay the tax bore an imprint of Caesar. They also carried an inscription declaring his divinity, which offended the Jewish belief in one God. So there they were, paying taxes that helped maintain their oppression with coins that offended their religious beliefs.
It is easy to imagine how heated discussions about taxes could become. And that is what we hear in today’s Gospel. The question put to Jesus wasn’t simply a casual inquiry for abstract discussion. It was a topic of heated debate. And now they were drawing Jesus into it.
And more than that, the Gospel says they intended to entrap Jesus. If he said, “Pay the tax,” he would have been siding with the Romans and offending devout Jews. If he said, “Don’t pay,” he could have been branded a revolutionary and a troublemaker. The Romans could have arrested him for treason.
Jesus senses the trap. He gets out of it by asking for a coin. They hand one to him. It has Caesar’s image and inscription on it. So, they are carrying the very coin that represents Caesar’s authority and claim to divinity. They are using the Roman coin and paying the tax to Rome.
No wonder Jesus calls them hypocrites. Their question wasn’t sincere. They weren’t seeking his wisdom or guidance. They were trying to trap him.
But we are here for a different reason. We are seeking his wisdom and guidance. So, we pay attention to what Jesus says. We probably already know his answer by heart: “Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.”
Now, what does that mean?
It is something we can ponder throughout our lives as we consider our loyalties to secular power and to God.
Jesus seems to be saying that we can have responsibilities and loyalties to government and to God without losing our priorities. But when the claims of government conflict with the claims of God, we have to choose in favor of God and challenge what civil authorities propose.
Our presence here today states our priorities. We look to God for our basic strength and direction. Our very identity comes from God. After all, who are we? We say that we are children of God – and more than that, we are made in the “image and likeness of God.”
In terms of today’s Gospel, we are coins of God. God has inscribed God’s image and likeness upon us, male and female. If people want to know what God is like and who God is, they should be able to see God’s image in us – in who we are and in how we behave – as easily as Jesus’ opponents could see Caesar’s image on their coins.
There is a reason to come here each week: to be reminded of who we are and to have God freshen that divine image in us – the way a coin dealer carefully cleans and restores an old or tarnished coin.
The image of God in us can become blurred or forgotten when we feel we haven’t achieved some of our life’s goals; when our financial struggles lessen our sense of self-worth; when our personal relationships are strained; or when people around us measure us by how we dress, the size of our home, our gender, sexual orientation, age, or appearance.
But in this place where we have gathered, there should be no such standards of measurement. Here we are reminded of our dignity as beloved children of God, individually formed by God’s hands. Each of us is a coin made in the divine image.
The Eucharist will feed us today. It will rebuild and restore the divine life within us, whether or not we think we measure up to some ideal.
But Jesus’ words are also a challenge to us: How do we repay to God what belongs to God?
We who bear the divine image are called to honor that image in others – even when that image isn’t clear to us, or when another person does not measure up to our expectations.
Perhaps someone has offended us, cheated us, or been unwilling to forgive us. The Gospel reminds us that it is time to look again – to look more deeply – and see the image and likeness of God in our neighbor.
There is a lot in our world that wants to engrave another image upon us, an image influenced by greed, rivalry, aggression, envy, and prejudice.
We need God to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves: renew God’s image in us.
Psalm 96 is our Responsorial Psalm. It is, in one sense, a response to the first reading from Isaiah. It invites us to give God glory. In other words, to recognize God’s sovereignty, let God’s justice shape the way live in the world. But it also draws us toward today’s Gospel.
In the Gospel, Jesus says that we must give God what belongs to God. So, the question Jesus puts before us today is: What does it mean to live as a person who belongs to God?
Click here for a link to this Sunday’s readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/101826.cfm
“Let us never grow weary of seeking justice!”
— Pope Leo XIV, Magnifica Humanitas (2026).
Barbara Molinari Quinby, MPS, Director Office of Human Life, Dignity, and Justice Ministries Holy Name of Jesus Cathedral, Raleigh, NC
Mini-reflections on the Sunday scripture readings designed for persons on the run. “Faith Book” is also brief enough to be posted in the Sunday parish bulletins people take home. From today’s I Thessalonians reading:
For our gospel did not come to you in word alone, but also, in power and in the Holy Spirit and with much conviction. Reflection:
Paul reminds the Thessalonians that they not only heard the word of the gospel, but saw its effects on their lives. If we are going through a testing time it’s good to remind ourselves how God helped us in the past. Such a reminder can build hope and enable endurance in the present.
So, we ask ourselves:
· Is there someone who needs to hear an encouraging word from us? · When I try to give that support will I do as Paul does, remind them of the faith · they have received and how God is their source of power and endurance?
POSTCARDS TO DEATH-ROW INMATES
“One has to strongly affirm that condemnation to the death penalty is an inhuman measure that humiliates personal dignity, in whatever form it is carried out.”
---Pope Francis
Inmates on death row are the most forgotten people in the prison system. Each week I am posting in this space several inmates’ names and locations. I invite you to write a postcard to one or more of them to let them know that: we have not forgotten them; are praying for them and their families; or whatever personal encouragement you might like to give them. If the inmate responds, you might consider becoming pen pals.
Please write to:
Seaga Gillard #1428278 (3/4/2019) David Godwin #1142266 (4/28/2019)
Central Prison PO Box 247, Phoenix MD 21131 (While the prison is in Raleigh mail for inmates is processed at this address)
For more information on the Catholic position on the death penalty go to the Catholic Mobilizing Network: http://catholicsmobilizing.org
“First Impressions” is a service to preachers and those wishing to prepare for Sunday worship. It is sponsored by the Dominican Friars. If you would like “First Impressions” sent weekly to a friend, CLICK HERE.
If you would like to support this ministry, please send tax deductible contributions to:
Fr. Jude Siciliano, OP Holy Rosary Priory 3600 Travis St. Houston, TX 77002-9591
Make checks payable to: Dominican Friars.
Or go to our webpage to make a secure online donation: https://www.PreacherExchange.com/donations.htm
(Always includes the 6 latest reflections with the newest first.)
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Anthony
Sntwan #1293151 (On death row since 4/6/2-16)
