Twenty-nine Sunday in Ordinary Time - Cycle A

As Christians we maintain a dual citizenship. We have our lives here on earth but our true home is in heaven. We are only sojourners in this world and, as such, have certain duties and responsibilities we must do while we are here. We must be respectful of our host country and follow its laws unless they are immoral. We are to participate in the betterment of society. But at all times we must remember that even though we are in this world we are not to be of this world. The world centers on love of self and is driven by the love of money, power, and desire. We, on the other hand, are called to lives of service through sacrificial love. Exactly the opposite of what the world offers. As citizens of heaven, we are to bring all of the beauty of heaven into the world. To live our Catholic faith fully and boldly in the public square is the greatest gift we have to offer to this society. What the world needs more than anything right now is for Catholics to start living Catholic lives again.

The Pharisees tried to trap Jesus into giving an answer that either made him an enemy to Caesar or an enemy to his religion, both crimes punishable by death. Instead, Jesus answered to give to Caesar what belonged to Caesar and to give God what belonged to God. The coin belonged to Caesar because it bore his image and inscription on it. Jesus called them hypocrites because it wasn’t even lawful for them to be carrying such a coin on their person in the first place. The Romans considered Caesar divine, so the coin bore the graven image of a false god on it. The coin was made with better silver than the Jewish coins of the day, so Jesus exposed the Pharisees’ hypocrisy when he had them produce it.

We were created in the image and likeness of God. The coin belonged to Caesar because it bore the image of Caesar. We belong to God because we bear his image. This means that we are not the owners of our lives. God created us and therefore is the rightful owner of our lives. The world wants us to believe that it is my body, my choice, and that I can do anything with my body that I so wish to do. This includes everything from living immorally, to self-mutilation, to murdering a growing baby inside us. Now, we can even choose to end our lives on our terms instead of God’s. But our bodies do not belong to us and we cannot do with them as we please. We are only stewards of our bodies while we are in this world. We are to use them for the betterment of this world and to give God glory. That is where living Catholic lives becomes so important. To live a Catholic life is to give God glory by serving others through sacrificial love. That is the heart of our faith.

Our bodies are not our own. Our lives are not our own. The image of God that we were created in was veiled by the first sin and we have been given this life to recover as much of that image as we can. We are the coinage of God, a currency backed by love. We are not to be tarnished coins but ones that shine brightly. You may be the only image of Jesus that someone will ever look upon. When someone looks at you let them see only Christ living through you.

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