Is 45:1,4-6;
Ps 96;
1 Thess 1:1-5b;
Mt 22:15-21.
GOD’S SOVEREIGNTY AND OUR MISSION
On Mission Sunday, we are invited to pray for missionaries throughout the world. Pope Leo XIV encourages us to remain united in Christ and to recognize our shared participation in Christ’s mission of love.
The original meaning of ‘piety’ is reflected in Christ’s words that we have just heard: “Render to Caesar the things that belong to Caesar, and to God the things that belong to God.” Piety originally referred to a moral duty—to what is due or owed. It described the responsibility one person had toward another, and was often used in reference to the duties owed to rulers and those who govern us. It could also describe the obligation owed to someone who had shown us significant kindness and therefore had a legitimate claim on us. In this sense, Christ’s words about rendering to Caesar can be understood, in part, as an affirmation of our duties.
What, then, may Caesar, or any leader, rightly expect? Certainly taxes and the other responsibilities of citizenship. And what may God rightly expect of us? What duty do we owe him? We can consider the nature of God’s claim on us. The Almighty created us out of nothing, and without his sustaining presence, we would cease to exist and return to nothingness. Our complete dependence on God as Creator points to this: ultimately, everything is owed to him.
Our duties to the state are genuine, though temporary by their nature. Our duty to God is everlasting, because of who he is. God’s authority reaches us in both the religious and civil spheres. Civil duties are real but limited in duration and, in that sense, may be subject to negotiation. By contrast, God’s claims are absolute and, properly speaking, sovereign.
Fr Joseph Osho
