Keeping Our Allegiances Straight

Homily: Twenty-Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time (A)

Matthew 22:15-21

18 October 2020

Fr. Ricky C. Montanez

When was the last time you’ve been to a party? I hope, none of you would answer “recently”. As we know, gatherings are still prohibited these days.  Back when I could accept invitations to parties, I’d always remind myself to steer clear of certain topics for conversation. I’ve been advised that I might as well keep my political and religious views to myself if I want to keep the peace.  

Politics and religion are highly contentious matters that can easily heat up any conversation.  As regards these topics, people tend to adhere strongly to their opinions. They can easily get riled up and take offence whenever ideas contrary to their beliefs are discussed, most often resulting in heated arguments instead of a general consensus.  The fact is, political opinions and affiliations have always divided a people.  We are, however, now living in unnatural times. We need to have a united front in the war against Covid 19 and set aside all forms of dissension and division among us.  

We heard earlier, in the gospel, a question posed to Jesus by the Pharisees and Herodians who meant to trap him in a dilemma — “Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?” (Matthew 22:17) If Jesus were to say that it is rightful to pay taxes he would catch the ire of the observant Jews. On the other hand, if he were to say that it is unlawful, he would risk being considered a subversive. It’s a tricky situation! I’m sure, at some point, we’ve all experienced a “damned, if you do, damned, if you don’t” kind of predicament. Jesus was well aware that either way, He would get in trouble. 

Various commentaries on this passage say that “the ‘trick’ to winning this verbal sparring is to pose a counter question – one with a Biblical allusion. In this case that allusion is in the word ‘image’.” Jesus retorts, “Whose image is this and whose inscription?” (Matthew 22:20) The Book of Genesis relates how we are made in the image and likeness of God. (Genesis 1:2) So, while the denarius coin bears Caesar’s image, we all bear the image and likeness of our Maker. In saying this Jesus admonishes the Pharisees and Herodians who ought to know more than anyone, that they owe their allegiance to no one but God alone. Everything belongs to God! As the Lord declares to Cyrus, his anointed one: “I am the Lord and there is no other, there is no God besides me.”  (Isaiah 45:5) St. Thomas More famously told his accusers: “I am the king’s good servant, but God’s first.”  Now, how do we give God what belongs to God? Today’s psalm offers an answer: “Give the Lord glory and honour . . . the glory due his name.” (Psalm 96) Let all we think, do and say bear the mark of our allegiance to God. 

This does not mean, however, that we are to shun our government and defy our civil laws. “Render to Caesar what belongs to Caesar.” (Matthew 22:21) This is a reminder that we also have a duty to give to society what it asks of us — basically our cooperation to promote the common good. We work hand in hand with our civil authorities in order to bring about a society where we hope the values of the Kingdom of God are upheld and promoted. To my understanding, the Philippines is still a country with a large Christian demographic.  As a nation of believers in Jesus, we expect that our leaders and our laws would reflect the values of the Kingdom.  This is also the reason why we are encouraged to hold our civil leaders accountable whenever decisions made, policies approved or laws enacted conflict with those of the Christian faith expressed through the teachings of the Church. Offences such as a double standard in the application of the law are transgressions that must be denounced. A few days ago, a three-month old baby died because her detainee mother was not granted the same concessions and considerations afforded high profile prisoners. God rest the soul of Baby River. These instances force us to look at our society and strive to make things better. 

I believe that in these days of the pandemic, we, too, stand as Jesus did, seemingly caught in the tension of abiding by current laws and working to establish God’s Kingdom. We know the Church functions independently from the government by virtue of the separation of the Church and the state. However, in this time of crisis, we are bound to work closely with the government inasmuch as our civil leaders are obligated to give us a clear and unified directive so we can all work for the common good. To do anything contrary at this moment would be morally unacceptable. Even though we observed civic groups, many of whom are members of the Church, mobilize their manpower and resources to swiftly bring help or “ayuda” to sectors of society desperately waiting for government aid, they did so in line with the guidelines of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases   (IATF-EID). They acknowledged that the rules were meant to keep order and to ensure the safety of the majority. We work together for everyone’s best interest at this given time and situation. 

We must admit that to be alive on this earth we cannot escape being governed by some entity or be subject to an authority. The challenge for us is not to be complacent and indifferent. The character of Edith in Enola Holmes quite plainly says that if one has no interest in changing a world that already suits them, then politics may be of no interest to them. As we know, our world is far from perfect. Ultimately, as members of the Church, we are called as God’s chosen people to work tirelessly like St. Paul, Silvanus and Timothy within the structures of our society, being ever vigilant to guard against threats that make us forget that we are God’s and that everything belongs to God.