29th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Isaiah 45:1, 4-6 Thessalonians 1:1-5 Matthew 22:15-21
In today’s Gospel reading Jesus is following on from his parable which we read last week. The parable was to illustrate to the disciples that they must be dressed in the ‘wedding garment’ when presenting themselves to the Lord. The wedding garment is what is worn when the old behaviours and the old way of life is stripped away and we become ‘the chosen of the Lord’. The Lord tells us that we then become ‘the Salt of the Earth and the Light of the World’. That is a profound ‘garment’ to wear and may almost put us into a ‘spiritual world’!
But we are living in what is called the Real World and may be tempted to split ourselves in two and talk of body and soul as if they were separate parts of the human being. The secularism of our world tends to render God irrelevant to society and the concerns of body and material things to be supreme. It sets human life at the centre of the universe. Many others go to the other extreme and seem to expect us to function as if we were bodiless angels.
The Pharisees thought that they could catch Jesus out by posing the awkward question in regard to being real in society. But Jesus surprises them at their own game. He asks them about their sense of loyalty. They had to admit to having loyalty to Rome by paying taxes to Caesar. Jesus approves of their loyalty and reminds them of their dependence on God; ‘Give back to Caesar what belongs to Caesar – and to God what belongs to God’. Certainly give to Caesar (to the Empire, to the State, to the World) what is his due but remember to acknowledge all that we have has been given by God. The secular and sacred dimensions of life necessarily overlap because they are parts of the one life. True religion cannot be confined to a sort of prayer that is separated from what goes on in the rest of life. Happy and healthy living is not possible without reference to the God who has given us all that we need to sustain us. It is God who made us what we are, Body and Soul, worldly and spiritual. And, as Saint Irenaeus said “The glory of God is best seen in the person who is fully alive.”
The Gospel images of Salt and Light apply, in a particular way, to our role as disciples in the midst of the world. Christians are called to be the salt which preserves what is good in the world. We are called to be the Light which brings Christ’s teaching and values to the society in which we live.
On this day, Mission Sunday, we thank God for our calling, as among the chosen. We recognise our gifts, talents and our Faith as given by God. We pray that we may be able to use what we have been given to bring ‘The Good News’ to our World.