THE COIN OF HOMAGE

Reflection for 29^th Sunday of in ordinary Time A

(Is 45:1, 4-5, 1Thes 1:1-5, Mt 22:15-21)

1.0.The Trap

“Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth; Keep watch over the door of my lips” (Ps 141:3). Speech can be deceptive, as it can be the gateway to express wisdom and truth. Whoever that does not err in what he says is an upright and righteous person. It is from the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks (cf. Mt 12:34). So a guard over the mouth begins from the heart, and a slip of tongue is a betrayal of the heart. The tongue can be a trap. Many people have entered trouble due to what they said causally or otherwise. Some relationships and families are caught up in the trap of unforgiveness due to what was said or heard. And they set this trap for Jesus.

“The Pharisees went and took counsel how to entangle Jesus in his talk.” They planned it so well that they did not approach him themselves. They remained anonymous but forwarded their servants and the Herodians. The Pharisees were against paying tax to the Roman authorities while the Herodians supported it. But they have a common interest: both did not accept Jesus. 

Their sugar-coated tongue was to trap Jesus so that they could unleash their malice on Him. “Teacher, we know that you are true, and teach the way of God truthfully, and care for no man; for you do not regard the position of men.” How often do we fall for sweet speech! We readily feel happy when people tell us what we want to hear or boost our ego. In such a situation, the trap can easily catch us. Only the truth can set us free (Jn 8:32). And if our hearts are set on Jesus, the way, the Truth and the Life, the snare shall be broken and we will escape (cf. Ps 124:7).

2.0. Caesar’s Coin

“Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s...” Secular authority is good in itself for ordering society. But whenever secular authority is raised as a standard for determining allegiance to the Divine, malice germinates. All authority belongs to God. Isaiah explains this in the first reading, where God chose Cyrus, a pagan king, to achieve His will. “I am the Lord, and there is no other.” So both Caesar and his coin must serve to achieve God’s purpose, and respect human dignity. At the end, what belongs to Caesar gives way for what belongs to God.  

  

3.0. The Coin of Homage

Jesus has become the transforming link through which we understand that there should not be contradiction between the secular and the sacred. Such division can only exist as the product of malice. Caesar’s coin with its imprint is now symbolic. It has helped us trace God’s own coin and His imprint on it. God’s image and likeness is imprinted in the human heart. So, in giving back to God what belongs to Him, we must return the human heart to its creator. Thus, the heart is now our coin of homage given back to God, as the one to whom our homage is due (Ps 61:1). 

But this imprint of the likeness of God in human heart can be blurred by sin or covered with malice. In this case we may not be able to give God what is His due, or we may over stretch the relevance of Caesar’s coin. What is the way out? Thanks be to our Lord Jesus Christ, who came to dwell among us as the First Born of all creation (Col 1:15b), and in Him is the fullness of Divinity (Col 1:19; 2:9). He carries that perfect image of the Unseen God (Col 1:15a) which cannot be diminished. “And in Him you too find your own fulfillment, in the one who is the head of every sovereignty and ruling force” (Col 2:10). Now, a renewed imprint is enshrined in our hearts through baptism. Thus, Christ Jesus redeems our coin of homage—our hearts—such that only through Him can we offer fitting homage to God. In so doing, the perfect gift which belongs to God, and which we offer back to Him, is Jesus!

4.0. Paying due Homage to God

“...And to God the things that are God’s.” We cannot give anything less. Jesus has made the highest offering, and gave Himself to be offered as the most perfect gift. This living offering is re-enacted at every Eucharistic celebration. The Eucharist shines out as our living Coin of homage, in which we render back to God what perfectly belong to Him, and our due homage. From there we draw strength to fulfil our civic responsibilities, without denying God what belong to Him. 

Also, the Eucharist trains us in silence and gathers our hearts to Jesus such that the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts will be acceptable to the Lord (cf. Ps 19:14). And it pushes us forward in charity to be considerate, and recognize others even in our prayers as St Paul did to the Thessalonians in the second reading. This interpersonal dimension creates the platform through which we bring to action our participation in the perfect offering of Jesus to the Father. 

Therefore, the Coin of the Eucharist, nourishes the imprint of Jesus in our hearts. We are no more worried about Caesar’s coin. Our full homage has been taken over through the Eucharist.

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Fr. Jude Chinwenwa Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R

St Paul’s Catholic Church,

Gwagwalada, Abuja.

Nigeria.

22/10/2017

Mission Sunday.