“Repay to Cesar what belongs to Cesar
and to God what belongs to God”
 
 
Matthew 22:15-20
 
Once more the Gospel of Matthew presents us the dilemma of repaying to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God. The truth is that our civil society has desacralized much of what formerly was once part of the purely spiritual sphere. Today it is difficult to distinguish the tribute due to God and the tribute to all that is not of God and that falls within the human or worldly scope. There is a constant in our lives that lead us to make choices that put to the test our values and our way of judging. Therefore the first thing we would have to do is inform ourselves before making any decision. In the question that the Pharisees make to Jesus, on whether or not to pay taxes to Caesar, underlie several questions that Jesus responds with wisdom and prudence. Jesus does not want to scandalize the pious or please the revolutionaries. To the first Jesus speaks of the sovereignty of God and to the second of what today we would call civic duties. In the religious sphere the first thing we have to do is pray and discern to see if what I decide is God's will or a simple quirk of mine. God is the sovereign of all creation, but we live in a world of political relations that also demand our attention without undermining the authority of God. Our salvation and participation in The Kingdom of God depends upon the correct use of material things. Therefore, everything in this world falls within the realm of the divine, whether it is our heart, our soul or our value judgments. For the believer, everything comes and goes towards God. We are not a fragment of the sacred or the secular. As citizens who are respectful of the laws of our country we ask God to give us the courage to call things by their name affirming the positive and denouncing the evil when it goes against the human dignity of citizens.
 
Fr. Hernán, S.J.