At 12 noon today, the Holy Father Francis appeared at the window of the study in the Vatican Apostolic Palace to recite the Angelus with the faithful and pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square.
These are the words of the Pope in introducing the Marian prayer:
“Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!
This Sunday’s Gospel ( cf.Mt22: 15-21) shows us Jesus struggling with the hypocrisy of his opponents. They compliment him a lot – at the beginning, a lot of compliments – but then they ask an insidious question to put him in difficulty and discredit him before the people. They ask him: “Is it lawful, or not, to pay the tax to Caesar?” (v. 17), that is, to pay taxes to Caesar. At that time, in Palestine, the domination of the Roman Empire was poorly tolerated – and of course, they were invaders -, also for religious reasons. For the population, the cult of the emperor, also underlined by his image on the coins, was an insult to the God of Israel. Jesus’ interlocutors are convinced that there is no alternative to their question: either a “yes” or a “no”. They were waiting, precisely because with this question they were sure to corner Jesus and make him fall into the trap. But He knows their malice and frees himself from the trap. He asks them to show him the coin, the tax currency, the tax currency, takes it in his hands and asks who the imprinted image is. They answer that it belongs to Caesar, that is, the emperor. Then Jesus replies: “Pay back to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God” (v. 21).
With this answer, Jesus places himself above the controversy. Jesus, always above. On the one hand, he recognizes that the tax to Caesar must be paid – for all of us too, taxes must be paid – because the image on the coin is his; but above all remember that every person carries within himself another image – we carry it in the heart, in the soul -: that of God, and therefore it is to Him, and to Him alone, that everyone is indebted for his own existence, for his own life.
In this sentence of Jesus we find not only the criterion of the distinction between the political and religious spheres, but clear guidelines emerge for the mission of believers of all times, even for us today. Paying taxes is a citizen’s duty, as is compliance with the just laws of the state. At the same time, it is necessary to affirm the primacy of God in human life and in history, respecting God’s right to what belongs to him.
Hence the mission of the Church and Christians: to speak of God and to witness him to the men and women of their time. Each of us, by Baptism, is called to be a living presence in society, animating it with the Gospel and with the vital lymph of the Holy Spirit. It is a question of committing oneself with humility, and at the same time with courage, making one’s contribution to building the civilization of love, where justice and fraternity reign.
Holy Mary help everyone to escape from all hypocrisy and to be honest and constructive citizens. And may he support us, disciples of Christ, in the mission of bearing witness that God is the center and meaning of life.
[01236-EN.02] [Original text: Italian] Vatican New – Bulletin
