On this 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time, the Church celebrates World Mission Sunday. We are called to pray for missionary priests and religious who are serving the Church and humanity. We are to pray for ourselves too because we are also missionaries in many ways.
In the first reading of this weekend, God calls humanity to co-operate with Him in the mission of human deliverance. The question posed to Jesus by the Pharisees in today’s Gospel was not a sincere inquiry, but an attempt to find something to hold against Him. If He had said yes to paying taxes to the emperor, He would have angered those who resented Roman rule. If He had said no, He would have aroused the indignation of Rome.
We need to be wise and discerning in our responses when people are scheming to use our words against us. The Pharisees in today’s Gospel represent the different obstacles a missionary may encounter in their work. These obstacles come in different shapes and forms, including trials, temptations, doubts, persecution, threats to life, false accusations, and alienation. Therefore, for missionaries to overcome these challenges and be successful in today’s world, they must be “wise as serpents and innocent as doves” (Matthew 10:16).
Christ’s response today also shows that we have dual citizenship and dual responsibilities. We are called to obey and respect civil regulations by contributing our share to the welfare of the state. At the same time, we are also citizens of the Kingdom of God. As Christians, our ultimate responsibility is to God, because everything belongs to Him.
Rev. Cyprian Ihedoro
