“…GIVE TO GOD WHAT BELONGS TO GOD” (Mark 12:17)

⏰Tuesday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time 1 (06 June 2017)

????Tob 2:9-14; Ps 112:1b-2, 7-8, 9 (R.v.7b); Mark 12:13-17

This is one of the most misread portions of the scripture. Many use it as a justification of their worldliness. But was that the message Jesus tries to pass across there?

In the first place, Jesus must have meant by that statement that they should give everything back to God, since even Caesar himself belonged to God.

However, the main message lies in the second part of that statement, “Render to God the things that are God’s” (Mark 12:17). Just as the face of Caesar is inscribed on the coin, so are we marked with the face of God, and so belongs to God.

So Jesus wants to remind us of the need to give ourselves and all we have back to God and in all circumstances.

We cannot do that well without the assistance of the Holy Spirit because our efforts alone cannot make us righteous. Tobit did all his best to be righteous but even that drove him to make wrong judgements and false accusations against the wife (see Tob 2:9-14).

May the Holy Spirit continue to abide with us so that we might give all we have and are back to God, and in the way God wants us to do so. Amen.

Have a grace-filled day. Peace be with you.