“SPRINGS OF LIVING WATER”
Daily Spiritual Reflections
1st June 2021
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TUESDAY, NINTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
Memorial of Saint Justin, Martyr
Tob 2: 9-14; Ps 112: 1-2, 7-9; Mk 12: 13-17
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WE BELONG TO GOD
The question asked by the Pharisees in today’s Gospel was meant to trap Jesus. The trap is very clear, although it was wrapped in flattery and great admiration towards Jesus. Jesus gave a simple open-ended reply to shut their mouth without arriving at any conclusion. Truth is always discovered from an ongoing conversation and dialogue without a final word. When we have readymade answers for everything there comes pride and a kind of attitude: I know everything, my truth is superior to yours. Then comes condemnation, judgement and defense. Jesus’ logic goes beyond all that.
The Jewish authorities sought to trap Jesus in a religious state dispute over the issue of taxes. The Jews resented their foreign rulers and despised paying taxes to Caesar. They posed a dilemma to test Jesus to see if he would make a statement they could use against him. Jesus however makes a difference between ‘things that belong to God’ and ‘things that belong to Caesar’. They are not contradictory but complementary to each other. Secular and sacred are part of our life. We are embodied by these realities since we are finite beings and at the same time, something in us makes us infinite. What is infinite in us is not separate from the finite world.
Jesus avoided their trap by confronting them with the image of a coin. The coin was imprinted with Caesar’s image and thus belonged to him and he had all authority over it. We are created in the image and likeness of God (Gen 1:26-27) in our baptism. We rightfully belong, not to ourselves, but to God who created us and redeemed us in the precious blood of his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Cor 6:19-20). St Augustine rightly said, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you”. We live in a world and deal with secular things. The challenge before us is coping up with reality and serving the Lord with an undivided heart and mind.
Response: With a firm heart, the just man trusts in the Lord.
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