Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time
1. God and Caesar 2. Good Citizens of God's Kingdom and Our Country
Liturgical Cycle: A | Lectionary Cycle: II
Introduction
Greeting (see Second Reading)
God loves you and has chosen you
and had the Good News brought to you.
May the grace and peace of God our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ be with you. R/ And also with you.
Introduction by the Celebrant
1. God and Caesar
We love our country, and it is good we do so. But should we agree with everything that happens in it and with all its structures? A lot of times we don’t know what is best for it. A Christian should learn to be discerning and to judge what happens among us and what we should do in the light of the Gospel. For we are citizens both of our country and of the Kingdom of God. Let us pray with the Lord in today’s Eucharist that we may be good citizens of both.
2. Good Citizens of God’s Kingdom and Our Country
Sometimes the Church is accused of meddling in politics or the affairs of the state. But the Church has to raise a prophetic voice to form the consciences of its members regarding the moral aspects of political and economic questions, to see to it that the laws of God and human rights and dignity are respected. A good Christian must be a good citizen and take up his responsibilities toward the human community. Church and state must respect each other without trying to control each other. Let us give to the state what belongs to the state and to God what belongs to God.
Penitential Act
What have we done for our country?
Have we done anything to enrich it
with the values of the Gospel?
Let us examine ourselves before the Lord.
(pause)
Lord Jesus, you wept over Jerusalem
because your people did not recognise
the coming of God’s kingdom:
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
Jesus Christ, you criticised
the religious leaders of your country
because they were misleading the people:
Christ, have mercy. R/ Christ, have mercy.
Lord Jesus, on the cross you prayed
that your Father would forgive
those of your people who rejected you:
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
Have mercy on us, Lord,
and forgive us all our sins.
Help us to live by the Gospel
and lead us to everlasting life. R/ Amen.
Opening Prayer
Let us pray
that the Lord may guide our world
(pause)
Lord, mighty God,
you lead the world and all humanity
to their destiny in you.
Give to the leaders of the world and of our country
a vision of the future
that is both imaginative and realistic
and respectful of human rights and dignity.
Help us to bear witness in everyday life
to the values of the Gospel
and to be involved in the work
of freedom, integrity and justice.
May we thus build up a community
that foreshadows our heavenly homeland.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.
First Reading
A Pagan, Instrument of God’s Plan: Cyrus, without knowing it, serves God's plans by liberating the Jews from exile. For God is the Lord of history.
Investiture of Cyrus
Thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus: “I have taken you by the right hand to subdue nations before you and strip kings of their armor, to open the gateways before you so that they will be closed no more.
For the sake of Jacob my servant, of Israel, my chosen one, I have called you by your name and given you your mission although you do not know me.
I am the Lord, and there is no other; there is no God besides me. I armed you when you did not know me,
so that, from the rising to the setting of the sun, all may know that there is no one besides me; I am the Lord, and there is no other.
Responsorial Psalm
R. (7b) Give the Lord glory and honor.
Sing to the LORD a new song;
sing to the LORD, all you lands.
Tell his glory among the nations;
among all peoples, his wondrous deeds.
R. Give the Lord glory and honor.
For great is the LORD and highly to be praised;
awesome is he, beyond all gods.
For all the gods of the nations are things of nought,
but the LORD made the heavens.
R. Give the Lord glory and honor.
Give to the LORD, you families of nations,
give to the LORD glory and praise;
give to the LORD the glory due his name!
Bring gifts, and enter his courts.
R. Give the Lord glory and honor.
Worship the LORD, in holy attire;
tremble before him, all the earth;
say among the nations: The LORD is king,
he governs the peoples with equity.
R. Give the Lord glory and honor.
Second Reading
Words of Appreciation: Paul thanks God for the young Christian community of Saloniki; it is an ideal community of faith, hope and love.
Greeting
Paul, Sylvanus, and Timothy, to the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace.
Thanksgiving
We give thanks to God always for you, and we remember you in our prayers.
We constantly recall before God, our Father, the work of your faith, the labor of your love, and your endurance in waiting for Christ Jesus our Lord.
We remember, brothers and sisters, your calling.
The gospel we brought you was not just in words. Miracles, the Holy Spirit, and plenty of blessings were given to you. You also know how we dealt with you, for your benefit.
Alleluia Verse
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Shine like lights in the world
as you hold on to the word of life.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Church and State: (We belong to both the human city and the city of God and we must give each its due. The values of the Gospel must be our guide.)
On the Tribute to Caesar
The Pharisees left, thinking about how they could trap Jesus with his own words.
They sent their disciples to him, along with members of Herod’s party, saying:
“Master, we know that you are an honest man and truly teach God’s way. You are not influenced by others, nor are you afraid of anyone.
So tell us what you think: is paying taxes to Caesar against the law or not?”
But Jesus understood their evil intentions and said to them:
“Hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me?
Show me the coin you use to pay taxes.”
They showed him a silver coin.
Jesus asked them:
“Whose head is this, and whose name?”
They answered:
“Caesar’s.”
Then Jesus replied:
“Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to God what belongs to God.”
Prayers of the Faithful
Let us remember before God our Father our country and Its people and give thanks for them and for all the people. Let us say: R/ We pray you, hear your people.
– That everywhere on earth the Church may speak out without fear for peace and the rights and dignity of the human person, let us pray: R/ We pray you, hear your people.
– That justice, love and responsible freedom may be the basis of the social order in the world and in our country, that all may live in peace and security, let us pray: R/ We pray you, hear your people.
– That all humanity may share equitably in the world’s material and spiritual goods, and that the state and civic organizations may help and protect the weak and the victims of calamities, let us pray: R/ We pray you, hear your people.
– That all citizens may have a strong sense of civic responsibility and actively participate toward the common welfare; let us pray: R/ We pray you, hear your people.
– That the Church in our country may bear witness to God’s kingdom to all the peoples of Asia; that our country may play a role of honor in the family of nations and cooperate to world peace and unity, let us pray: R/ We pray you, hear your people.
God, you love people and people are your concern. Make us share in your care through your Son who became one of us, Jesus Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.
Prayer over the Gifts
Lord our God,
we bring this bread and wine before you
as the signs in which your Son Jesus Christ
relives his commitment to us.
May they also become the signs
of our responsibility towards others,
that with your Son we may be ready
to break the bread of ourselves
and to share ourselves with people
as a refreshing cup that is passed around.
Grant us this through Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.
Introduction to the Eucharistic Prayer
With Christ, we offer to the Father the sacrifice that saved the world. From Christ we have received the mission to continue his work and to bring his Good News to the ends of the earth.
Introduction to the Lord’s Prayer
Let us pray the prayer of Jesus
to his and our Father in heaven,
that everyone may seek his will and his kingdom. R/ Our Father...
Prayer for Peace
Lord Jesus Christ, you said to your apostles:
I leave you peace, my peace I give you.
Look not on our sins,
but on the many victims of war and violence,
and have mercy on them.
Grant peace to all nations,
regard the faith of your Church
and give to your people the gift
of the peace and unity of your kingdom,
where you live for ever and ever. R/ Amen.
The peace of the Lord be with you always.
R/ And also with you.
Invitation to Communion
This is Jesus, the Lamb of God
who gave to God what belongs to God
and who saved us by his death and rising.
Through him we can live our faith,
labor in love, and show constancy in hope.
R/ Lord, I am not worthy...
Prayer after Communion
Lord our God,
you are about to send your people
gathered here around your Son,
back to the human city
to join forces with all
to build up the city of God.
Make us sensitive to the needs of others
and help us to give to all equal chances in life,
to build up communities of friendship and love
and to warm the earth
with a touch of your gentleness.
Be present in our human world
through Jesus Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.
Blessing
In this Eucharist
we have given praise and thanks to God
not only as his people
but in the name of all humanity,
for Christ died and rose from the dead for all.
Our world is not yet God’s world,
the earthly realities are still mixed
with injustice, inequality, fear.
We are sent to make this earth God’s world.
May God give you the courage
to carry out this task, and may he bless you:
the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. R/ Amen.
Go in the name of Christ and bring his love to all. R/ Thanks be to God.
REFLECTIONS
Matthew 22:15–21
God and Caesar
The tax at issue was not a general levy but the head tax owed by every subject of the empire. Fr Fernando Armellini explains that it fell on men from the age of fourteen and women from twelve until about sixty-five, that it required the censuses which repeatedly triggered unrest in Judea, and that counting a people who belonged to God felt to devout Israelites like handing them over to a human master; his commentary on this Sunday's Gospel also notes the inscription on the coin, which named Tiberius as son of the divine Augustus and carried a priestly title on the reverse.
For the pious, a census was not merely bureaucratic: Armellini recalls that counting a people who belonged to God felt like a transfer of ownership, and that David's heart struck him after he numbered Israel.
The alliance that approaches Jesus is itself revealing. Pharisees, who resented the occupation, arrive with supporters of Herod, who depended on Roman favour; the notes to Matthew observe that the Herodians would have favoured payment while the Pharisees did not. The trap is symmetrical. A refusal could be reported to the governor as sedition, which is precisely the charge later brought before Pilate, and an approval would cost Jesus the sympathy of a crowd that hated the tax. The compliment that opens their question is flattery designed to make retreat impossible.
Jesus asks for the coin, and the request exposes something. Those who object to the tax on religious grounds are carrying the emperor's portrait in their clothing, since garments of the period had no pockets and coins were tucked into the folds. The silver denarius of Tiberius, the coin generally identified as the tribute penny, bore his likeness and a seated figure on the reverse, as the Jewish Virtual Library's note on the coin records. When Jesus asks whose image and inscription it carries, he uses the vocabulary of Genesis, where the human person is made in God's image and likeness. The notes to Matthew add a dry observation: how readily the questioners produce the coin shows how comfortably they used it.
So the answer does not settle a tax policy. It sets two belongings side by side: the coin stamped with Caesar's face may go back to Caesar, while the life stamped with God's image belongs elsewhere. The questioners came for a political verdict and were handed a question about themselves, which is left here as an invitation rather than a rebuke.
Pastoral lens: Pope Francis drew from this scene the question each person can ask quietly about where their deepest belonging lies: family, work, and state have their claims, yet the first belonging is to God, in whose image every life is made (see Angelus, 22 October 2017).