These decisive words fix our lives in God and then, with the light and strength that comes from this, they launch us into the service of humanity. With these words Jesus answers a question posed by a group of Pharisees and some of Herod’s men: were they obligated to pay taxes to the occupying Roman powers? This was a trap set up to trick him. If Jesus would have answered yes, the Pharisees would have accused him of collaborating with the enemy and he might have lost the trust of the people. If he would have answered no, then Herod’s men, who were connected with the Roman authorities, would have said that he was subversive and would have accused him of being a political agitator. Jesus then asked them to show him a silver coin used to pay taxes and to tell him whose image and inscription was on it. They answered that it was the Emperor’s. If it is the Emperor’s, Jesus said, then give to the Emperor what is his. He thus recognized the value of  civil authority and institutions. But his answer goes beyond this dimension, indicating what is truly important: to give to God what is already his. Just as the image of the Emperor is on the Roman coin, so too has the image of God been imprinted on the heart of every person: he created us in his image and likeness (see Gn 1:26). We therefore belong to him and must return to him. Only to him should be given the total and exclusive tribute of our lives. What is  most important  is not  paying the taxes due to the Roman Emperor, but giving to God our  own lives and our own hearts.

«Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God»

How should we live this Word of Life? By renewing our respect, our sense of responsibility for and our commitment  to civic affairs, by honoring the law, protecting life, and maintaining the safety and order of society’s structures: public buildings, roads, means of transportation, and so forth. We can do it, not by taking a back seat but by offering an active contribution, decisive and well-thought-out ideas, proposals, and suggestions on how to improve our neighborhood, city and nation. We can volunteer our services in social and healthcare agencies, and we can increasingly improve the quality of our work. By fulfilling our responsibilities with competency and love we can truly serve Jesus in our brothers and sisters, and thus help the government and society to respond to God’s plan for humanity and to be completely at the service of each human person.

«Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God»

Andrea Ferrari, a bank clerk in Milan, was able to live out this Word of Life in  the office where he worked. “Every morning,” he once wrote, “just a few minutes before 8:30, I walk into the office building, punch the time clock and my day at work begins. It’s an odd sort of job; I’m always coming and going, up and down stairs, waiting in front of closed windows, receiving and giving out forms — and I’ve been doing it for years now. If I keep loving always, even when under stress, for example, with letters that have to be written over and over again, I will have done all that is expected of me, because I feel quite certain that Jesus is the one who has chosen this place for me.” “I am a bank clerk,” he would say with simplicity to Jesus, “and I want to serve you as a bank clerk. This is my life, Lord. I want to fill it with Love!” An elderly woman remarked that she always felt Andrea treated her not as an anonymous customer but as a “person.” One day she wished to express her thanks and brought him a bag full of fresh eggs! At thirty-one years of age, Andrea lay dying in a hospital in Turin, as a result of a traffic accident. “Am I to die like this, alone, without seeing anyone?” The nun nursing him responded that one needs to accept the will of God. On hearing these words, Andrea took courage and smiled. “We have learned to recognize God’s will as our ideal, always, even in the small things,”1 he responded, and then he added with his usual wit, “even in front of a red light.” He had obeyed God, and in  this obedience of love he returned to God.   Chiara Lubich