WHAT BELONGS TO GOD? 

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Today’s Gospel gives us one of those sayings of Jesus that almost everyone has heard: “Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.”

We sometimes hear those words as if Jesus were dividing life into two separate compartments: one for God and another for everything else. Religion belongs in church, while politics, work, money, family life, and the rest belong somewhere else. But there is a problem with that interpretation. What, exactly, belongs to God? For Jesus, the answer would have been obvious: everything.

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The coin bears Caesar’s image, but every human being bears the image of God. Our lives, our families, our work, our possessions, our decisions, our relationships, our concern for our neighbors—all of these belong to God. That means our faith cannot be something we practice only for an hour on Sunday. What happens at Mass should shape the way we live when we leave Mass.

It should affect how we treat the person who is difficult to love. It should influence how we use our money and our time. It should shape the way we care for our families, welcome the stranger, protect human life, serve the poor, and look after
those who are easily forgotten. It should even shape the way we participate in our community and our country—not according to party labels, but according to a conscience formed by the Gospel and a concern for the dignity of every human
person. The Church reminds us that faithful citizenship means looking beyond partisan loyalties and seeking the common good, especially the good of those who are weak or vulnerable.

This connects with our reflection this week on Sowing Seeds of Love, one of the themes we are considering through our Sowing Seeds of Faith campaign. Love begins close to home. It is lived in marriages and families, in the patience of
parents, in caring for children and grandparents, in forgiveness, sacrifice, and the countless little things we do for one another. Strengthening families and helping them pass on the faith is one important way we sow seeds that can bear fruit long after we are gone.

But love cannot stop at the doors of our homes. If everything belongs to God, then God also has a claim on our time, our abilities, and the gifts He has entrusted to us. That is especially worth thinking about as we prepare for our Ministry Fair next weekend. Perhaps the question for each of us is not simply, “Which ministry interests me?” but something deeper: “Lord, where are You calling me to serve?”

Maybe God is calling you to become involved in a ministry. Maybe He is asking you to return to something you once did. Maybe He is inviting you simply to take one small step and participate more fully in the life of our parish. Jesus tells us to give to God what belongs to God. And when we realize how much belongs to God, we begin to see that discipleship is not simply one part of our lives. It is the way we live the whole of our lives.