Duty and Obligation

As we vest in the sacristy prior to mass, whoever is preaching is asked to summarize their homily in a sentence. So Father asks me and I respond “Participation in the process is a duty for us a citizens; discernment is an obligation for us as disciples.”

It may look to some like our Lord is separating religion from Caesar, but a closer look shows us pretty clearly that he’s not separating at all but rather placing both in their proper order. What belongs to Caesar is what belongs to any sort of government, and it doesn’t much matter how big (or little) Caesar is. Whenever a few of us gather to decide on the solution to a problem or any course of action, you’re going to find politics. Government is how a group of people figures out what to do next, whether is a book club, school board, city, state, or nation. It has a proper role, and there are things that “belong” to that role.

But Jesus goes a step further: we give to God what belongs to God, and that’s basically everything, including Caesar. There isn’t - indeed there can’t be - any separation between what believe as disciples and what we do as citizens. The coin bears an image; so do we. We carry this image everywhere we go and this means beyond our times of prayer or adoration, devotion, or worship. It’s visible for all to see, and especially so out there in the world.

As disciples we’re sent out there to be salt and light, and we render everything we have, everything we are, and everything we do back to the God whose image we bear. And so we must discern, constantly, what it is this image means for us, particularly when we are deciding something.

• Does this thing we’re deciding or doing offer a preferential option for the poor?
• Does it provide or deny something that is justly due to another?
• Does it create or destroy solidarity between us and our neighbor?

We’re called to discern the answers to these questions, so we should ask them frequently and vocally. We may find that if we do, we also find ourselves a little adrift in the current landscape, swaying this way or back according to the waves and currents. Again, it doesn’t matter if we’re talking about a committee in a parish, a council in a school, the legislature. Ask ten people a question and you’re going to get eleven opinions. Remember the image we bear.

You may feel a bit out of place; this is to be expected. Our citizenship is in heaven, but our tasks are here. None of us were promised a rose garden. Remember this: if you feel like a bit of seaweed moving back and forth, you are also firmly rooted on rock. From that firm spot, we can always learn, discern, and act - confident that no matter how frustrated, tired, anxious, or disgusted we might be at times, we know how the story ends: in triumph, for all things find their ultimate fulfillment in Christ Jesus.