Daily Inspiration

“Some Pharisees and Herodians were sent to Jesus to ensnare him in his speech. They came and said to him, “Teacher, we know that you are a truthful man and that you are not concerned with anyone’s opinion. You do not regard a person’s status but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not? Should we pay or should we not pay?” Knowing their hypocrisy he said to them, “Why are you testing me? Bring me a denarius to look at.” They brought one to him and he said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?” They replied to him, “Caesar’s.” So Jesus said to them, “Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.” They were utterly amazed at him.” -Mark 12:13-17

Pilots are advised to keep two topics out of the cockpit, God and politics because they trigger deep emotional reactions. Jesus spectacularly handles both of them in this passage. My friends, in reality, everything we have comes from God. When we offer our all back to God, He repays us by a magnitude far greater than we gave.

We are both physical and spiritual beings, living in a world ruled by political leaders, yet belonging to a world ruled by our Divine King. Therefore, even in our political life, we must give our all to God. If we remove God from any platform, public or private, the enemy rushes in to fill that vacuum, and we end up serving the wrong master.

We were made in His image, and at our baptism, He inscribed His name on our hearts, so we should give to God what belongs to Him.

Saint Filippo Smaldone, pray for us.

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Jesus, I trust in you!