The gospel for today reminds me of the old saying from Benjamin Franklin which says, “In this world nothing is certain but death and taxes.” In the gospel, Jesus says to repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God. What belongs to God?
God created everything and put existence into motion, so the short answer is everything belongs to God. The question becomes, how do we repay God who gave us everything? There are some people who we will never be able to fully repay. I will never be able to repay my parents for bringing me into this world and providing a loving and nourishing environment to grow up in. Others may never be able to repay someone who changed their life for the better in a dramatic way. However, just because we may never be able to fully repay someone, doesn’t mean we shouldn’t repay them at all.
One way to repay God is by donating money to your church and to good causes. Everyone has to look at their own life and figure out how much they can sacrifice to help the organizations they are interested in. Money talks and if we want to see our churches and charitable organizations succeed, then the easiest way to do that is by contributing financially. Especially during this pandemic, many people are hurting financially. Churches and charities are not immune to this and are seeing lower numbers of contributions. If we are able to help, we should. When I think about tithing and donations, I usually think of the poor woman who gave just two small coins which was all she had.
If you can’t donate money then donate your time to help. Every minute that we have in this life is precious and when we choose to spend our time selflessly helping others, God smiles upon us. I sometimes think about how much time I have wasted and wish I could get that time back.
How else can we repay God? God gives each of us talents and many opportunities to use them. We can repay Him by making the best use of our gifts. If you gave someone a gift and found out that they never or hardly ever used it, how would that make you feel? How do you feel when you give someone a gift and you see them using it a lot and enjoying it? Why would God feel any different seeing us use or not use the wonderful gifts that he gave us?
Like any good parent, God has high hopes for us and wants to see us succeed. As a father myself, I can relate. I pray that my kids grow up to be good and loving people with a burning love for God in their hearts. I hope they find a job that they enjoy doing. I hope they will develop good relationships with others and are good role models. And ultimately, I pray they all make it to heaven. Your Father is looking down on you right now and praying for you too.
