Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time — October 18, 2026

Every Sunday, Bishop Edward Malesic writes a Scripture reflection for the faithful. Follow the bishop on Facebook and Instagram.

Click here for the readings.

Today’s Gospel is a good example of the saying, “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.”

The Pharisees and the Herodians had deep political and religious differences. Yet they put those differences aside to plot against Jesus, whom they now regarded as their common enemy.

They thought they had trapped him with a carefully chosen question: “Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?”

If Jesus said no, they could accuse him of rebellion against Rome. If he said yes, he risked alienating those Jews who resented Roman rule and found Caesar’s claims offensive.

Jesus asked them to show him the coin used to pay the tax. It bore the image of Tiberius Caesar.

Holding the coin, Jesus asked, “Whose image is this and whose inscription?” The answer was obvious: Caesar’s.

Then Jesus said, “Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.”

With that response, Jesus exposed their question as a false choice. There are things we legitimately owe to civil authority. St. Paul himself taught that citizens should pay what they owe, including taxes, and show proper respect to those in authority (see Romans 13:7).

But Jesus goes far beyond the question of taxes. If Caesar’s image is stamped on the coin, then the coin may be returned to Caesar.

But where is God’s image stamped?

It is stamped upon us.

Created in the image and likened of God, God’s image has been imprinted in us. Therefore, while a coin may belong to Caesar, our entire lives belong to God.

There can be no complete separation between what we believe and how we live. Our faith must shape our choices, our relationships, our work, our use of money, and our participation in public discourse and decision-making. In all things and at all times, we belong first to God.

I think of St. Thomas More whenever I hear this Gospel. He served King Henry VIII as Lord Chancellor of England and was a gifted lawyer and statesman. But when the king demanded that More place loyalty to him above loyalty to God and the Church, Thomas More refused.

Before his martyrdom in 1535, he declared that he died “the king’s good servant, but God’s first.”

That is why we honor him as a saint. He gave his whole life back to the God whose image he bore.

We are called to do the same. We give our entire lives to the One who gave his life for us—because we want to be saints too.

Have a blessed week, everyone.