By Father Paul Kam Po-wai
This year, June 4 fell on the ninth Tuesday of the ninth week of the Ordinary Time. The first reading for the Mass was 2 Peter 3:12-15 and 17-18, and the responsorial hymn was Psalm 90. The gospel was Mark 12:13-17, and verses 16-17 read: “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.’”
Some people interpret this statement to mean that politics and religion should be separated. In fact, politics and religion and the Church are not separated, but they have to be clearly differentiated. For example, the Vatican is a country, a Catholic country, and politics and religion are not separated. But they need to be distinguished. There is another way of putting it: the coin bears the image of Caesar, and therefore to Caesar what is Caesar’s. But if we believe that humankind is made in the likeness of God, Caesar is a man, and was created in the likeness of God, and therefore it is also said, “To God what belongs to God, and to God what belongs to Caesar.”
However, in history, there are many countries where politics overrides everything: some control religions, persecute religions, and even destroy religions; some do not have freedom of religion, nor freedom of speech; and in some cases, speech, or even numbers, is a taboo, not to be spoken, not to be expressed because it may be in violation of the law, and so on.
Strangely enough, believe it or not, in history, the more persecuted a Church was, the stronger and more faithful its believers became. There were many believers who died for their faith and eventually became martyrs. If we read the stories of the martyrs, I believe there will be a lot of revelations.
In today’s peaceful society, are we more or less willing to follow the example of the martyred saints and be brave enough to bear witness to the Lord? The responsarial psalm is really meaningful—“Lord, you have been our refuge through all generations” [Psalm 90:1]. Yes, because the Lord is our support, we are not afraid of anything.
We, who truly trust in the Lord, have hope even in the face of political and religious persecutions, or natural and man-made disasters, even in the midst of all kinds of trials and tribulations, “But according to his promise we await new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells” [2 Peter 3:13]. So, in the midst of pain, trouble, persecution, lean on the Lord! We still have hope and peace, waiting for the new heavens and the new earth.
