Today’s Gospel and the story of giving to Caesar what is Caesar’s and giving to God what is God’s, most often brings up a conversation or two about stewardship or causes us to ponder, if we are giving enough to the Church.
Certainly this could be a point of reflection this weekend; but I would like to go in a bit of different direction today.
In a sentence, I would suggest that what Jesus is pushing us to do in today’s Gospel is to get our priorities straight.
In our world today, we so often give of ourselves until we are stretched thin. There never seems to be enough time to do all that we needs to be done. We are on the go from sunrise to sunset.
There are lots of things we do daily that have rightful place in our lives: the responsibilities of a job, a family and the like, there is the grocery shopping, getting the kids to soccer practice, getting some “me time,” and the list goes on and on and on…
But we need to keep it all in proper perspective. Guarding against the belief that these activities are our be all and end all that overshadows faith and family, health and moral integrity.
Yes, we need to give to God. We owe to God the LOVE he has poured out to us by the witness of our lives as Disciples of Christ. Lives that share the Good News of the Gospel with everyone we meet.
In our world today, we so often give of ourselves until we are stretched thin. We give to schools as volunteers, we give to the teams as coaches, we give to the organizations, and more…
Even these good things can get in our way of rightfully giving to God and to “Caesar” (others) what is their due.
Our time, our love, our helping hand, our presence and so much more.
As Jesus asks, may we continue to work toward a bit more balance in our lives. A balance that continues to get our priorities straight when it come to the things of God, of daily life and so much more.
Just maybe today’s Scriptures are a reminder for us to keep working for balance when it comes to love of God, love of others and being faithful disciples.