26 January 2027 · Syro-Malankara Rite
Open in the Daily Word appAlso: Syro-Malabar Rite · Latin Rite · മലയാളം
“They answered, “The emperor's.” Then he said to them, “Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor's, and to God the things that are God's.”” Matthew 22:21
Some in Corinth wanted letters of recommendation from Paul. He answers: “You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, to be known and read by all; and you show that you are a letter of Christ… written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.” The best proof of the Gospel is a changed community. And Paul is humble: “Not that we are competent of ourselves… our competence is from God.”
On Republic Day the Gospel could not be more fitting. The Pharisees and Herodians try to trap Jesus: is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor? He asks for a coin: “Whose head is this, and whose title?” “The emperor's.” “Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor's, and to God the things that are God's.” The coin bears Caesar's image; we bear God's image. Christians are loyal citizens: we pay taxes, obey just laws, vote, serve the common good and pray for those in authority. But the State is not God. Our deepest belonging is to God, and that gives us the courage to stand for justice, for the poor, and for the freedom of conscience that India's Constitution guarantees to all.
Theme: “Give… to God the things that are God's.”
A letter of Christ, competence from God, and faithful citizenship.
“I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within them; I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh,” Ezekiel 11:19
“and you show that you are a letter of Christ, prepared by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.” 2 Corinthians 3:3
Apply: Let your conduct today be a letter of Christ.
“He said to me, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, says the LORD of hosts.” Zechariah 4:6
“Not that we are competent of ourselves to claim anything as coming from us; our competence is from God,” 2 Corinthians 3:5
Apply: Begin your work with a prayer for God's help.
“So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” Genesis 1:27
“They answered, “The emperor's.” Then he said to them, “Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor's, and to God the things that are God's.”” Matthew 22:21
Apply: Pray for India and its leaders today.
We are God's letter and God's image.
Faithful citizens, wholly belonging to God.
Take-home resolution: Serve the common good in one concrete way this week.
Dear friends, Paul tells the Corinthians: you show that you are a letter of Christ, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, on tablets of human hearts (2 Corinthians 3:3). The best proof of the Gospel is a changed community.
And he adds: our competence is from God (2 Corinthians 3:5).
In the Gospel, on this Republic Day, Jesus says: give to the emperor the things that are the emperor's, and to God the things that are God's (Matthew 22:21). The coin bears Caesar's image; we bear God's.
So we are loyal citizens: we pay taxes, obey just laws, serve the common good and pray for our leaders. But the State is not God. Belonging to God gives us courage to stand for justice and for the freedom of conscience our Constitution guarantees to all. Amen.
Children, the coin had the king's picture, but you have God's picture in you! Let us pray for India today and give our hearts to God.
Lord God, you made us in your image and wrote your Spirit on our hearts. On this Republic Day bless India and its people of every faith; grant wisdom and justice to those who govern; and make us loyal citizens who give to God the things that are God's. Amen.
On India's Republic Day the two readings speak of what is written and of what is owed. Paul says the Corinthians themselves are a letter of Christ, written on human hearts. Jesus looks at a coin with an emperor's head on it and says: give to the emperor what is his, and to God what is God's. A Christian is a loyal citizen whose deepest belonging is to God, in whose image each person is made.
Setting.
Paul founded the Church at Corinth (Acts 18:1–11), but rival teachers have since arrived, it seems with written recommendations, and questioned his standing. Such letters were a normal and good practice in the early Church (Acts 18:27; Romans 16:1–2). Paul's point is not to despise them but to say that he has something better: the Corinthians themselves.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, to be known and read by all;” (3:2)
A note on the text: most manuscripts read “our hearts”, which the NRSV and the POC follow; a few read “your hearts”. Either way the point stands: people read the Gospel in the life of a community before they read it in a book.
“and you show that you are a letter of Christ, prepared by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.” (3:3)
Christ is the author, the Spirit the ink, Paul the hand or courier, the people the page.
“Not that we are competent of ourselves to claim anything as coming from us; our competence is from God,” (3:5)
How the Church reads it.
The Catechism uses this very verse: if God's law was written on tablets of stone by the finger of God, then the letter from Christ, entrusted to the care of the apostles, is written with the Spirit of the living God on the hearts of men (CCC 700). The New Law is written by the Holy Spirit on the heart (CCC 1965–1966). The Church does not read this as setting aside Israel's law as worthless. She reads it as the fulfilment of what the prophets foretold.
Setting.
Jesus is in Jerusalem in his last days, teaching in the Temple. Some Pharisees and Herodians, who did not normally share a cause, come together to test him. The question was painful: since AD 6 Judea had paid a direct tax to Rome, and Judas the Galilean had raised a revolt against it (Acts 5:37). To answer “Yes” would look like betraying his people's hopes; to answer “No” could be reported to the Romans as sedition. This is one group's test of Jesus, not a judgement on a people.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“Show me the coin used for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius.” (22:19)
Jesus seems to have none himself.
“Then he said to them, “Whose head is this, and whose title?”” (22:20)
“They answered, “The emperor’s.” Then he said to them, “Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”” (22:21)
The answer is neither revolt nor worship of the state. It gives the state its proper place, and thereby limits it. The second half is the larger: the coin bears Caesar's image; what bears God's image?
How the Church reads it.
Early Christians read the saying this way: the coin with Caesar's image goes to Caesar, and the human being, who bears God's image, goes to God; so Tertullian and St Augustine (in substance). The Catechism teaches that citizens have a duty to contribute to the good of society, that it is morally obligatory to pay taxes, to vote and to defend one's country (CCC 2238–2240), and it quotes this verse to teach that one must refuse obedience when civil commands are contrary to the moral order (CCC 2242). The early Letter to Diognetus, quoted in CCC 2240, says that Christians live in their own lands as resident aliens, sharing everything as citizens (in substance).
Does this saying mean that religion should keep out of public life?
No. Jesus does not divide life into two separate rooms, because everything belongs finally to God. The Council teaches that the Church and the political community are independent in their own fields, and that both serve the same human persons (Gaudium et Spes 76). Christians take part in public life as citizens, guided by conscience.
The Constitution of India came into force on 26 January 1950 and, among much else, protects liberty of conscience and of religion for all persons (Article 25). Today Malankara Catholics give thanks for the land we love. We pray for those who govern and those who are governed (1 Timothy 2:1–2), for justice, and for all who suffer. We serve the nation best as a “letter of Christ”, in honest work, in paying what we owe, in care for the poor, and in peace with all.