Reflection by Deacon Benjamin Lai

We are made in the image and likeness of God.   In God’s image, we have a will, an intellect and above all we are made to love God and to love one another.  We belong to Him and we worship Him alone.

In today’s gospel reading, Jesus reminds us that we do not belong to this world.  We live in this world but we are not of this world.  We are to “repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.”  All the gifts, both spiritual and material, that we have received in life are meant to be used for the benefit not just for ourselves, but for the benefit of others.  If we keep in mind that all things that we possess come from God, then we realize that we are to share what we have with everyone.

At the moment of our death, we are only worth the treasures we have stored up in heaven through our acts of kindness, generosity, sacrifices and self-giving.  When we focus on material things, this pursuit of worldly happiness and security has become the little gods that distract us from worshipping the one true God who created us.  It is only in our right order with God that we find true peace and satisfaction in who we are.  The Catechism puts it best, “the worship of the one God sets man free from turning in on himself, from the slavery of sin and the idolatry of the world.”

Do we bear the image of the company logos, team colors, or brand symbols that we proudly wear?  Or, do our lives truly reflect the image and likeness of the loving and merciful God who created us for the purpose of knowing Him, loving Him and being with Him in eternity.