POV: Is it Lawful?

29th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A)

October 18, 2026

📖 LITURGICAL READINGS
First Reading	Isaiah 45:1, 4-6
Responsorial Psalm	Psalm 96:1, 3, 4-5, 7-8, 9-10
Second Reading	1 Thessalonians 1:1-5b
Gospel	Matthew 22:15-21

🌱 Reflection

Author: Frt. Vincent E. Bolonia, MSP Affiliate

The Gospel this Sunday begins with a question that is less about truth and more about entrapment: “Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar?” The Pharisees and Herodians approach Jesus not with sincerity but with malice. Their intent is clear: to corner Him into a statement that would either brand Him as a rebel against Rome or discredit Him before the people. If He said, “Don’t pay,” He would be accused of sedition. If He said, “Do pay,” He would appear to side with the oppressors. They used the law not as a guide to justice but as a weapon of manipulation. Their POV was rooted in deceit, not in truth.

Jesus, however, does not fall into their trap. His answer pierces through their hypocrisy: “Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to God what belongs to God.” In this response, He acknowledges the legitimacy of civil authority while reminding His listeners of a higher allegiance. Civil law has its place, but it is never absolute. As the Catechism teaches, “It is the duty of citizens to contribute along with the civil authorities to the good of society in a spirit of truth, justice, solidarity, and freedom” (CCC 2239). St. Thomas Aquinas deepens this by defining law as “an ordinance of reason for the common good, made by him who has care of the community, and promulgated” (Summa Theologiae, I–II, q. 90, a. 4). A law that undermines the common good or contradicts divine truth ceases to be law in its fullest sense. What is legal may not always be lawful before God.

Yet Jesus does not stop at civic duty. He shifts the POV toward the divine: “Repay to God what belongs to God.” This is the heart of the matter. Civil obligations are secondary to the fundamental truth that our lives, our very being, belong to God. His law is not written merely on tablets or scrolls but inscribed in the human heart (Deuteronomy 6:6–7). The first reading illustrates this vividly: God raises Cyrus, a pagan king, as an instrument of liberation for Israel. Through him, God restores His people from exile, declaring, “I am the Lord, there is no other.” Even foreign rulers serve His purpose, reminding us that all authority ultimately comes under His sovereignty.

The second reading echoes this theme. Paul praises the Thessalonians for their work of faith, labor of love, and endurance in hope (1 Thessalonians 1:3). These are not merely external observances but signs that God’s law is alive within them. They embody what it means to “repay to God”—offering their lives in worship, fidelity, and witness. Their POV is shaped not by fear of human rulers but by trust in the eternal Lord.

Aquinas warns that when human law forgets its divine source, it becomes hollow and unjust. What may appear legal in the eyes of society can be unlawful in the eyes of God. To bend the law too far is to break it. Jesus’ words invite us to examine our own POV: Do we measure justice by legality alone, or by fidelity to God’s truth? Do we give Caesar his due while forgetting that our very soul bears the image of God? The coin may carry Caesar’s imprint, but our lives carry God’s imprint.

Thus, the question “Is it lawful?” becomes more than a debate about taxes. It becomes a mirror for our conscience. Lawfulness is not merely about compliance with civil statutes but about alignment with God’s eternal law. Jesus Himself—the Way, the Truth, and the Life—is the measure of what is truly lawful. To follow Him is to live beyond manipulation, beyond hypocrisy, and beyond mere legality. It is to live in truth, giving to Caesar what is his, but above all, giving to God what is His: our whole heart, our whole life, our whole love.