Today’s Gospel passage of the Tribute to Caesar induces some reflections on the relationship between Church and society. First of all, the Church is called to collaborate in the construction of the polis but she must do it in fidelity to the gospel, and therefore without giving in to worldly logic. Therefore: collaboration, yes; compromises, no. Her prophetic nature leads her to denounce any illegality and injustice. Paul VI said, at the beginning of his pontificate (something that caused great scandal at the time) that “the way of the Church is man“. What did he mean? Simple: that the Church, faithful to the Gospel, recognizes and defends the inalienable rights of every single person. Here then is the primacy of the person. For anyone who thinks this is a misleading statement, we refer to what Paul VI always said at the closing of Vatican II: “If we remember that in the face of every man, especially if made transparent by tears and suffering, we can and must recognize the face of Christ, the Son of man, and if, in the face of Christ we can and must recognize the face of the heavenly Father, our humanism becomes Christianity, and our Christianity becomes theocentric, so much so that we can also say: to know God we must know man“. But there is another aspect.  If the Church lives in obedience to the Word, she stands within the social structure with all its novelty, that is, with that difference that, like yeast in dough, makes everything ferment for a new life. Think of a fragile society, characterized by unstable, conflictual and consumerist relationships; then think instead of relationships marked by generosity, acceptance and forgiveness. So there should not be opposition between God and Caesar but dialogue, common commitment for the building of a more just world, marked by beauty.

I’m not looking for a word
that indulges my weakness
but a strong word
that pushes me
to a more generous commitment
to make my life
until the last breath
a humble service
to the least ones
of the Church of Christ
(poor Mother)
and with them,
all the little ones of the earth.

Commentary by b. Sandro Carotta, osb Abbazia di Santa Maria – Praglia (Italy)

Translation by f. Mark Hargreaves,Prinknash Abbey