Thinking of dual citizenship!

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

August 9, 2021: Celebrating St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross or Edith Stein

Deuteronomy 10: 12-22; Matthew 17: 22-27

I run every risk of being misunderstood if I write, Christians have to be people with a dual citizenship! With the pseudo-religio-political claims that prevail in our land (India), that 'all Christians are westerners', the risk is real and concrete. But let me stay clear of any further misunderstanding, by immediately explaining myself - that we are undeniably legitimate citizens of the country we belong to, but at the same time, we look forward to the one that God has prepared for us (Heb 11:12 & 16). 

The first reading today underlines the primacy of God and God's place in our lives! In the Gospel, Jesus shows us an example of looking at everything in life, absolutely everything in life, from the perspective of God. Even a question of paying tax leads Jesus to reflect on the fact that we are sons and daughters of God, that we are free by virtue of our participation in the Divine Nature of God! 

The capacity of Jesus to move from the ordinary things of the daily life to a reflection on our relationship with God, is something amazing and something that we need to practice ourselves too. We see this capacity enshrined with ease in the saint we commemorate today - St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross or Edith Stein - a profound Jewish Philosopher, who discovered the reality of the revelation of Christ and found her salvation in the Lord and in the Church. 

Let us at the end of this day, look back and see how many God-talks we were inspired to, all along this day, and usually how frequently do we think of our Saviour and things pertaining to God during our day! Should we not seriously think of our concrete dual citizenship!