Homily on World Mission Sunday, 29th Sunday in OT, 18 October 2026, SFpIF Chapel Talamban
Allow me to begin with a story told by Fr Peter Garbero, a Salesian priest from Italy sent as a missionary to China. It is the story of an elderly Chinese who converted to the Catholic Faith. It happened 98 years ago, in the month of May 1928, Thursday at 9:00 pm when he was still a young missionary in China. While he was already sleeping, someone suddenly rushed towards him, saying “Wake up, please hurry, an old man is dying.” So, he got up immediately and asked his teacher to come along and help him speak in Chinese.
When they arrived at the place, the dying man said to him in Chinese, “I know you’re a Catholic missionary. Please baptize me and send me to heaven.” After hearing the translation, Fr Peter asked, “How did you know about the Catholic religion and why do you want me to baptize you?” The man replied, “An old lady told me that if I want to go to heaven, I should look for a Catholic priest and ask him to baptize me before I die. Now that I have found you, a Catholic priest, please baptize me and send me to heaven.” Fr Peter turned again to his teacher for help. But suddenly at that moment by the gift of the Holy Spirit, he was able to speak to the old man fluently in Chinese. Moments later, he baptized the dying man, giving him the name, Jose.
Brothers and sisters, today is World Mission Sunday. And the story I shared with you is just one among countless stories you can hear about what Catholic missionaries are doing in various parts of the world. Many of these, whether priests, religious or lay missionaries, are working in extremely difficult situations, to the point of risking their lives just to spread the Gospel and eventually save souls. And that is why today we are enjoined by the Church to extend our whole hearted support for the Missions in various ways: by praying for the missionaries, by offering financial assistance to them, by sharing our material blessings, and/or by volunteering our services. But above all, the Church wants to invite every Catholic faithful to reflect on whether God might be calling him or her to be a missionary, that is, to leave behind home and country and go abroad with a burning desire to share the Catholic faith with those who do not yet know Jesus.
In the gospel we have heard today, Jesus was annoyed by a question raised by the Pharisees together with the Herodians. In the first place, who are the Pharisees and who are the Herodians? The Pharisees were known to be experts in the Jewish Law written in their Sacred Scriptures. They were supposed to be the guides of the people to help them to observe God’s commands and thus remain faithful to Him. On the other hand, the Herodians are a particular group of Jews who follow King Herod, known to be the puppet king installed by the Romans. Like Herod, these Jews show loyalty not to God and their Jewish religion but to the Roman emperor and the laws of Imperial Rome.
And so, the question thrown at Jesus by both groups was actually meant to test him. They asked whether it was lawful or not to pay taxes to Caesar, the emperor of Rome. The Pharisees had actually been closely monitoring Jesus’ moves, watching out for any single mistake he might do, so that they could find a reason to get rid of him. Keep in mind, they were supposed to be guides towards God, but in this case their intention was really to trap Jesus and make him fall.
Jesus recognized immediately the malice behind their question despite the sugar coating they have put around it. He was quick to detect their trick. If he answered NO, favoring the Pharisees’ position against paying taxes, he would draw the ire of the Herodians, who support the paying of taxes. If, however, he answered YES, he would be definitely be condemned by the Pharisees for supporting the Roman emperor. And so, Jesus chose to ask for a coin, and he drew out his answer from the very coin being used to pay taxes to Caesar. Then, he asked them “Whose image is this and whose inscription?”
The answer came from them: “Caesar’s” – the image is that of Caesar, the emperor; and the Latin inscription reads “Imperator Caesar Augustus Pontifex Maximus” (Emperor Caesar Augustus High Priest). Since the coin belonged to Caesar, Jesus then told them authoritatively “Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar.” By saying this, Jesus was not expressing full support for the Roman aggressors. What he wanted to teach is the wisdom to recognize and distinguish between the things of this world and the things of the “other world”. Since both the image and the inscription on the coin are that of Caesar marking each coin as his property, then it is the duty of every Jew to give it back to the same Caesar. It was Caesar who created the money, and so, he is also its master.
Try taking out any of our coins or bills today. I’m sure you will find something similar. For example, the inscription on this fifty-peso bill says “Republika ng Pilipinas” and underneath it can be found the name “Ferdinand Marcos, Pangulo ng Pilipinas” together with his signature printed on it. So, if today we ask the same question raised by the Pharisees, I’m sure Jesus will give exactly the same answer.
However, Jesus’ response stated something more. When he said “Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar” he also said “Give to God what belongs to God.” What Jesus wanted to emphasize here is the human virtue of Justice. Justice to fellowmen means rendering to others what belongs to them. Justice to the Filipino people is rendering to the people what belongs to the people. Consequently, justice to God is rendering to God what belongs to God, which is no other than the duty of religion we owe to Him.
The Jews knew very well that they were the chosen people of God. With Him they have made a covenant expressed in the words “I will be your God; you will be my people.” Even more basic to that was their belief that each man is created in the image and likeness of God as stated in the Genesis story of creation. Since they bear his image, they belong to God. And so, addressing himself to the Pharisees, Jesus was telling them to fulfil not only their duty towards the state but also their duty towards God with no selfish motives. And we too share in that belief: since we bear God’s image and likeness, so, we too belong to God.
Today we are being asked to support the Church and her mission. This support is not the same as taxes. We recall that during our baptism, when the water was poured on our head, we were created in the image and likeness of Jesus. And we made our covenant with God, expressed in these few but fully loaded words: “I am yours, you are mine.” We were not only washed and cleansed from all our sins but we also received an indelible mark, the cross on our forehead, the mark of chrism on the crown of our head, and the seal or character of Christ in our immortal soul. All these marks indicate that we belong to God and bear his image. We belong to the family of the Holy Trinity. We no longer own ourselves; we are his property. We belong to Jesus and his mystical Body the Church. Hence, all that we have and all that we are belongs to Him. Whatever support, then, that we give to the Church is offered to Christ himself; to God who redeemed us and continues to sanctify us.
In the story I narrated earlier, Fr Peter gave to the Church not only his money, but also himself. He volunteered to become a Salesian missionary priest. All the way from Italy he travelled to work as a missionary in China. And when the Christian missionaries were expelled from China by Mao Tse Tung during the communist take-over, Fr Peter opted not to go back to his homeland in Italy but to obey the superiors who sent him to his new mission here in the Philippines.
Now let me share the continuation of his amazing story. Before the newly baptized man died, Fr Peter asked at least two favors from him. One, he said to the old man “when you reach heaven, thank Jesus for your Baptism; and number two, he said, “Ask Jesus to convert your whole family.” The following Sunday the old man’s son came to Fr Peter. He attended catechism classes and was soon baptized. Afterwards, Fr Peter went to his house to destroy all the pagan idols, replacing them with the images of Jesus and the Blessed Virgin Mary. Then he blessed the house, and from that time on, all his relatives became Catholics.
Brothers and sisters, the MISSION of the Church needs so MUCH of our support. May this Eucharist make us realize that we bear God’s image and that we belong entirely to God. May we be empowered by his Spirit to offer ourselves and to use our material blessings and God-given talents for the good of the mission God is entrusting to us and to the whole Church, for the salvation of souls and for the greater glory of our Father in heaven. GiGsss!