If the earth and everything in it belongs to rulership of God (cf.Ps.24:1), where is the place of the rulers of this earth? Does believing in God negate us from being a believer in the rulership of earth? This friction is part of what the readings of today seem to reflect upon.
The Readings: First reading, Cyrus, a pagan king, ruler of the earth, conquered Babylon in 539BC without any bloodshed, the prophet Isaiah calls him “Shepherd, anointed, beloved…” etc, titles reserved for kings of Israel, sees him as part of God’s plan prepared by the Lord. Why? Despite being a pagan king, God can still use rulers of this earth to further his kingdom, believer or non believer. In the Gospel Jesus says: “Render to Ceasar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God”. Should this suggest a divide between the government of heaven and earth? I doubt. God has not created us into communities of people and at the same time united us by one faith through baptism, one love and one hope by mistake (like Paul commended the Thessalonians for in the second reading).
John Michael Talbolt in his song titled “St Theresa’s Prayer” said Christ has no body now but yours, no hands, no feet on earth but yours, yours are the eyes through which he looks… yours are the feet with which walks to do good…” As Christians, we are called to be exemplars of obedience to earthly authorities and a litmus test of our obedience to God. The first law in heaven is orderliness. Order is where there is peace, love joy, righteousness and the scripture says where there are all these, there is the kingdom of God (Rom.14:17). God can use any person anyone to his glory whether Caesar or Jesus. In the end what should matter more for us is to render to God what belongs to God which is our hearts through faith, hope and charity.