20261018 Twenty Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time

[그리움하나]

(Is 45:1, 4-6; 1 Thes 1:1-5b; Mt 22:15-21): Called as People of God, Go and Color the World
 
My dear brothers and sisters, as the passing years add depth to the lingering beauty of the seasons, I pray that the purpose and direction of each of our lives may become even clearer. May we leave behind a path filled with fragrance in the time and space we walk each day.
 
Surely, there is a reason God calls us according to our unique identities and names. It is not because we have satisfied certain criteria or conditions that qualify us for His call. Rather, God looks upon us with love, watching to see whether we realize and treasure His love, and whether we live each moment with a watchful heart, ready to respond with humility and a willing soul. In truth, though everyone is called by God through various means and events, it is a sad reality that not everyone opens their heart and soul to draw near to Him.
 
For this reason, Saint Augustine once observed that human confessions of returning to God are a harmonious blend of the "confession of praise" and the "confession of penitence." In his Confessions, he prayed: "Man, a little piece of your creation, desires to praise you... You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you."
 
In the quiet depths of a soul that seeks Him so earnestly, God surely reveals Himself. As another saint expressed, we were created according to His merciful providence as "beings capable of receiving God (homo capax Dei)."
 
In light of this, let us treasure the words of Isaiah 45:4: "For the sake of Jacob, my servant, of Israel, my chosen one, I have called you by your name, giving you a title, though you knew me not."
 
In the words "For the sake of Jacob... of Israel," we can discern God’s loving will—His desire to willingly call and fill all people, including those whose hearts are closed, so that everyone may become capable of welcoming God into their lives.
 
He also reveals to us how He calls us for this purpose. In 1 Thessalonians 1:4–5, we read: "Knowing, brothers loved by God, how you were chosen. For our gospel did not come to you in word alone, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with much conviction."
 
Priests, religious, and lay faithful are all called in ways suited to their respective places in life—set apart from the ways of the world through God’s anointing. To be consecrated as God's people with divine dignity means choosing a way of life that is fully dedicated to God’s will through the harmony of our free will and His grace, revealing that Gospel life through practical love in the midst of the world.
 
Yet, such a calling is not a result born of our own glory or something for us to boast about. Rather, we must move forward with deep reflection on the holiness of the vocation God has planted within us, giving thanks for the abundant grace He provides through the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Through the soul, reason, and discernment God has bestowed, we are called to be reborn as people filled with spiritual grace while remaining faithful to our duties in this world—so that our very lives become a living witness to the Gospel. It is vital to remember that in the truth of the Gospel, our spiritual response and our concrete actions in this world are never separated or divorced from one another.
 
In Matthew 22:21, the Lord tells us: "Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God."
 
This is not a strict directive to view God’s realm and the world’s order as opposing or conflicting realities. Rather, it is an invitation to live with hearts filled with the light of wisdom from the Holy Spirit—showing that we are "people of the Lord" through our faithfulness and devotion in the world, touching the hearts of those around us. This is the sacred path by which we invite and walk in solidarity with all the "Jacobs" and "Israels" of this earth, guiding one another to live as true citizens of the Heavenly Kingdom.
 
My dear brothers and sisters, as we stand in the midst of this deepening autumn, I pray that you have a blessed week—asking for spiritual blessings and loving discernment so that we may beautifully weave the portion of love that the Lord Himself has planted in our hearts. Amen.