The Gospel of the 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time in the words of the Popes

The liturgy of the day. Sunday 18 October 2026, Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A. Gospel: Matthew 22:15-21. First reading: Isaiah 45:1, 4-6; Psalm 96; second reading: 1 Thessalonians 1:1-5b (Vatican News, Word of the day).

The Gospel. "Show me the coin that pays the census tax." Then they handed him the Roman coin. He said to them, "Whose image is this and whose inscription?" They replied, "Caesar's." At that he said to them, "Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God" (Mt 22:19-21).

Pope Benedict XVI. "The tribute to Caesar must be paid because his image is on the coin; but the human being, every person, carries in him- or herself another image, that of God, and therefore it is to him and to him alone that each one owes his or her existence." And: "This word of Jesus is rich in anthropological content and it cannot be reduced only to the political context." Homily at the Mass for the New Evangelization, St Peter's Basilica, 16 October 2011 (vatican.va).

Pope Francis, 2017. "From the question posed to him by the Pharisees, Jesus draws a more radical and vital question for each of us, a question we can ask ourselves: to whom do I belong? To family, to the city, to friends, to work, to politics, to the State? Yes, of course. But first and foremost — Jesus reminds us — you belong to God. This is the fundamental belonging." Angelus, St Peter's Square, 22 October 2017 (vatican.va).

Pope Francis, 2023. "On the coin, then, there is the image of the emperor, but Jesus reminds us that our lives are imprinted with the image of God, which nothing and no one can obscure. The things of this world belong to Caesar, but man and the world itself belong to God. Let us not forget this!" Angelus, St Peter's Square, 22 October 2023 (vatican.va).

For prayer. In the words of Pope Francis: "You — whose is the image of your life?" (Angelus, 22 October 2023). Today at noon Pope Leo XIV prays the Angelus from the Apostolic Palace.

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