This week we look at the story of Jesus being challenged around to whom faith filled people should give their allegiance. He is set up by his questioners with a question that has a basic fallicy: to choose between two things, Caesar or God. Jesus’ response in Mark 12:13–17 is more than clever rhetoric; he provides a third option, it is the refusal to let others define the terms of faithfulness. The Pharisees want a yes-or-no answer, but Jesus offers a deeper truth: you can live in the world without being shaped by its distortions. Dorothy Day once said, “Our problems stem from our acceptance of this filthy, rotten system.” She lived in Caesar’s world—paying taxes, navigating laws—but her heart belonged to God’s dream of mercy and justice. 

Our community carries that same spirit. We live within systems, but we refuse to let them shrink our compassion. Every act of kindness is a quiet rebellion against the false choices the world tries to impose.

How am I living faithfully in the world today?