By Pamela Patnode

 

 

“He said to them, “Whose image is this and whose inscription?” ” ~Matthew 22:20

In 1990, the camera company Canon created a television commercial starring the famous tennis player Andre Agassi. The commercial includes numerous shots of the Canon camera and Andre Agassi (portrayed as an athlete and a heartthrob). Agassi concludes the commercial by stating what became a hugely popular tagline: “Image is everything.”

Image is everything

In today’s culture, image is, indeed, everything. People and companies go to extraordinary lengths to create and manipulate their image. Young people choose wedding venues based on how they will photograph for Instagram: Image is everything. Companies and politicians wave rainbow-colored flags in the hope of selling more products and gaining more votes: Image is everything. And some people remain silent on certain issues so as not to draw attention to their true beliefs for fear of backlash: Image is everything.

In today’s gospel reading, Jesus asks the Pharisees, “Whose image is this and whose inscription?” After the Pharisees respond to His question, Jesus instructs them to give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar but to give to God what belongs to God. This is our command, too.

Indeed, image is everything—and we are made in the image of God. Therefore, we can be sure that God created each of us, male and female, as He intended. We are “fearfully and wonderfully made” and made for a purpose. 

For what purpose are we made? As the Catechism reminds us, we are made to know God, to love God, and to serve God in this life so that we may be happy with Him in the next.

When we embrace our image as the one intended by God and strive to serve Him with love, an interesting thing happens. We tend to find a deep-seated joy beginning to develop, and our concern about the opinion of others begins to diminish.

It is a remarkable gift to be made in the image of God. May we worry less about the “likes” we receive on our social media image and focus more on being a child of God.

 

 

Prayer

Lord, I give you thanks and praise for creating me in your image. Please help me to reflect your image well.

Call to Action

Prayerfully consider how you can know God, love God, and serve God today.

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