It is easy for us to reduce this Gospel passage entirely to the question of paying taxes, especially when we do not see this text in continuity with previous encounters between Jesus and the Pharisees. At the same time the teaching on taxes here deserves appreciation and careful interpretation.
Moving forward, the pursuit of a healthy distinction and appreciation between our Civic life and our Christian Faith that dissipates the culture of exploitation and antagonism between the two is a Christian mandate.
Blessings,
Father Gabriel