June 2, 2026
Tuesday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 354
Reading 1
Beloved:
Wait for and hasten the coming of the day of God,
because of which the heavens will be dissolved in flames
and the elements melted by fire.
But according to his promise
we await new heavens and a new earth
in which righteousness dwells.
Therefore, beloved, since you await these things,
be eager to be found without spot or blemish before him, at peace.
And consider the patience of our Lord as salvation.
Therefore, beloved, since you are forewarned,
be on your guard not to be led into the error of the unprincipled
and to fall from your own stability.
But grow in grace
and in the knowledge of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ.
To him be glory now and to the day of eternity. Amen.
Responsorial
Psalm
90:2, 3-4, 10, 14 and 16
R. (1) In every age, O Lord,
you have been our refuge.
Before the mountains were begotten
and the earth and the world were brought forth,
from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
R. In every age, O Lord, you have been our refuge.
You turn man back to dust,
saying, “Return, O children of men.”
For a thousand years in your sight
are as yesterday, now that it is past,
or as a watch of the night.
R. In every age, O Lord, you have been our refuge.
Seventy is the sum of our years,
or eighty, if we are strong,
And most of them are fruitless toil,
for they pass quickly and we drift away.
R. In every age, O Lord, you have been our refuge.
Fill us at daybreak with your kindness,
that we may shout for joy and gladness all our days.
Let your work be seen by your servants
and your glory by their children.
R. In every age, O Lord, you have been our refuge.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
May the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ
enlighten the eyes of our hearts,
that we may know what is the hope
that belongs to his call.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Some Pharisees and Herodians were sent
to Jesus to ensnare him in his speech.
They came and said to him,
“Teacher, we know that you are a truthful man
and that you are not concerned with anyone’s opinion.
You do not regard a person’s status
but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth.
Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?
Should we pay or should we not pay?”
Knowing their hypocrisy he said to them,
“Why are you testing me?
Bring me a denarius to look at.”
They brought one to him and he said to them,
“Whose image and inscription is this?”
They replied to him, “Caesar’s.”
So Jesus said to them,
“Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar
and to God what belongs to God.”
They were utterly amazed at him.
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/060226.cfm
Commentary on 2
Peter 3:11-15,17-18
The early Christians had high expectations that the Lord
would come back to them very soon. As time passed, they began to realise
that it might not be as soon as they had first thought, namely in their own
lifetime. This is reflected in the way later books of the New Testament
are written.
But even here in this relatively late book the anticipation
is still there. We are even urged to hasten that day. How can we do
this? By working harder to bring more people to know the Way of Christ,
to share his vision of life and thus realise the full establishment of the
Kingdom. We still have a long way to go!
The “Day of God”, the end of the world, is visualised as
utter destruction of all we know now, but it will be replaced by “new heavens
and a new earth”, words taken from Isaiah and also used in the book of
Revelation (21:1). This new world is “where righteousness is at
home”. There truth and goodness will dwell as unchanging and unchangeable
elements. This will be a time when what we pray for in the Lord’s Prayer—”your
Kingdom come, your will be done”—will be fully realised.
For each one us, it is a reminder to lead lives “without
spot or blemish” (words applied to Jesus in 1 Peter) and at peace with
God. In this way, we are always prepared no matter what time the Lord
decides to take us to himself. We are told to “regard the patience of our
Lord as salvation”. This echoes words of Jesus in John’s Gospel that he has
come not to condemn, but to bring salvation.
We are told to:
…beware that you are not carried away with the error of
the lawless and lose your own stability.
In this case, the warning is against Gnostic teachers who
held ideas which were in conflict with the gospel. In our day too, there are
many kinds of ‘error’ which can lead us far from the ways of truth, love and
justice.
But we are also told to:
…grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ.
To grow in grace is to open ourselves more and more to the
experience of being loved by God. To grow in the knowledge of Jesus is
not to know more about him, but to grow in a personal and intimate relationship
of mutual love.
This kind of knowledge is on a different plane altogether
from the esoteric knowledge that the Gnostics proclaimed. In our own day,
some come pretty close to Gnosticism when they put an excessive emphasis on
doctrinal orthodoxy. This is a modern version of Pharisaism.
Jesus said that people would know true Christians not by
their theology, but by the love they show for each other, and especially for
those in any kind of need:
By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if
you have love for one another. (John 13:35)
and
I in them and you in me, that they may become completely
one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even
as you have loved me. (John 17:23)
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Commentary on Mark
12:13-17
Possibly in response to the parable of the wicked tenants
which we read yesterday, a delegation comes to confront Jesus. Their
composition is rather unusual, but proves the ancient saying that “the enemy of
my enemy is my friend”. It would be hard to find two groups more ideologically
opposed than the Pharisees and the Herodians. The Pharisees set the highest
standards in their observance of the Law. They were highly patriotic and
strongly anti-Roman. The Herodians, on the other hand, were seen as rather lax
and not particularly devout. And they had the reputation of being a little too
cosy with the Roman colonial powers. In normal circumstances, these two groups
would never be seen in each other’s company. But now they had a common opponent
in Jesus. For Jesus was seen, depending on how he was interpreted, as
challenging the Law on the one hand and as a potential rallying point for
anti-Roman sentiment on the other.
The confrontation is carried out with a good deal of
subtlety. It begins with shameless flattery:
Teacher, we know that you are sincere and show deference
to no one, for you do not regard people with partiality but teach the way of
God in accordance with truth.
In fact, every word of this is absolutely true and would
that it could be said of every one of us! In their book, however, it means that
Jesus is a very dangerous person and, indeed, people like Jesus have run into
trouble all through history, not least in our own days.
Having, as they imagined, totally disarmed Jesus by their
positive approach, they smoothly slip in the knife. One can almost hear the
blandness and feigned innocence with which they ask their question:
Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not?
It sounds to us a very straightforward question, but it was,
in fact, one of the most politically sensitive issues of the day. And of
course, it was a trick question.
If Jesus said it was permissible, then he incurred the wrath
of every Jewish patriot, most of all the powerful Pharisees, who deeply
resented the presence of the Roman power on their land. If he said it was not
permissible, then he could immediately be denounced by people like the
Herodians to the Roman authorities for subversion. In either case, he would
lose.
Jesus, of course, immediately sees through their deceit. He
asks to be shown a denarius, a coin roughly equal to a day’s wage.
It was a Roman coin and it carried the head of the emperor, Caesar Augustus.
Pointing to the image, Jesus asks whose head it is and he is told it is that of
the emperor. Jesus said,
Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God
the things that are God’s.
His enemies “were utterly amazed at him” and reduced to
speechlessness with no comeback. It was an answer that said everything and said
nothing. It said everything because no one could quarrel with it; it said
nothing because it did not decide in any way what belonged to God and what to
the emperor.
The whole scene, of course, reflects a serious problem
besetting the early Church. How much allegiance did they owe, as Christians, to
the temporal power, especially one where the emperor was seen as having divine
prerogatives or was openly persecuting Christians? There were clearly limits to
the allegiance they could give. This resulted in waves of persecutions and
large numbers of martyrs dying rather than compromising their faith.
The problem of how much allegiance Christians owe to
temporal powers is still a live issue for us today. It concerns the question of
separation of Church and state and how that is to be interpreted. It concerns
the way we—both electors and elected—vote when sensitive moral issues are at
stake.
In one sense, God has a total claim on our allegiance. There
is nothing which does not belong to him. Nevertheless, society, through its
legitimate authorities, also has a claim on our allegiance. It can make demands
on us in asking us to contribute, e.g. through taxation, to promoting the
overall well-being of our whole community, especially of those who are in need.
As Christians, we cannot simply isolate ourselves from the
political arena, that is, the area in which the interests of the citizenry are
discussed and managed. The political arena is inseparable from issues of truth
and justice, and there is no way that Christians, who are committed to building
the Kingdom, cannot be concerned about the welfare of their fellow citizens.
“The Church should not dabble in politics,” say some. No, it should not dabble;
it should be deeply involved in every important moral and social issue.
Nevertheless, the words of Jesus remain our guiding
principle: we give to God what belongs to him and we give to society what it
has a right to ask of us—our cooperation in making it a place guided by the
principles and values of the Kingdom. To do anything less is to fail to give
everything to God.
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https://livingspace.sacredspace.ie/o2093g/
Tuesday,
June 2, 2026
9th Week in Ordinary Time
Opening Prayer
Father, your love never fails.
Hear our call.
Keep us from danger and provide for all our needs.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives
and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Gospel Reading - Mark 12: 13-17
Next, the priests, the scribes and the elders
sent to Jesus some Pharisees and some Herodians to catch him out in what he
said. These came and said to him, 'Master, we know that you are an honest man,
that you are not afraid of anyone, because human rank means nothing to you, and
that you teach the way of God in all honesty. Is it permissible to pay taxes to
Caesar or not? Should we pay or not?' Recognizing their hypocrisy he said to
them, 'Why are you putting me to the test? Hand me a denarius and let me see
it.'
They handed him one and he said to them,
'Whose portrait is this? Whose title?' They said to him, 'Caesar's.' Jesus said
to them, 'Pay Caesar what belongs to Caesar – and God what belongs to God.' And
they were amazed at him.
Reflection
In today’s Gospel, the confrontation between Jesus
and the authority continues. The priests and the Scribes had been criticized
and denounced by Jesus in the parable of the vineyard (Mk 12: 1-12). Now, they
themselves ask the Pharisees and the Herodians to set up a trap against Jesus
to be able to condemn him. They ask questions to Jesus concerning the taxes to
be paid to the Romans. This was a controversial theme which divided public
opinion. The enemies of Jesus want, at all costs, to accuse him and diminish
the influence that he had on the people. Groups, which before were enemies
between them, now get together to fight against Jesus. This also happens today.
Many times, persons or groups, enemies among themselves, get together to defend
their privileges against those who inconvenience them with the announcement of
truth and of justice.
•
Mark 12: 13-14: The question of the Pharisees
and the Herodians. The Pharisees and the Herodians were the local leaders in
the villages of Galilee. It was a long time since they had decided to kill
Jesus (Mk 3: 6). Now, because of the order of the priests and of the elders,
they want to know if Jesus is in favor or against the payment of taxes to the
Romans, to Caesar. An underhanded or sly question, full of malice! Under the
appearance of fidelity to the Law of God, they look for reasons in order to be
able to accuse him. If Jesus says “You should pay!”, they could accuse him of
being a friend of the Romans. If he would say, “No, you do not have to pay!”
they could accuse him to the authority of the Romans that he was subversive.
This seemed to be a dead alley!
•
Mark 12: 15-17: Jesus’ answer. Jesus perceives
their hypocrisy. In his response he does not lose time in useless discussion,
and goes straight to the centre of the question. Instead of responding and of
discussing the affair of the tribute to Caesar, he asks to be shown a coin and
he asks: “Whose portrait and inscription is this?” They answered: “Caesar’s!”
The answer of Jesus: “Then pay Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what
belongs to God”. In practice, they already recognized the authority of Caesar.
They were already giving to Caesar what belonged to Caesar, because they used
his currency, his money to buy and to sell and even to pay the taxes of the
Temple! That which interested Jesus was that they “gave to God what belongs to
God!, that is, that they restituted the people to God, from their deviation,
because with their teaching they blocked the entrance into the Kingdom (Mk 23:
13). Others explained this phrase of Jesus in another way: “Give to God what
belongs to God!”, that is, practice justice and honesty as the Law of God
demands, because your hypocrisy denies to God what is due to him. The disciples
have to be aware!
•
Taxes, tributes, taxes and denarii. “In Jesus’ time, the people of Palestine paid many taxes,
tributes and the tenth part of their income, both to the Romans as well as to
the Temple. The Roman Empire had invaded Palestine in the year 63 A.D. and they
imposed many taxes and tributes. According to the estimates made, half or even
more of the family salaries were used to pay the tributes, taxes and the tenth
part of their income. The taxes which the Romans demanded were of two types:
direct and indirect.
•
The Direct tax was on property and on persons.
The tax on property (tributum soli):
the fiscal officers of the government verified how large the property was, the
production and the number of slaves and they fixed the amount to be paid.
Periodically, there was a verification through the census. The tax on persons (tributum capitis): was for the poor
class who owned no land. This included both men and women, between 12 and 65
years of age. It was a tax on the force of work; 20% of the income of every
person was used to pay taxes.
•
The Indirect tax was placed on transactions of
different types: a Crown of gold: Originally, it was a question of a gift to
the Emperor, but then it became an obligatory tax. This was paid on special
occasions, for example: the feast and the visits of the Emperor. The tax on
salt: The salt was the monopoly of the Emperor. It was necessary to pay the
tribute on the salt for commercial use. For example, the salt used by fishermen
to dry up the fish and to sell it. From this comes the word “salary”. A tax on
buying and selling: for every commercial use 1% was paid. This money was paid
to the fiscal officers during the holidays. When a slave was bought they
demanded 4%. In every registered commercial contract, they demanded 2%. The tax
for exercising a profession: There was need for everyone to have a license for
everything. For example, a cobbler in the city of Palmira paid one denarius a
month. A denarius was equivalent to the salary of one day. And even the
prostitutes had to pay. A tax for the use of public utilities: Emperor
Vespasiano introduced the tax in order to be able to use the public toilets in
Rome. He would say: “Money does not stink!”
•
Other taxes and obligations: toll or customs;
forced work; special expenses for the army (to give hospitality to the
soldiers; to pay for the food of the troops); taxes for the Temple and the
worship.
Personal Questions
•
Do you know some case of groups or of persons
who were enemies between themselves, but who were then united to follow an
honest person who bothered or inconvenienced and denounced them? Has this
happened sometimes with you?
•
What is the sense of this phrase today: “Give to
Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God”?
Concluding Prayer
Each morning fill us with your faithful love, we shall
sing and be happy all our days; Show your servants the deeds you do, let their
children enjoy your splendor! (Ps 90: 14,16)
