Tuesday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time June 2, 2026 Gospel: Mark 12:13–17
Today is Tuesday of the ninth week in Ordinary Time. The Gospel passage from Saint Mark continues to present Jesus’ dialogue in Jerusalem with the Pharisees and the Herodians. I would like to offer some further reflections.
We are always inclined to seek some hold over others—especially to catch them in their words—so that, according to the standards of this passing world, we might achieve our aim of suppressing them. The Pharisees and the Herodians came before Jesus not to listen to His teaching; they wanted to impose the standards of this world upon Him, so as to erase all memory of Him from the earth and secure for themselves sole possession of what belongs to this world.
Today, in those who came before Jesus—the Pharisees and the Herodians—we see our own reflection. In every way they appeared stronger than Jesus; yet their very assertiveness was their weakness. For within their hearts dwelt an arrogance that robbed them of reason, so that they forgot: all they then possessed did not belong to them, but to God. Their astonishment at Jesus’ words—“Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God” (cf. Mark 12:17)—stands as clear proof of this.
As Saint Paul declares: “I consider everything as a loss because of the supreme good of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have accepted the loss of all things and I consider them so much rubbish, that I may gain Christ” (cf. Phil 3:8). I would say: Saint Paul’s teaching perfectly accords with the values of the world revealed by Jesus as belonging to God. Christians living in this shifting age must ever follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit, doing what the Spirit wills us to do. For whenever we abide in the light of the Holy Spirit, our understanding of worldly things conforms ever more closely to the teaching of Jesus. Then we no longer pursue all that belongs to this world; we no longer esteem its wealth, power, or fame. All we cherish is our relationship with Jesus. Then we become far more attentive to whether our conduct reflects the life of those who dwell in the world of God revealed by Jesus—whether our actions are in harmony with Him.
O God, whose providence never fails in its design, keep from us, we humbly beseech you, all that might harm us and grant all that works for our good. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever
全属于祢 
您必须登录才能发表评论。