From the responsorial psalm: “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. In every age, O Lord, you have been our refuge.”
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (Mk 12:13-17)
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?”
Jesus knows that he is being tested and makes clear that he is aware of that. He asks for a denarius to be brought to him and asks them, “Whose image and inscription is this?” They tell Jesus it is Caesar’s. In asking them this, Jesus reveals a truth about personhood and image. The image and inscription are Caesar’s, and though they belong to him, they are not Caesar himself. So it is that Jesus is able to say, “Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.” In the first reading, Peter reminds us that this world and all of its apparent realities are passing: “But according to his promise we await new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.” And Peter tells us to grow in grace and to give glory to God now and to the day of eternity.
Lord Jesus Christ, I ask you today for the grace to live as you would have us live, at peace and waiting for and hastening your coming. “Fill us at daybreak with your kindness,” the psalmist prays, “that we may shout for joy and gladness all our days.” Give me the wisdom to recognize and act on your will, accomplishing with the sight you give me to care for your every good gift. What Peter prays for I also ask that you help me keep in my heart: “be on your guard not to be led into the error of the unprincipled and to fall from your own stability.” In every age, O Lord, you have been our refuge. Jesus, I trust in you.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.