Daily Mass Reflections - 6/5
“Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God”
In today’s Gospel (Mark 12:13-17) we’re reminded of the complex tightrope that we who seek to be genuine Catholics in the secular world must walk.
The Pharisees sought to trick Jesus when posing the question to Him pertaining to the census tax, but His reply - and our struggle - goes far beyond simply meeting our tax obligations. I would imagine for instance that it has becoming increasingly difficult for parents to raise young children in this day and age, balancing a child’s desire to fit in while raising them in the truth as taught to us by Jesus in the Gospel. Or assimilating into the social construct of the average work environment, where you’re most likely to face discrimination, even if it be of the innocuous or subtle variety, for simply living out your faith.
But as Saint Peter reminds us in our 1st Reading (2 Peter 3:12-15) we as Christians have our eyes set on far greater things than popularity contests or “fitting in” to a broken, tragically flawed, sinful and finite world. He implores us to “be eager to be found without spot or blemish before him, at peace. And consider the patience of our Lord as salvation.”
He then goes on to speak of the power of scripture and the subsequent wisdom that can be gained by knowledge of it when he instructs us: “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.”
It’s clear therefore that we learn to perform this Caesar/God balancing act by the pure grace of God, which grows within us as our faith and knowledge increase.
As always, I welcome your thoughts pertaining to these daily readings in the Comments Section below.
