Claretian Communications Foundation, Inc.
9TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
Psalter: Week 1 / (Green)
Responsorial Psalm: Ps 90: 2, 3-4, 10, 14, 16: In every age, O Lord, you have been our refuge.
1st Reading: 2 Peter 3: 12-15a, 17-18
As you wait for the day of God, and long for it’s coming, when the heavens will dissolve in fire, and the elements melt away in the heat. We wait for a new heaven and a new earth, in which justice reigns, according to God’s promise. Therefore, beloved, as you wait in expectation of this, strive, that God may find you rooted in peace, without blemish or fault.
And consider, that God’s patience is for our salvation, as our beloved brother, Paul, wrote to you, with the wisdom given him.
So then, dearly beloved, as you have been warned, be careful, lest those people who have gone astray, deceive you, in turn, and drag you along, making you stumble, and finally fall away. Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ: to him be glory, now, and to the day of eternity. Amen.
Gospel: Mark 12: 13-17
They sent to Jesus some Pharisees with members of Herod’s party, with the purpose of trapping him by his own words.
They came and said to Jesus, “Master, we know that you are truthful; you are not influenced by anyone, and your answers do not vary according to who is listening to you, but you truly teach God’s way. Tell us, is it against the law to pay taxes to Caesar? Should we pay them or not?”
But Jesus saw through their trick and answered, “Why are you testing me? Bring me a silver coin and let me see it.”
They brought him one and Jesus asked, “Whose image is this, and whose name?”
They answered, “Caesar’s.”
Then Jesus said, “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God, what is God’s.” And they were greatly astonished.
REFLECTION:
“Sincerity of our hearts.”
The Pharisees and the Herodians appeared to be allies in today’s Gospel in their attempt to ensnare Jesus.
The Pharisees themselves were having difficulty using the denarius whose image and inscription upheld the deification of the Roman Emperor.
Nevertheless, their alliance with the Herodians attested to their own adherence to the said graven image and their enslavement under it.
Jesus saw their malice and the insincerity of their hearts. Jesus unmasked their hypocrisy.
We may reflect on the challenge to be more sincere with the way we deal with other people in our everyday life.
A person who acts without sincerity is actually a slave. In the end, what matters is not only the action we do but also the sincerity of our hearts which guides our action.
Thus, when we sincerely do our responsibilities and duties for the sake of others and not for our selfish interest, we become truer to our status as God’s children.
Consequently then, we also become responsive to our dignity as creatures made in the image and likeness of God.
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