Daily Gospel Reflection
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June 2, 2026
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.
Excerpts from the Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States of America, second typical edition © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC. Used with permission. All rights reserved. No portion of this text may be reproduced by any means without permission in writing from the copyright owner. The full readings of the day from the Lectionary are available here.
To learn from Jesus, I often have to reach beyond my obscenely comfortable, modern life. I have never lost a sheep, for example, or left ninety-nine others to find it. And I have a hard time connecting with the tensions in this story, too. Not because I have any peace with Caesar or ambivalence about his injustices. I just love paying my taxes. I have always felt a kind of civic pride when I make my small contributions to our common life.
This is evidently not the feeling of Jesus’ interlocutors. There is so much to be said about them, besides their resentment of taxation. Their plotting, their hypocrisy, their ready access to the Roman coin Jesus asks to see. But what stands out the most to me about these questioners is what they claim to know.
With a hint of derision, they profess that Jesus is a truthful man who teaches “the way of God in accordance with the truth.” They justify their question on the basis that Jesus embodies the truth in his person. This makes Jesus’ reply, which leaves them utterly amazed, all the more piercing. Explicitly, Jesus dissolves their false division into the single obligation to love God and neighbor; implicitly, he indicts their lack of faith in the one who declares, “I am the Truth.”
The coin that bears Caesar’s image is Caesar’s; the human person who bears God’s image is God’s. And whatever bears the image of the truth—in politics, natural science, poetry, and every other sphere of human life—belongs to Jesus.
Prayer
Grant us honesty in our hearts, Lord Jesus, and free us from the need to sound bold and courageous when we have no grounds for such behavior. Death and taxes, so the saying goes, are with us always. Grant us honesty and sincerity along with generosity and sympathy for those who suffer. Amen.
Saint of the Day
Venerable Fr. Patrick Peyton, known as "the Hollywood priest" or "the Rosary priest," was an influential figure in mid-century Hollywood, whose great faith in Mary saw him through many trials.
Patrick Petyon was born in county Mayo, Ireland in 1909, the sixth child out of nine born to the Peytons. Patrick's family were farmers. Patrick was bright and energetic, and he was soon sent off for education. After being kicked out of high school, Patrick helped his family on the farm, while continuing to dream of becoming a priest. Patrick's older siblings were already in America. And Patrick and his brother Thomas set off in 1927, while Patrick was still a teenager, to join their sisters in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
In Scranton, Patrick studied at a Catholic high school and applied to various congregations—the Redemptorists in Ireland, the Capuchins—and, to his dismay and disappointment, he was rejected. He and his brother both applied to the minor seminary in Notre Dame, Indiana, to complete their high school studies. While at Notre Dame, Patrick became acquainted with the CSCs and grew to love their order. He applied to Moreau Seminary and was accepted in 1932. He received his undergraduate degree in philosophy at Notre Dame and then was sent to Catholic University in Washington D.C. for his graduate degree in theology. While at CUA, he contracted tuberculosis. Patrick was in grim health, when a priest advised him to draw on the deep faith of his family, the faith that brought him to a new country, and his faith in Mary.
Miraculously, the tuberculosis cleared. Patrick survived and was ordained a priest at the University of Notre Dame's Basilica of the Sacred Heart in 1941.
After serving his first assignment in Albany, Fr. Patrick got a train ticket across the country to Hollywood, where he convinced radio executives to give him airtime and a nationally broadcast radio hour. The studio agreed, as long as his program was ecumenical, not explicitly Catholic, and as long as he could provide one Hollywood star to host each week. Fr. Patrick accepted. The stars rallied around him. And, on Mother's Day, 1945, Family Theater was launched into the airwaves. Fr. Patrick's stars included luminaries like Jimmy Stewart, Loretta Young, and Princess Grace.
Family Theater also posted billboards with their famous slogan "the family that prays together stays together" on highways around Hollywood and spread throughout the USA. Fr. Patrick took his praying on the road and hosted over 260 "rosary rallies" all over the world. Fr. Patrick traveled around the world, continued making television and radio programs and encouraging families to bond together in solidarity through prayer.
Although he was hospitalized three times for heart failure, Fr. Patrick clung to life heartily. He died peacefully in his bed praying the rosary in the early morning of June 3, 1992. His final words were a prayer to Mary: "Mary, my queen, my mother." The Congregation for the Causes of Saints has approved his cause, and Fr. Patrick was declared a "venerable" by Pope Francis in December, 2017.
To learn more about the canonical process of becoming a saint and to read more about Fr. Patrick's cause for canonization, visit his website here.
Venerable Fr. Patrick Peyton, C.S.C., Notre Dame graduate and missionary of the rosary—pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of Venerable Fr. Patrick Peyton, C.S.C. is from Congregation of Holy Cross.