Mark
	English: Douay-Rheims	Latin: Vulgata Clementina	Greek NT: Byzantine/Majority Text (2000)
	Mark 12
13.	And they sent to him some of the Pharisees and of the Herodians; that they should catch him in his words.	Et mittunt ad eum quosdam ex pharisæis, et herodianis, ut eum caperent in verbo.	και αποστελλουσιν προς αυτον τινας των φαρισαιων και των ηρωδιανων ινα αυτον αγρευσωσιν λογω
14.	Who coming, say to him: Master, we know that thou art a true speaker, and carest not for any man; for thou regardest not the person of men, but teachest the way of God in truth. Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar; or shall we not give it?	Qui venientes dicunt ei : Magister, scimus quia verax es, et non curas quemquam : nec enim vides in faciem hominum, sed in veritate viam Dei doces. Licet dari tributum Cæsari, an non dabimus ?	οι δε ελθοντες λεγουσιν αυτω διδασκαλε οιδαμεν οτι αληθης ει και ου μελει σοι περι ουδενος ου γαρ βλεπεις εις προσωπον ανθρωπων αλλ επ αληθειας την οδον του θεου διδασκεις εξεστιν κηνσον καισαρι δουναι η ου
15.	Who knowing their wiliness, saith to them: Why tempt you me? bring me a penny that I may see it.	Qui sciens versutiam illorum, ait illos : Quid me tentatis ? afferte mihi denarium ut videam.	δωμεν η μη δωμεν ο δε ειδως αυτων την υποκρισιν ειπεν αυτοις τι με πειραζετε φερετε μοι δηναριον ινα ιδω
16.	And they brought it him. And he saith to them: Whose is this image and inscription? They say to him, Caesar's.	At illi attulerunt ei. Et ait illis : Cujus est imago hæc, et inscriptio ? Dicunt ei : Cæsaris.	οι δε ηνεγκαν και λεγει αυτοις τινος η εικων αυτη και η επιγραφη οι δε ειπον αυτω καισαρος
17.	And Jesus answering, said to them: Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's. And they marvelled at him.	Respondens autem Jesus dixit illis : Reddite igitur quæ sunt Cæsaris, Cæsari : et quæ sunt Dei, Deo. Et mirabantur super eo.	και αποκριθεις ο ιησους ειπεν αυτοις αποδοτε τα καισαρος καισαρι και τα του θεου τω θεω και εθαυμασαν επ αυτω

Catena Aurea by St. Thomas Aguinas

12:13–17

13. And they send unto him certain of the Pharisees and of the Herodians, to catch him in his words.

14. And when they were come, they say unto him, Master, we know that thou art true, and carest for no man; for thou regardest not the person of men, but teachest the way of God in truth: Is it lawful to give tribute to Cæsar, or not?

15. Shall we give, or shall we not give? But he, knowing their hypocrisy, said unto them, Why tempt ye me? bring me a penny, that I may see it.

16. And they brought it. And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? And they said unto him, Cæsar’s.

17. And Jesus answering said unto them, Render to Cæsar the things that are Cæsar’s, and to God the things that are God’s. And they marvelled at him.

BEDE. (ubi sup.) The Chief Priests though they sought to take Him, feared the multitude, and therefore they endeavoured to effect what they could not do of themselves, by means of earthly powers, that they might themselves appear to be guiltless of His death; and therefore it is said, And they send, unto him certain of the Pharisees and of the Herodians, to catch him in his words.

THEOPHYLACT. We have said elsewhere of the Herodians, that they were a certain new heresy, who said that Herod was the Christ, because the succession of the kingdom of Judah had failed. Others however say that the Herodians were the soldiers of Herod, whom the Pharisees brought as witnesses of the words of Christ, that they might take Him, and lead Him away. But observe how in their wickedness they wished to deceive Christ by flattery; for it goes on: Master, we know that thou art true.

PSEUDO-JEROME. For they questioned Him with honied words, and they surrounded Him as bees, who carry honey in their mouth, but a sting in their tail.

BEDE. (ubi sup.) But this bland and crafty question was intended to induce Him in His answer rather to fear God than Cæsar, and to say that tribute should not be paid, so that the Herodians immediately on hearing it might hold Him to be an author of sedition against the Romans; and therefore they add, And carest for no man: for thou regardest not the person of any.

THEOPHYLACT. So that thou wilt not honour Cæsar, that is, against the truth; therefore they add, But teachest the way of God in truth. Is it lawful to give tribute to Cæsar, or not? Shall we give, or shall we not give? For their whole plot was one which had a precipice on both sides, so that if He said that it was lawful to give tribute to Cæsar, they might provoke the people against Him, as though He wished to reduce the nation itself to slavery; but if He said, that it was not lawful, they might accuse Him, as though He was stirring up the people against Cæsar; but the Fountain of wisdom escaped their snares. Wherefore there follows: But he, knowing their hypocrisy, said unto them, Why tempt ye me? bring me a penny, that I may see it. And they brought it.

BEDE. (ubi sup.) A denarius was a piece of money, accounted equal to ten smaller coins, and bearing the image of Cæsar; wherefore there follows: And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? And they said unto him, Cæsar’s. Let those who think that our Saviour asked the question through ignorance and not by an economy, learn from this that He might have known whose image it was; but He puts the question, in order to return them a fitting answer; wherefore there follows: And Jesus answering said unto them, Render unto Cæsar the things that are Cæsar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s.

THEOPHYLACT. As if He had said, Give what bears an image to him whose image it bears, that is, the penny to Cæsar; for we can both pay Cæsar his tribute, and offer to God what is His own.

BEDE. (ubi sup.) That is, tithes, first-fruits, oblations, and victims. In the same way as He gave tribute both for Himself and Peter, He also gave to God the things that are God’s, doing the will of His Father.

PSEUDO-JEROME. Render to Cæsar the money bearing his image, which is collected for him, and render yourselves willingly up to God, for the light of thy countenance, O Lord, and not of Cæsar’s, is stamped upon us. (Ps 4:7. Vulg.)

THEOPHYLACT. The inevitable wants of our bodies is as Cæsar unto each of us; the Lord therefore orders that there should be given to the body its own, that is, food and raiment, and to God the things that are God’s. It goes on: And they marvelled at him. They who ought to have believed, wondered at such great wisdom, because they had found no place for their craftiness.

Catena Aurea Mark 12

Who Is Norbert of Xanten?

Norbert of Xanten (c. 1075-1134) was a nobleman, courtier, ascetic, legendary peacemaker, and an exemplar of the apostolic way of life; he was a priest of the Catholic Church who founded the Norbertine order in the 12th century. He built the order on the basis of love, selfless sharing and radical hospitality.

Historical Setting
The 11th-century church was the kind of world where Martin Luther might have felt at home, for it was a church teeming with reforms. Pope Gregory VII (Hildebrand) set about eliminating the practice of lay investiture, or lay control of the appointment of bishops. Bernard of Clairvaux and the Cistercians were revolutionizing the monastic world with a stern return to the primitive Rule of Benedict. And Norbert of Xanten led a thoroughgoing movement to improve the lives of the parish clergy. With the pope focusing on the bishops, Bernard concentrating on the monks and Norbert emphasizing the parish clergy, the times witnessed a resurgence of Christian spirit beneficial to the church and world alike.

Norbert of Xanten did not begin his career as a reformer. In fact, it was quite the opposite, for he seemed bent on being a clerical opportunist of the type that was actually eroding the credibility and effectiveness of the church. Through the influence of his family he obtained a financial subsidy from the parish church at Xanten, a town near the Holland-German border, when he accepted ordination to the subdiaconate. His only task was to chant the Divine Office at the church, but he apparently paid someone a small fee to take his place in the choir, because he gained an appointment as a chaplain-religious counselor to the emperor, Henry V, in Cologne.

The salaries from the Xanten fund and the royal treasury were enough to equip him to live in the pleasurable style of the nobility of the time. He was not, however, a man devoid of idealism and moral sensitivity. The seeds of his moral conversion were planted during a lengthy stay in Rome with Henry V in which he witnessed the breakdown of negotiations over the lay-investiture issue. He saw the pope standing firm on the principle that it was wrong for a secular power to control the appointment of bishops both because it gave the impression that the origin of sacramental ministry comes from a secular source and not from God, and, secondly, because it contributed to the corruption of the episcopacy. At the same time, he noted the emperor would not yield and was willing to keep the pope under house arrest until the pope changed his mind.

Conversion and Early Ministry
Norbert found himself sympathetic to the pope and experiencing the dawn of a moral awakening. This development was accentuated a year later when he was nearly killed by a bolt of lightening during a storm. He decided to withdraw from imperial service and go into seclusion at the Abbey of Siegburg to permit himself a thorough self-evaluation. After three years of self-scrutiny and prayer, he concluded that he should seek ordination to the priesthood and commit himself to Jesus and the ideals of the Gospel.

A changed man, he returned to the parish community at Xanten, determined to live as a principled priest and anxious to engage in active ministry in the area. The easy-going clergymen of Xanten disliked the “new” Norbert and were annoyed by his enthusiasm as well as by the implied reproach that his life cast on theirs. Realizing that he was out of place with these men, he decided to leave them and embark on a life of evangelical poverty. He divested himself of all his possessions and successfully sought permission from the pope to become a missionary preacher.

For the next several years he roamed through western Germany, Belgium and France, preaching repentance, peace and moral reform. The darker side of feudalism gave him much to preach about. The absence of an effective police force or national militia allowed for continuous brutality, brawls and feuds. The ordinary citizen faced the unpredictable violence of armed knights. Those Iron Men, clad in their suits of armor, often plundered whatever they wished, with little resistance from the vast majority of helpless people. Norbert preached peace, mercy and consideration to a world that was hardly a Camelot or the serene kingdom of an Ivanhoe.

In settlement after settlement, he would find cases of armed combat and hatred. In addition, he encountered a demoralized clergy, lonely, often practicing concubinage and feeling that the official church cared little about them. He had plenty of work to do when hearing out the complaints of the serfs, who were little more than slaves caught in a hopeless situation of bondage.

At the same time, Norbert came in touch with reforms. In Paris, he would have witnessed the Canons of St. Victor – that is, parish clergy who adopted the ascetic ideals of William of Champagne.

At Clairvaux and Citeaux, he would have beheld the Cistercian reforms of the world of the monks. He noted that their churches had plain wooden crosses and walls bare of pictures or stained glass, that their diet was vegetarian, and that they were allowed only six hours of sleep a night but were required to to work at least seven hours a day in manual labor, mostly farm work. He also became acquainted with the Cistercian administrative system that created an international federation of monasteries with a fair amount of centralized power, though local houses had a certain amount of independence. These reforms, written up in their “Charter of Charity,” would affect him significantly in his own future work.

Forming Community
In 1120, he came to the city of Laon at the request of Bishop Bartholomew, where part of his assignment included the spiritual renewal of the Canons of St. Martin’s. Norbert failed to change them. Bartholomew, was convinced that Norbert had a great deal more to offer and that he should stay in the area and establish a community of priests very much in line with his own personal ideals. After a considerable number of conversations, Norbert agreed and negotiations were begun to create a community of canons regular.

Historian Barbara Tuchman notes in her study “A Distant Mirror” that the Duke De Coucy, who was the overlord of the area of Soissons, awarded a land grant to Norbert in the valley of Prémontré for the purpose of establishing an abbey there. Norbert and a few companions cleared out some of the land for a settlement and rebuilt the ruined chapel of John the Baptist.

On Christmas day, 1120, Norbert inaugurated the Canons Regular of Prémontré, an order also called Premonstratensians – or, more simply, Norbertines.They swore to seek Christ by means of community living, poverty, obedience, celibacy and a dedication to the active priestly ministry. Norbert held before them the dream of the first Christians after Pentecost whose community life was characterized by the power of the Holy Spirit and a desire to be of service to others.

For a rule of life, Norbert chose the Rule of St. Augustine, as was common among communities of clergy. In addition, he adapted some of the customs of the Cistercians. Even more of these would be brought in later by Norbert’s successor, Abbot Hugh of Fosse. It was his idea that his clergy would reflect the reforms for ministry instituted by Pope Gregory VII and have the reformation spirit he had witnessed among the Cistercians. In effect, he produced a community that would be somewhat monastic as far as house ministry. The whole idea was that his active priest needed an ascetic and contemplative haven, and that was the purpose of the abbey discipline.

Norbert as Bishop
In terms of numbers and growth, his plan was hugely successful. Within a few generations there were Norbertine abbeys all over northern Europe. Within eight years, Norbert found himself nominated to be the Archbishop of Madgeburg. Like Augustine at Hippo, Norbert turned his residence into a Norbertine monastery and so carried to east Europe the ideals he instituted at Prémontré. Always a man to be ready to develop his ideas further, he softened the monastic aspect of the lives of his men at Madgeburg so they might have a more dynamic sense of outreach and commitment to active ministry. Experience had shown him that monastic practices tended to pull the men away from external ministry and withdraw them too much from the world.

Even though Norbert was a man of deep prayer and spirituality, he was a person aggressively interested in the needs of the people. Almost certainly, his many years as a missionary accounted for for his action-oriented mindset and therefore his ability to note the boundaries of inwardness that his abbeys observed. The administrative model of an international federation of abbeys did much to sustain these communities of canons and assure many of them centuries of survival as centers of service to the people and the parishes. Before Norbert’s time, communities of canons tended to be individualized and isolated, lacking supervision, control and means of self-renewal. The Norbertine canons surmounted this pitfall both by the above-mentioned organizational model as well as by the unique adaptations Norbert made to the Rule of Augustine.

Norbert died in 1134, leaving behind him an example of ministry-minded priests living in community – a model that was to become a norm about a century later.

Reflection
Norbert attempted to reproduce the lifestyle of the apostolic community of the early church. In his theological outlook, he saw the Holy Spirit as the originating power of the group. Common prayer and celebration of the Eucharist was to be the sustaining dynamic of the community. Selfless sharing and reaching out with love was the moral power that should surge from the members.

He dreamed of the emergence of a primary community whose members had the capacity to live together with a shared value system and shared beliefs. The first sentence of their rule said, “Be of one mind and heart in God.” Thus they were to have the ability to model and generate other communities based on divine love and human sharing.

By emphasizing the primacy of communal love in Premonstratensian existence, Norbert sparked all over Europe the possibilities for parish and other ministerial clergy to live in a soul-satisfying community context. This is a goal still being sought for today.

A new biography of Norbert, Man on Fire: The Life & Spirit of Norbert of Xanten, by Thomas Kunkel, appeared in 2019. The book, published by the St. Norbert College Press in association with the Center for Norbertine Studies, is available from the center or online.

snc.edu

NAVARRE BIBLE COMMENTARY (RSV)

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (To the Greater Glory of God)

From: Tobit 2:9-14; 3:1

[9] On the same night I returned from burying him, and because I was defiled, I slept by the wall of the courtyard, and my face was uncovered. [10] I did not know that there were sparrows on the wall and their fresh droppings fell into my open eyes and white films formed on my eyes. I went to physicians, but they did not help me. Ahikar, however, took care of me until he went to Elymais.

[11] Then my wife Anna earned money at women’s work. [12] She used to send the product to the owners. Once when they paid her wages, they also gave her a kid; [13] and when she returned to me it began to bleat. So I said to her, “Where did you get the kid? It is not stolen, is it? Return it to the owners; for it is not right to eat what is stolen.” [14] And she said, “It was given to me as a gift in addition to my wages.” But I did not believe her, and told her to return it to the owners; and I blushed for her. Then she replied to me, “Where are your charities and your righteous deeds? You seem to know everything!”

Tobit’s prayer in Nineveh
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[3:1] Then in my grief I wept, and I prayed in anguish.

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Commentary:

2:1-14 The festival of the Seven Weeks or Pentecost, so-called because it was held fifty days after Passover (cf. Deut 16:9-12; Lev 23:16), was one of the festivals involving pilgrimage to Jerusalem: during the exile it seems to have been commemorated by a special meal held as a remembrance rite for the feast. By looking after the needy, Tobit is fulfilling what the Law laid down should be done during this festival – taking an interest in strangers, orphans and widows (cf. Deut 16:14), although he is applying it to “brethren . . . mindful of the Lord” (v. 2). Despite his devoutness and ritual purity (v. 5; cf. Neh 19:11-12), Tobit has to share in the suffering inflicted on the people on account of their sins (v. 6; cf. Amos 8:10). But it gets worse than that: his works of mercy bring him misfortune (first blindness and then penury), to the point that his wife has to take paid work to make ends meet. Later, she queries whether he deserves to be suffering in the way that he is. He can put up with physical blindness because his family comes to his aid; but his wife’s criticism casts a shadow on his soul.

Tobit’s situation parallels that of everyone who strives to be faithful. As St Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:8-10, “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.” The Vulgate version of the Bible includes after v. 10 some reflections on why Tobit should have had to suffer in this way: see the RSVCE note on p. 615.

3:1-6 Tobit does not reply to his wife’s criticism; instead he entreats God in language reminiscent of the Psalms – but whereas the Psalms always pray for health and salvation, Tobit ends up praying for death. In this he is like Job (cf. Job 3:20-23), although Tobit acknowledges that God is right to punish him for his sins and those of his fathers, for which he feels responsible.

From the Greek text (where the RSV follows) one cannot deduce that Tobit envisages eternal life as a place of repose and joy in the presence of God; he sees it a place where the dead will dwell for all eternity. But the Latin version of the Vulgate implies that Tobit looks forward to being with the Lord. In any event, Tobit puts his trust in God, which means he can desire death, in the same sort of way that “the Christian can experience a desire for death like St Paul’s: ‘My desire is to depart and be with Christ’ (Phil 1:23). He can transform his own death into an act of obedience and love towards the Father, after the example of Christ” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1011).

From: Mark 12:13-17

On tribute to Caesar
-------------------------
[13] And they sent to him some of the Pharisees and some of the Hero'di-ans, to entrap him in his talk. [14] And they came and said to him, "Teacher, we know that you are true, and care for no man; for you do not regard the position of men, but truly teach the way of God. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? [15] Should we pay them, or should we not?" But knowing their hypocrisy, he said to them, "Why put me to the test? Bring me a coin, and let me look at it." [16] And they brought one. And he said to them, "Whose likeness and inscription is this?" They said to him, "Caesar's." [17] Jesus said to them, "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." And they were amazed at him.

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Commentary:

13-17. Jesus uses this situation to teach that man belongs totally to his Creator: "You must perforce give Caesar the coin which bears his likeness, but let you give your whole being to God, because it is his likeness, not Caesar's that you bear" (St. Jerome, "Comm. in Marcum, in loc.").

Our Lord here asserts a principle which should guide the action of Christians in public life. The Church recognizes the rightful autonomy of earthly realities, but this does not mean that she has not a responsibility to light them up with the light of the Gospel. When they work shoulder to shoulder with other citizens to develop society, Christian lay people should bring a Christian influence to bear: "If the role of the Hierarchy is to teach and to interpret authentically the norms of morality to be followed in this matter, it belongs to lay people, without waiting passively for orders and directives, to take the initiative freely and to infuse a Christian spirit into the mentality, customs, laws and structures of the community in which they live. Changes are necessary, basic reforms are indispensable; lay people should strive resolutely to permeate them with the spirit of the Gospel" (St. Paul VI, "Populorum Progressio", 81).

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Readings at Mass

'Everyone knows what return you have had for your good works'

Give back to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God

Christian Art

Catena Aurea by St. Thomas Aguinas

Who Is Norbert of Xanten?