Gospel: Mark 8:14-21
The disciples had forgotten to bring bread,
and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. Jesus enjoined them, “Watch
out, guard against the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.” They
concluded among themselves that it was because they had no bread. When he
became aware of this he said to them, “Why do you conclude that it is because
you have no bread? Do you not yet understand or comprehend?
Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes and
not see, ears and not hear? And do you not remember, when I broke the five
loaves for the five thousand, how many wicker baskets full of fragments you
picked up?” They answered him, “Twelve.” “When I broke the seven loaves for the
four thousand, how many full baskets of fragments did you pick up?” They
answered him, “Seven.” He said to them, “Do you still not understand?”
+ + + + + + +
Reflection:
Why do we often times do not get the message that Jesus wants us to
understand? Because we allow ourselves to be distracted by the things around. We
thus lose focus on the message that Jesus wants us to imbibe.
This is the situation in our gospel; Jesus wanted the disciples to be
wary of the teachings and over zealousness of the Pharisees and Herod to
externally fulfill their laws. But Jesus used the word leaven and since they
have no bread they understood it as something that relates to their lack of
bread.
This is what happens when we have shallow faith, when we allow ourselves
to be distracted with our worldly preoccupations. We are not able to get what
Jesus wants us to understand. So, we get lost in this worldly jungle that is
dominated by materialism, deception, arrogance, greed and the like.
Try focusing your attention on Jesus alone, try being faithful to Him
and disregard worldly temptations. This will therefore result in your deeper
intimacy with Him and you surely will understand the message that Jesus wants
to convey to you. – Marino J. Dasmarinas
No comments:
Post a Comment