Thursday, February 01, 2018

Reflection for February 13, Tuesday of the Sixth Week; Mark 8:14-21

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?”
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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 

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