Bible Diary

Daily Reading

Tuesday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time

LECTIONARY
336

FIRST READING

JAS 1:12-18

Blessed is he who perseveres in temptation,
for when he has been proven he will receive the crown of life
that he promised to those who love him.
No one experiencing temptation should say,
"I am being tempted by God";
for God is not subject to temptation to evil,
and he himself tempts no one.
Rather, each person is tempted when lured and enticed by his desire.
Then desire conceives and brings forth sin,
and when sin reaches maturity it gives birth to death.

Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers and sisters:
all good giving and every perfect gift is from above,
coming down from the Father of lights,
with whom there is no alteration or shadow caused by change.
He willed to give us birth by the word of truth
that we may be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

PSALM

PS 94:12-13A, 14-15, 18-19

Response: Blessed the man you instruct, O Lord

Blessed the man whom you instruct, O LORD,
whom by your law you teach,
Giving him rest from evil days.

For the LORD will not cast off his people,
nor abandon his inheritance;
But judgment shall again be with justice,
and all the upright of heart shall follow it.

When I say, "My foot is slipping,"
your mercy, O LORD, sustains me;
When cares abound within me,
your comfort gladdens my soul.

GOSPEL

Mk 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?"

Daily Reflection

The scene in today’s Gospel unfolds in a boat. While Jesus warns the disciples to “guard against the yeast of the Pharisees”, the disciples conclude that He says that as they have carried only a loaf of bread with them.

Jesus admonishes them for being so petty by highlighting the two miracles of feeding the multitudes. The focus is on the number of baskets full of scraps collected. The twelve baskets symbolise the 12 tribes of Israel, the 7 baskets represent the seven Gentile nations who occupied the land of Canaan to whom Jesus offers salvation. In the encounter with the Syrophoenician woman, it is already established that Israel’s leftover bread was sufficient for the Gentiles.

The disciples, probably feeling overwhelmed by Jesus’ power and miracles, choose to focus on these miraculous details and therefore miss out on the bigger picture. It is precisely this disabling “leaven” that Jesus warns them against, for it causes them to see Jesus as less than He truly is.

And you? What “leaven” inhibits your vision of Jesus today?