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

In many ways the disciples are revealed in the Scriptures as people who don't really get it. You know, who don't have a clue.

But you have to understand that what Jesus is saying is really so radically new. They knew religion, they knew the temple, they knew its corruption. They didn't expect it to do much for them. And now Jesus is creating a new kingdom, the kingdom of Heaven, on earth. And it's all about something that nurtures and develops and feeds. And so he's longing for his disciples to understand this.

So he uses signs and symbols and stories and parables. And he just simply gets frustrated because they don't understand. They don't yet know how to listen to the way he teaches, to ponder the images, to wonder, and to imagine something radically different than what they've known when it comes to religion.

Closing Prayer

Father, everything that you have created in the world is for us. Even the negative things or those things that remind us of what we don't want to be a part of. So open our eyes and our hearts and our ears. So we can feed on the nurturing love and the nurturing wisdom you share with us. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

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