First reading James 1:12-18
Temptation is not from God
Happy the man who stands firm when trials come. He has proved himself, and will win the prize of life, the crown that the Lord has promised to those who love him.
Never, when you have been tempted, say, ‘God sent the temptation’; God cannot be tempted to do anything wrong, and he does not tempt anybody. Everyone who is tempted is attracted and seduced by his own wrong desire. Then the desire conceives and gives birth to sin, and when sin is fully grown, it too has a child, and the child is death.
Make no mistake about this, my dear brothers: it is all that is good, everything that is perfect, which is given us from above; it comes down from the Father of all light; with him there is no such thing as alteration, no shadow of a change. By his own choice he made us his children by the message of the truth so that we should be a sort of first-fruits of all that he had created.
Responsorial Psalm 93(94):12-15,18-19
Happy the man whom you teach, O Lord.
Happy the man whom you teach, O Lord,
whom you train by means of your law;
to him you give peace in evil days
while the pit is being dug for the wicked.
The Lord will not abandon his people
nor forsake those who are his own;
for judgement shall again be just
and all true hearts shall uphold it.
When I think: ‘I have lost my foothold’;
your mercy, Lord, holds me up.
When cares increase in my heart
your consolation calms my soul.
Gospel Mark 8:14-21
Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod
The disciples had forgotten to take any food and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. Then he gave them this warning, ‘Keep your eyes open; be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.’ And they said to one another, ‘It is because we have no bread.’ And Jesus knew it, and he said to them, ‘Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you not yet understand? Have you no perception? Are your minds closed? Have you eyes that do not see, ears that do not hear? Or do you not remember? When I broke the five loaves among the five thousand, how many baskets full of scraps did you collect?’ They answered, ‘Twelve.’ ‘And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many baskets full of scraps did you collect?’ And they answered, ‘Seven.’ Then he said to them, ‘Are you still without perception?’
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Are you still without perception?
Through the lines of this passage, we can feel the disappointment of Jesus towards His disciples. If He was frustrated with the Pharisees because they did not believe, He also experienced disappointment regarding the lack of understanding of those who followed Him. We listen to Jesus through the Scriptures, attend faith formations and even belong to faith communities, etc., but we still tend to remain at the surface and not understand the deeper meaning of Jesus’ words.
Let us find comfort that Jesus’ disciples took time to understand and follow Him faithfully. Let us not be discouraged. Our faith journey may also be long, but if we remain faithful to Jesus’, trying again and again to obey Him, our knowledge of Him and love for Him will grow more and more.
Reflective question:
Do I have my mind and heart open to walk on this journey of knowing and loving Jesus?
Do I have my mind and heart open to walk on this journey of knowing and loving Jesus?
Acknowledgment: Reflections are based on “Prayer for Living: The Word of God for Daily Prayer Year B” by Sr Maria Jose FMVD.
