Qua bài Tin Mừng, các môn đệ đã chứng kiến hai hai phép lạ mà Chúa Giêsu đã làm là hoá bánh ra nhiều để phân phát cho những người đang trong cơn đó khát. Tuy nhiên, các môn đệ cũng còn gặp phải những khó khăn để hiểu được rằng Chúa Giêsu cũng sẽ ban cho họ những nhu cầu riêng của họ. Những điều gì là sự cám dỗ lớn nhất trong cuộc đời của chúng ta? Chúng ta có tin rằng Chúa sẽ ban cho chúng ta những thứ cần thiết để giúp chúng ta loại bỏ những gì là tội lỗi và biết chọn những gì là tốt đẹp cho cuộc sống đời sau?
Chúa Kitô mời gọi chúng ta kiên trì trong việc nắm giữ những gì là tốt đẹp và tìm kiếm những gì là thực sự đầy ý nghĩa. Những sự cám dỗ đến và đi. Nhưng sự hiện diện và chân lý của Thiên Chúa thì luôn ở lại và hiện diện với chúng ta mãi mãi. Vì vậy, khi chúng ta bị cám dỗ, chúng ta có thể đến trước Chúa Giêsu, với tấm lòng chân thành dâng lên Chúa tất cả những những sự yếu đuối của chúng ta. Chúng ta hãy khiêm tốn để cầu xin Chúa ban thêm cho chúng ta có sức mạnh để chống đỡ những cơn cám dỗ.
Christ invites us to persevere in holding on to what is good and to seek what is truly fulfilling. Temptations come and go. God’s presence and truth are with us forever. So when we are tempted, we can come before Jesus just as we are, in our weakness. We can humbly ask for strength. Jesus truly provides us with the grace we need to say ‘no’ to sin and ‘yes’ to God.
In the Gospel, the disciples have already witnessed two instances where Jesus provided food for people who were hungry. Still, it is difficult for the disciples to understand that Jesus will also provide for their own needs. What is the greatest temptation in my life? Do I believe that Jesus provides me with what I need to reject what is sinful and choose what is good? Give us this day our daily bread and lead us not into temptation.
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.” Mark 8:14–15
Jesus and the disciples frequently traveled by boat, visiting many towns and villages along the Sea of Galilee. After a fruitful visit to the Gentile territory of the Decapolis, Jesus and His disciples crossed to Dalmanutha. Upon disembarking, some Pharisees, who had likely heard of His miraculous feeding of the 4,000, demanded a sign from Him. Jesus, deeply grieved by their lack of faith, sighed from the depths of His spirit, refused their request, and departed again by boat. It was during this boat ride that today’s Gospel took place.
Jesus’ holy sorrow over the Pharisees’ hardness of heart deeply affected Him. His grief was not one of self-pity over their rejection of Him but stemmed from His divine compassion. He felt the weight of their lack of faith and their refusal to embrace the truth of God’s love. It was this profound sorrow that prompted Jesus to caution His disciples, saying, “Watch out, guard against the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.”
“Leaven,” in this context, symbolizes a hidden yet pervasive influence that governed both the Pharisees and Herod. Just as a small amount of yeast permeates an entire batch of dough, causing it to rise, so too the destructive influence of the Pharisees and Herod spread through their actions and teachings, corrupting others. With His sorrowful encounter with the Pharisees fresh in mind, Jesus used the moment to warn His disciples not to allow such corrupting influences to take root in their own hearts.
The Pharisees’ hidden, pervasive, and destructive quality lay in their excessive focus on external observances of the Law and the traditions derived from it. Their rigid legalism blinded them to the true meaning of God’s Law—mercy and the inner disposition of the heart—leading to their own spiritual ruin and to the misleading of others.
Herod’s “leaven” likely refers to a worldly mindset characterized by a relentless pursuit of power, wealth, and pleasure. Herod chose the fleeting allure of worldly things over God’s eternal truths. Herod’s pride and destructive behavior epitomize this mindset, which ultimately led him to have John the Baptist executed for courageously speaking the truth about Herod’s adulterous relationship with his brother’s wife, Herodias.
Jesus’ admonition to His disciples on the boat is not only a condemnation of the Pharisees’ and Herod’s sins but a warning about the influence such pervasive sins can have on them. Likewise, just as Jesus cautioned His disciples, so too does He caution us today: “Watch out” and “guard against” the influences that do not arise from God’s saving Truth. In our world, it is essential to recognize how pervasive societal ideologies and moralities can subtly shape our thoughts and actions. By remaining vigilant and rooted in Christ, we must discern and reject the leaven of worldliness, hypocrisy, and pride, allowing God’s divine light to guide our lives.
Reflect today on the influences that shape your life. Do you spend countless hours on social media, browsing the Internet, or watching television? If so, take a moment to consider the hidden yet pervasive effects of the content you consume and discern if it is subtly leading you astray. The only true remedy against such worldly influences is found in prayer and the Word of God. The Gospel must permeate our minds and hearts, acting as leaven to transform us from within. This divine leaven is nourished through prayer, the Sacraments, and an ongoing commitment to the Gospel. Heed Jesus’ warning, spoken to His disciples but intended for every generation: Remain vigilant. Guard your heart and mind, ensuring they are firmly rooted in God’s saving grace.
My grieving Lord, Your heart was filled with holy sorrow over the sins of the Pharisees and Herod, especially as You witnessed the harmful influence they had on others. Please grant me the gift of spiritual insight, so that I may recognize the influences that shape my thoughts and actions. May Your Word and Your Truth alone guide me, and may I become a witness to that Truth, serving as a holy influence for others. Jesus, I trust in You.
Opening Prayer: Lord God, I pray today that my heart has not been hardened. Soften my heart. Replace my stubborn heart of stone with a heart of flesh that is filled with your sanctifying Spirit.
1. The Prideful Leaven of the Pharisees: In the Gospel, Jesus has just multiplied the bread for the crowds in Gentile territory and confronted the Pharisees, who demanded a sign from heaven to test him. Jesus is now in the boat with his disciples and wants to review the recent events with them. In this way, today’s Gospel sets up a transition between the “Bread Section,” which focused on Jesus’ identity and mission (Mark 6:30-8:21), and the “Way to Jerusalem Section” (Mark 8:22-10:52), which focuses on Jesus’ destiny and the call to discipleship. Jesus begins today’s Gospel by putting his disciples on guard against the pride and hypocrisy of the Pharisees. He alludes to this with the image of leaven or yeast. Leaven is the ingredient in bread that puffs it up, so to speak. Leaven, then, can symbolize sin or evil. In fact, the people of Israel had to remove all the leaven and yeast from their houses before the Passover. Just as leaven puffs up bread dough, so also pride can puff us up and become an obstacle to a filial and trusting relationship with God. The pride of the Pharisees was dangerous because they wanted to hold on to their human traditions and their separation from the Gentile nations. This prideful “leaven” was an obstacle to the spread of the Gospel, and Jesus warned his disciples about it.
“Do you not yet understand or comprehend? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes and not see, ears and not hear?” Mark 8:17–18
How would you answer these questions that Jesus posed to His disciples if He had posed them to you? It takes humility to admit that you do not yet understand or comprehend, that your heart is in fact hardened, and that you fail to see and hear all that God has revealed. Of course there are various levels to these struggles, so hopefully you do not struggle with them to a grave degree. But if you can humbly confess that you do struggle with these to a certain extent, then that humility and honesty will gain you much grace.
Jesus posed these questions to His disciples within the larger context of a discussion about the leaven of the Pharisees and Herod. He knew that the “leaven” of these leaders was like a yeast that corrupted others. Their dishonesty, pride, desire for honors and the like had a seriously negative affect upon the faith of others. So by posing these questions above, Jesus challenged His disciples to see this evil leaven and to reject it.
Seeds of doubt and confusion are all around us. It seems these days that almost everything the secular world promotes is in some way contrary to the Kingdom of God. And yet, just like the disciples’ inability to see the evil leaven of the Pharisees and Herod, we also frequently fail to see the evil leaven within our society. Instead, we allow the many errors to confuse us and lead us down the path of secularism.
One thing this should teach us is that just because someone has some form of authority or power within society does not mean that they are a truthful and holy leader. And though it’s never our place to judge the heart of another, we absolutely must have “ears to hear” and “eyes to see” the many errors that are held up within our world as good. We must constantly seek to “understand and comprehend” the laws of God and use them as a guide against the lies within the world. One important way to make sure we do this well is to make sure that our hearts never become hardened to the truth.
Reflect, today, upon these questions of our Lord and examine them especially within the broader context of society as a whole. Consider the false “leaven” taught by our world and by so many in positions of authority. Reject these errors and recommit yourself to the full embrace of the holy mysteries of Heaven so that those truths and those truths alone become your daily guide.
My glorious Lord, I thank You for being the Lord of all Truth. Help me to daily turn my eyes and ears to that Truth so that I will be able to see the evil leaven all around me. Give me wisdom and the gift of discernment, dear Lord, so that I will be able to immerse myself into the mysteries of Your holy life. Jesus, I trust in You.
Opening Prayer: Lord God, I pray today that my heart has not been hardened. Soften my heart. Replace my stubborn heart of stone with a heart of flesh that is filled with your sanctifying Spirit.
1. The Leaven of the Pharisees: In the Gospel, Jesus has just multiplied the bread for the crowds in Gentile territory and confronted the Pharisees, who demanded a sign from heaven to test him. Jesus is now in the boat with his disciples and wants to review the recent events with them. He begins by putting his disciples on guard against the pride and hypocrisy of the Pharisees. He alludes to this with the image of leaven. Leaven is the ingredient in bread that puffs it up. Leaven, then, can at times symbolize sin or evil. In fact, the people of Israel had to remove all the leaven and yeast within their house before the Passover. Just as leaven puffs up bread dough, so also pride can puff us up and become an obstacle to a filial relationship with God.
3. 40 Days and Nights of Testing: In the First Reading, it is good to recall that the account of the flood in Genesis differs from the accounts in other ancient Mesopotamian myths. In the pagan myths, the great primordial flood was an attempt of the gods to destroy humanity because they feared the growing power of humanity. In Genesis, by contrast, the flood was permitted by God to eradicate sin. Genesis 4-6 narrates the proliferation of sin. It reaches the point when a new beginning with the righteous Noah and his family is necessary. The forty days and nights represent a time of testing. The greatness of Noah is found in his faith through this time of testing. Noah obeyed the call of the Lord to build the ark, to gather the animals and his family into the ark, and to continue in hope during the forty days and nights of the flood. Just as Jesus persevered during the forty days and nights of testing in the desert, so Noah persevered with his family in the ark. Because of his faithfulness, Noah was granted a renewal of the covenant of creation.
No comments:
Post a Comment