PRI Reflections on Scripture | Tuesday of the 6th Week in Ordinary Time

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

When the topic of bread comes up. Jesus reminded, and I'm sure he worried and thought often about, do these men understand these signs? It's so difficult for them to grasp what it really means. Yes, it was miraculous. But every sign has a message, a truth, something they need to open their hearts to. And so when he says very clearly, be careful

your hearts are hardened, just like the Pharisees and the scribes. And he longs for them to open their hearts and receive the message that is in these images. But what you realize is they did not grasp these things until the Holy Spirit filled them. And the words that he ends this passage with are so poignant. Do you still not understand?

Closing Prayer

Father, you did not cease to create signs, that would be ways of your truth entering into our imaginations. You continue to do it today. And the question that Jesus poses to his disciples is also posed to us. Are we open to the mysterious ways in which God is working in your life? Are you aware of the things that are happening around you? That if you truly understand them, you will learn more and more about the will of the father who invites His Son to establish the Kingdom of God on this planet? Open our hearts. Let us ponder and wonder and find truth. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.