Friday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time

Optional Memorial for Saint Peter Damian, Bishop and Doctor of the Church
 
Proper readings for the Memorial of St. Peter Damian
 
Biographical information about St. Peter Damian

“Christ Carrying the Cross”
by El Greco, 1600-05

Readings for Friday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time [1]
 
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible [2]
 
Readings and Commentary: [3]
 
Reading 1: Genesis 11:1-9
 
The whole world spoke the same language, using the same words.
While the people were migrating in the east,
they came upon a valley in the land of Shinar and settled there.
They said to one another,
"Come, let us mold bricks and harden them with fire."
They used bricks for stone, and bitumen for mortar.
Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city
and a tower with its top in the sky,
and so make a name for ourselves;
otherwise we shall be scattered all over the earth."
 
The LORD came down to see the city and the tower
that they had built.
Then the LORD said: "If now, while they are one people,
all speaking the same language,
they have started to do this,
nothing will later stop them from doing whatever they presume to do.
Let us then go down and there confuse their language,
so that one will not understand what another says."
Thus the LORD scattered them from there all over the earth,
and they stopped building the city.
That is why it was called Babel,
because there the LORD confused the speech of all the world.
It was from that place that he scattered them all over the earth.
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Commentary on Gn 11:1-9
 
The author uses the story of the Tower of Babel as an explanation of how there came to be multiple languages used around the world. It is coupled with the moral lesson which illustrates how pride in one’s own strength is folly. In the story, which is based upon the temple towers or ziggurats of Babylonia, the author describes the increasing wickedness of the people as they thought they could accomplish anything they wanted without God’s help.
 
CCC: Gen 11:4-6 57
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 33:10-11, 12-13, 14-15
 
R. (12) Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
 
The LORD brings to naught the plans of nations;
he foils the designs of peoples.
But the plan of the LORD stands forever;
the design of his heart, through all generations.
R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
 
Blessed the nation whose God is the LORD,
the people he has chosen for his own inheritance.
From heaven the LORD looks down;
he sees all mankind.
R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
 
From his fixed throne he beholds
all who dwell on the earth,
He who fashioned the heart of each,
he who knows all their works.
R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
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Commentary on Ps 33:10-11, 12-13, 14-15
 
Psalm 33 is a hymn of praise. In this selection the lesson presented in Genesis 11:1-9 is reinforced. “The Lord brings to naught the plans of nations; he foils the designs of peoples.” Without God there is no creation, progress, or salvation.
 
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Gospel: Mark 8:34--9:1
 
Jesus summoned the crowd with his disciples and said to them,
"Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself,
take up his cross, and follow me.
For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for my sake
and that of the Gospel will save it.
What profit is there for one to gain the whole world
and forfeit his life?
What could one give in exchange for his life?
Whoever is ashamed of me and of my words
in this faithless and sinful generation,
the Son of Man will be ashamed of
when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels."
 
He also said to them,
"Amen, I say to you,
there are some standing here who will not taste death
until they see that the Kingdom of God has come in power.
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Commentary on Mk 8:34--9:1
 
In the previous verses, Jesus has chastised St. Peter for encouraging him to avoid the passion and death he is destined to endure. Now, turning to the rest of his followers, Jesus calls all of those who are with him to authentic discipleship. He tells them that answering that call means placing Christian sacrifice first, and if necessary, denying even one’s life for the sake of the truth of the Son of God. 
 
“This utterance of Jesus challenges all believers to authentic discipleship and total commitment to himself through self-renunciation and acceptance of the cross of suffering, even to the sacrifice of life itself. Whoever wishes to save his life will lose it … will save it: an expression of the ambivalence of life and its contrasting destiny. Life seen as mere self-centered earthly existence and lived in denial of Christ ends in destruction, but when lived in loyalty to Christ, despite earthly death, it arrives at fullness of life.” [4]
 
He challenges those who are wavering by indicating the sort of reception they will receive when they come before him on the last day: “Whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this faithless and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.” The last verse (9:1) is understood to mean the power of God’s kingdom on earth, the Church. Others clearly believed that the Parousia (second coming) was imminent.
 
CCC: Mk 8:34 459, 1615; Mk 8:35 2544
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Reflection:
 
“Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.”
 
In these challenging times, the words of the Lord can give us peace.  While it sounds like a huge challenge (and it is) there is a sense of hope.  Hope because what the Lord is telling us is that what is truly important is not strictly our physical or financial well-being, but our spiritual focus.
 
We listen to the news each day and see what is going on around us in the secular world.  Worse, much of this news affects us directly and if we dwell upon it we find only depression and hopelessness.  It seems in parallel to the story from Genesis we heard today, about the great tower the Babylonians were building.  Because they were so arrogant, they thought they could undertake a work of human hands that would rival God’s creation.
 
In response to their arrogance and unbelief, God showed them the error of false pride by introducing serious communication problems; they could no longer understand one another.  We see that today, in the workplace and in our lives.  Without the common language of a united purpose or goal, our language fails us, and what we attempt is doomed to failure.
 
Into this confusion come the words, “follow me.”  Christ is our uniting purpose.  He is the one who gives us direction and shows us what is truly important in our lives.  In difficult and desperate times, we contemplate drastic and extreme actions.  Christ calls to us.  What good is it to gain the whole world and lose your life?
 
He keeps us focused on what is important, what is at the core of Christian faith,  love of God and love of neighbor.  Let us keep those words in mind in the difficult days ahead.
 
“Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.”
 
Pax

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[1] The picture used is “Christ Carrying the Cross” by El Greco, 1600-05.
[2] S.S. Commemoratio
[3] The readings are taken from the New American Bible with the exception of the Psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for English in Liturgy (ICEL).  This re-publication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.
[4] NAB footnote on Mark 8:34ff.

Thursday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time

“Christ with His Disciples”
by Jorgan Roed c. 1880

 
Readings for Thursday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time [1]
 
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible [2]
 
Readings and Commentary: [3]
 
Reading 1: Genesis 9:1-13
 
God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them:
“Be fertile and multiply and fill the earth.
Dread fear of you shall come upon all the animals of the earth
and all the birds of the air,
upon all the creatures that move about on the ground
and all the fishes of the sea;
into your power they are delivered.
Every creature that is alive shall be yours to eat;
I give them all to you as I did the green plants.
Only flesh with its lifeblood still in it you shall not eat.
For your own lifeblood, too, I will demand an accounting:
from every animal I will demand it,
and from one man in regard to his fellow man
I will demand an accounting for human life.
 
If anyone sheds the blood of man,
by man shall his blood be shed;
For in the image of God
has man been made.
 
Be fertile, then, and multiply;
abound on earth and subdue it.”
 
God said to Noah and to his sons with him:
“See, I am now establishing my covenant with you
and your descendants after you
and with every living creature that was with you:
all the birds, and the various tame and wild animals
that were with you and came out of the ark.
I will establish my covenant with you,
that never again shall all bodily creatures be destroyed
by the waters of a flood;
there shall not be another flood to devastate the earth.”
God added:
“This is the sign that I am giving for all ages to come,
of the covenant between me and you
and every living creature with you:
I set my bow in the clouds to serve as a sign
of the covenant between me and the earth.”
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Commentary on Gn 9:1-13
 
The first section of this reading provides God’s blessing and instructions to Noah and his sons who are to repopulate the earth. They first receive dominion over all life, as man did at the creation, with no dietary restrictions save one: don’t eat raw meat or living flesh. “Because a living being dies when it loses most of its blood, the ancients regarded blood as the seat of life, and therefore as sacred. Although in itself the prohibition against eating meat with blood in it is comparable to the ritual laws of the Mosaic code, the Jews considered it binding on all men, because it was given by God to Noah, the new ancestor of all mankind; therefore the early Christian Church retained it for a time (Acts 15:20, 29)” [4]
There follows a short statement that prefigures the Ten Commandments – thou shall not kill.
 
The Lord then goes on to establish and seal his covenant with the earth in the person of Noah, using the rainbow as an eternal symbol. In this covenant, God promises not to destroy the earth using a great flood ever again.
 
CCC: Gen 8:20-9:17 2569; Gen 9:1-4 2417; Gen 9:5-6 2260; Gen 9:8-16 2569; Gen 9:9 56
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 102:16-18, 19-21, 29 and 22-23
 
R. (20b) From heaven the Lord looks down on the earth.
 
The nations shall revere your name, O LORD,
and all the kings of the earth your glory,
When the LORD has rebuilt Zion
and appeared in his glory;
When he has regarded the prayer of the destitute,
and not despised their prayer.
R. From heaven the Lord looks down on the earth.
 
Let this be written for the generation to come,
and let his future creatures praise the LORD:
"The LORD looked down from his holy height,
from heaven he beheld the earth,
To hear the groaning of the prisoners,
to release those doomed to die."
R. From heaven the Lord looks down on the earth.
 
The children of your servants shall abide,
and their posterity shall continue in your presence,
That the name of the LORD may be declared in Zion,
and his praise, in Jerusalem,
When the peoples gather together,
and the kingdoms, to serve the LORD.
R. From heaven the Lord looks down on the earth.
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Commentary on Ps 102:16-18, 19-21, 29 and 22-23
 
Psalm 102 is an individual lament. In these strophes, we find the cry of the people in the desert once more being directed to the Lord. The psalmist, expressing trust in the mercy of God, asks for a release from suffering and bondage for the people (“The Lord looked down from his holy height, from heaven he beheld the earth, to hear the groaning of the prisoners, to release those doomed to die”). The singer gives us a prayer of thanksgiving for the restoration of the people to Israel after the Diaspora. God brought them back from their captivity and reestablished them in Zion. The prayer prefigures God’s salvation offered in the New Jerusalem – God’s heavenly kingdom.
 
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Gospel: Mark 8:27-33
 
Jesus and his disciples set out
for the villages of Caesarea Philippi.
Along the way he asked his disciples,
“Who do people say that I am?”
They said in reply,
“John the Baptist, others Elijah,
still others one of the prophets.”
And he asked them,
“But who do you say that I am?”
Peter said to him in reply,
“You are the Christ.”
 
Then he warned them not to tell anyone about him.
 
He began to teach them
that the Son of Man must suffer greatly
and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes,
and be killed, and rise after three days.
He spoke this openly.
Then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.
At this he turned around and, looking at his disciples,
rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan.
You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”
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Commentary on Mk 8:27-33
 
This selection from St. Mark’s Gospel is pivotal for the original audience. Up to this point in Jesus' public ministry he has been thought of by those who meet him as a prophet and teacher – a Holy Man. That view changes as St. Peter identifies him as “Christ,” the Messiah. Because the popular expectations about the Messiah differed greatly from the image and demeanor of Jesus, the Lord instructs them not to broadcast his true identity. After silencing them (his closest friends), Jesus uses the title “Son of Man” (see Daniel 7:13-14). He goes on to explain that “the Son of Man” (see NAB note on Mark 8:31), using his true humanity as a title, must go through suffering and humiliation before his final victory.
 
This frightens the disciples, and probably confuses many of the entourage (remember, there were more than just the 12 following Jesus around).  Peter confronts Jesus asking him to take a different approach to what he tells his students. Seeing this request as an invitation or temptation to take a different path, Jesus rebukes Peter and lashes out; “Get behind me Satan.”
 
CCC: Mk 8:27 472; Mk 8:31-33 557; Mk 8:31 474, 572, 649
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Reflection:
 
“Who do you say that I am?”  That question is one that is asked of us each day.  It is so easy to answer with the “right” answer. Like Peter, our lips announce that Jesus is the Messiah, the anointed one, the Savior of the world predicted by the prophets.  The actions that flow from that profession of faith, however, say what we really think.
 
I was listening to a motivational speech by Jerry Linenger recently as he described his mission to the Mir Space Station.  He was saying that, after he came back to earth after being in space for 5 months, he had difficulty adjusting to the presence of gravity.  On the space station when he had finished writing he would simply set his pen in the air beside him. Upon his return he caught himself doing the same, expecting it to just float there as it did in space.  He was always surprised to hear it dropping.  He joked that he broke a bunch of glasses at home that way, and his wife ended up making him drink out of one of his toddler son’s sippy cups.
 
The point of this anecdote is that if he were asked, “Is there gravity?”, his answer would be, “Of course there is gravity.”  However, his reactions were not consistent with his words.  His subconscious memory of the lack of gravity caused him to behave as if things were weightless.
 
“Who do people say that I am?”   We must look at our reactions, our instinctive behavior and understand our answer from the heart.  Our goal must be to subconsciously act as Christ would have us act.  When that happens, we know that we have succeeded in putting on the mind of Christ.
 
It is difficult, we know.  It may be impossible (like lifting your right foot and moving it in a clock wise direction and trying to write the number six with your right hand – your foot will reverse directions against your conscious will. – Don’t waste too much time trying to prove me wrong.  We continue to strive for that goal.
 
Pax

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[1] The picture used is “Christ with His Disciples” by Jorgan Roed c. 1880.
[2] S.S. Commemoratio
[3] The readings are taken from the New American Bible, with the exception of the psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for English in Liturgy (ICEL). This republication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.
[4] NAB footnote on Genesis 9:4.

Wednesday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time

“Noah's Ark Cycle: 5. Noah's Sacrifice of Thanksgiving”
by  Kaspar Memberger the Elder, 1588

Readings for Wednesday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time [1]
 
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible [2]
 
Readings and Commentary: [3]
 
Reading 1: Genesis 8:6-13, 20-22
 
At the end of forty days Noah opened the hatch he had made in the ark,
and he sent out a raven,
to see if the waters had lessened on the earth.
It flew back and forth until the waters dried off from the earth.
Then he sent out a dove,
to see if the waters had lessened on the earth.
But the dove could find no place to alight and perch,
and it returned to him in the ark,
for there was water all over the earth.
Putting out his hand, he caught the dove
and drew it back to him inside the ark.
He waited seven days more and again sent the dove out from the ark.
In the evening the dove came back to him,
and there in its bill was a plucked-off olive leaf!
So Noah knew that the waters had lessened on the earth.
He waited still another seven days
and then released the dove once more;
and this time it did not come back.
 
In the six hundred and first year of Noah’s life,
in the first month, on the first day of the month,
the water began to dry up on the earth.
Noah then removed the covering of the ark
and saw that the surface of the ground was drying up.
 
Noah built an altar to the LORD,
and choosing from every clean animal and every clean bird,
he offered burnt offerings on the altar.
When the LORD smelled the sweet odor, he said to himself:
“Never again will I doom the earth because of man
since the desires of man(s heart are evil from the start;
nor will I ever again strike down all living beings, as I have done.
As long as the earth lasts,
seedtime and harvest,
cold and heat,
Summer and winter,
and day and night
shall not cease.”
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Commentary on Gn 8:6-13, 20-22
 
This selection is the conclusion of the flood story. Hebrew numerology plays a big part in the symbolism of the story. Forty days represents the fullness of the flood, and the seven day periods waiting for the dove, the perfect number.
 
This passage provides another important symbol, an efficacious sign in the form of a dove. The dove is sent out three times, which would represent the completeness of its mission. It returns finally with an olive branch which has come to symbolize peace, in this case man’s peace with God. The return of the dove at last may represent to some the return of the Holy Spirit, coming back to mankind after our being lost to sin, which was washed away in the waters of the great flood, an image of baptism making an end to sin and a new beginning.
 
Noah completes the test by building an altar and offering a sacrifice to God that seems to appease his just anger at mankind. The “sweet odor” rising up to God from the sacrifice of Noah provides the Church with the image that later translated into the use of incense, the smoke rising to the Lord as sacrifice is offered at our earthly altar.
 
CCC: Gen 8:8-12 701; Gen 8:20-9:17 2569
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Responsorial Psalm: Ps 116:12-13, 14-15, 18-19
 
R. (17a) To you, Lord, I will offer a sacrifice of praise.
or:
R. Alleluia.
 
How shall I make a return to the LORD
for all the good he has done for me?
The cup of salvation I will take up,
and I will call upon the name of the LORD.
R. To you, Lord, I will offer a sacrifice of praise.
or:
R. Alleluia.
My vows to the LORD I will pay
in the presence of all his people.
Precious in the eyes of the LORD
is the death of his faithful ones.
R. To you, Lord, I will offer a sacrifice of praise.
or:
R. Alleluia.
 
My vows to the LORD I will pay
in the presence of all his people,
In the courts of the house of the LORD,
in your midst, O Jerusalem.
R. To you, Lord, I will offer a sacrifice of praise.
or:
R. Alleluia.
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Commentary on Ps 116:12-13, 14-15, 18-19
 
Psalm 116 is a song of thanksgiving. This selection is an individual prayer and promise to God. The singer understands that the Lord is his salvation. A little confusing is “Precious in the eyes of the Lord is the death of his faithful ones.” The meaning is that the death of God's faithful is grievous to God, not that God is pleased with the death.
 
CCC: Ps 116:12 224; Ps 116:13 1330
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Gospel: Mark 8:22-26
 
When Jesus and his disciples arrived at Bethsaida,
people brought to him a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him.
He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village.
Putting spittle on his eyes he laid his hands on the man and asked,
“Do you see anything?”
Looking up the man replied, “I see people looking like trees and walking.”
Then he laid hands on the man’s eyes a second time and he saw clearly;
his sight was restored and he could see everything distinctly.
Then he sent him home and said, “Do not even go into the village.”
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Commentary on Mk 8:22-26
 
“Jesus' actions and the gradual cure of the blind man probably have the same purpose as in the case of the deaf man (Mark 7:31-37). Some commentators regard the cure as an intended symbol of the gradual enlightenment of the disciples concerning Jesus' messiahship.”[4]
 
"Allegorically (St. Bede, In Marcum): Jesus heals the blind man to announce the mystery of redemption. As God Incarnate, Jesus heals man through the sacrament of his human nature, here signified by his hands and spittle. This grace cures our spiritual blindness gradually, and, as with the blind man, progress is measured in proportion to our faith. Allegorically (St. Jerome, Homily 79), the restoration of the blind man signifies our gradual increase in wisdom, from the darkness of ignorance to the light of truth. Christ's spittle is the perfect doctrine that proceeds from his mouth; it enhances our vision and brings us progressively to the knowledge of God." [5]
 
CCC: Mk 8:22-25 1151, 1504; Mk 8:23 699
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Reflection:
 
The blind man who was cured by Jesus in the Gospel story is the only recorded instance in which Jesus’ touch is not described as fully curing the person whom he intended to cure all at once.  In this instance, he imposes his hands twice.
 
After the first time, he asks the afflicted man: “Do you see anything?”  The man sees, but in a distorted way, not having received the full measure of the healing touch.  A second time Jesus touches him and he “could see everything distinctly.”
 
While we do not wish to read anything into the Gospel that is not there, St. Mark recounted this story where the blind man recovered his sight gradually for a reason.  The fact that the blind man, after Christ’s first touch, did not see clearly could easily be an allusion to our own perception of the reality and person of Jesus.  As children we are introduced to him. We develop an understanding of who he is and what Jesus wants of us.  It is like those first pictures we drew in our early elementary years; they are stick figures, representations of what we perceive around us.  Our understanding of the Lord and our relationship to him is at the same level of detail, very sketchy.
 
Like the person who drops out of school at a very young age, many of us never really grow beyond those early stick figures.  If we do not really study the Lord and his Word, we may never grow beyond stick figures, “looking like trees and walking."  Our goal is to work constantly to understand the will of Christ, and in doing so, see everything distinctly, understanding what Christ wants of us.  That process is almost always a gradual one.  Even if today, we think: “Ah, I understand what the Lord wants of me,” tomorrow, that perception may change.  Ours is an ongoing conversion process, one that will take our entire lives.
 
Today we pray for sight.  We ask God in Christ to give us the ability to see all things distinctly through the lens of faith and so draw closer to him and his will for us.
 
Pax

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[1] The picture used is “Noah's Ark Cycle: 5. Noah's Sacrifice of Thanksgiving” by  Kaspar Memberger the Elder, 1588.
[2] S.S. Commemoratio
[3] The readings are taken from the New American Bible, with the exception of the psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for English in Liturgy (ICEL). This republication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.
[4] See NAB footnote on Mark 8:22-26
[5] Ignatius Catholic Study Bible, © 2010, Ignatius Press, San Francisco, CA. pp. 79-80.

Tuesday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time

“Noah's Ark Cycle: 1. Building of the Ark”
by Kaspar Memberger the Elder, 1588

 
Readings for Tuesday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time [1]
 
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible [2]
 
Readings and Commentary: [3]
 
Reading 1: Genesis 6:5-8; 7:1-5, 10
 
When the LORD saw how great was man’s wickedness on earth,
and how no desire that his heart conceived
was ever anything but evil,
he regretted that he had made man on the earth,
and his heart was grieved.
So the LORD said:
“I will wipe out from the earth the men whom I have created,
and not only the men,
but also the beasts and the creeping things and the birds of the air,
for I am sorry that I made them.”
But Noah found favor with the LORD.
 
Then the LORD said to Noah:
“Go into the ark, you and all your household,
for you alone in this age have I found to be truly just.
Of every clean animal, take with you seven pairs,
a male and its mate;
and of the unclean animals, one pair,
a male and its mate;
likewise, of every clean bird of the air, seven pairs,
a male and a female,
and of all the unclean birds, one pair,
a male and a female.
Thus you will keep their issue alive over all the earth.
Seven days from now I will bring rain down on the earth
for forty days and forty nights,
and so I will wipe out from the surface of the earth
every moving creature that I have made.”
Noah did just as the LORD had commanded him.
 
As soon as the seven days were over,
the waters of the flood came upon the earth.
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Commentary on Gn 6:5-8; 7:1-5, 10
 
This selection is the condensed version of God’s commands to Noah in preparation for the great flood. The coming catastrophe is God’s punishment for the sins of mankind. The passage is full of numerological symbolism: seven is the number of completeness, forty the period of a generation. The story itself almost certainly relates a real event. There are numerous mentions of a great flood in other ancient Near-Eastern texts, although no specific archaeological proofs have been found.
 
"The flood happens because man rejected the law of God (this process began with Adam and Eve). God punishes man's disobedience by undoing the order of nature that he himself had established for man's benefit. Thus, the waters above and below, which God had wisely separated from the earth (cf. 1:7), now invade the land in full force (cf. 7:11). The result is a return to chaos, and mankind is on the point of disappearing. The situation calls for a new beginning following on a severe purification. The bible is offering us here an impressive lesson about the destiny of mankind when it turns its back on God and rejects the laws that are stamped on creation itself." [4]
 
CCC: Gen 6:5 401
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 29:1a and 2, 3ac-4, 3b and 9c-10
 
R. (11b) The Lord will bless his people with peace.
 
Give to the LORD, you sons of God,
give to the LORD glory and praise,
Give to the LORD the glory due his name;
adore the LORD in holy attire.
R. The Lord will bless his people with peace.
 
The voice of the LORD is over the waters,
the LORD, over vast waters.
The voice of the LORD is mighty;
the voice of the LORD is majestic.
R. The Lord will bless his people with peace.
 
The God of glory thunders,
and in his temple all say, “Glory!”
The LORD is enthroned above the flood;
the LORD is enthroned as king forever.
R. The Lord will bless his people with peace.
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Commentary on Ps 29:1a and 2, 3ac-4, 3b and 9c-10
 
Psalm 29 is a hymn extolling the power of God. In these strophes the immense power of God in nature is described. His majesty encompasses the earth (“enthroned above the flood”) and his kingship is established over all the earth, forever. This psalm selection focuses our attention on the baptismal font as it addresses water, the symbol and source of life, in two of the three strophes.
 
CCC: Ps 29:2 2143
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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?”
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Commentary on Mk 8:14-21
 
Following his departure from Dalmanutha (which he left because the Pharisees were demanding signs like those he performed by feeding the multitudes), while still in the boat in which they had left, the disciples begin to worry about not having brought provisions. Jesus uses this time to warn them about being affected by the rebellious attitude of the Pharisees and Herod toward him. The leaven of the Pharisees and Herod probably refers to their inability to accept Jesus as who he is, the Messiah. The Pharisees and Herodians take the message of hatred and spread it though all the people like yeast in bread dough.
 
As is expected of the disciples in St. Mark’s Gospel, they do not understand, and the Lord must go further. His explanation makes subtle use of Hebrew numerology, with 12 being symbolic of the 12 tribes of Israel, and 7 being the perfect number or symbolic of completeness. These numbers become the representation of the Lord’s mission to fulfill the Law and Prophets, the complete revelation of God and his kingdom.
 
CCC:  Mk 8:19 1329
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Reflection:
 
St. Mark’s Gospel paints a picture of the disciples to which many of us can relate.  They are not instantly aware of Christ’s identity and purpose.  In the passage on the boat given today, they are described as not understanding the mission of Jesus.  The Lord is very introspective, having just left behind Pharisees who had demanded a sign as if he were some magician and this right after he had fed the multitudes.
 
We can envision him gazing out over the waters, not really paying attention to the practical concerns of the disciples who had set sail with almost no provisions.  They only had only one loaf of bread between them, not enough for thirteen men for more than one meal.  Jesus, now stirred out of his reverie by their discussion, and hearing only something about bread, responds still thinking about the faithless religious leaders they have just left.
 
"Watch out, guard against the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod." His response probably surprised them as he had not been participating in the discussion about the lack of provisions.  It’s no wonder that they did not understand his reference immediately.  He was, of course, speaking about the understanding of God proclaimed by these groups.  They only could see the God who destroyed the earth with a flood because the people were evil.  They could not understand the Messiah, coming to reveal a different understanding of the Creator.  And what they spread, the form of worship they required that focused on ritual not on the spirit, was like a poison to the people – bad leaven!
 
Their confusion over his statement stimulates him to explain further using the symbolism of Hebrew numerology to explain his mission to them.  He concludes with a question that would have been a teaching moment wherever St. Mark’s Gospel was read: “Do you still not understand?”
 
For those of us who have the advantage of having been taught the message and meaning of Christ, this episode seems to be simple.  We are to avoid practicing our faith for others to observe as the Pharisees did.  We are to invite others to experience God in Christ and to become a leaven for the communities in which we find ourselves, spreading the Gospel through our actions and words.  This was the message received from St. Mark today and while it is easy enough to understand, it is difficult to live.  Today we pray once again for the strength to be that example to others and live the faith of a loving Jesus who feeds us with his body.
 
Pax
 

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[1] The picture is “Noah's Ark Cycle: 1. Building of the Ark” by Kaspar Memberger the Elder, 1588.
[2] S.S. Commemoratio
[3] The readings are taken from the New American Bible, with the exception of the psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for English in Liturgy (ICEL). This republication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.
[4] The Navarre Bible: “Pentateuch”, Scepter Publishers, Princeton, NJ, © 2003, p. 67.

Monday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time

Optional Memorial for Seven Founders of the Order of Servites, Religious
 
Proper readings for the Memorial of the Seven Founders of the Order Of Servites
 
Background information for the Seven Founders of the Order of Servites

“Cain Killing Abel”
by Daniele Crespi, 1818-1820

 
Readings for Monday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time [1]
 
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible [2]
 
Readings and Commentary: [3]
 
Reading 1: Genesis 4:1-15, 25
 
The man had relations with his wife Eve,
and she conceived and bore Cain, saying,
"I have produced a man with the help of the LORD."
Next she bore his brother Abel.
Abel became a keeper of flocks, and Cain a tiller of the soil.
In the course of time Cain brought an offering to the LORD
from the fruit of the soil,
while Abel, for his part,
brought one of the best firstlings of his flock.
The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering,
but on Cain and his offering he did not.
Cain greatly resented this and was crestfallen.
So the LORD said to Cain:
"Why are you so resentful and crestfallen.
If you do well, you can hold up your head;
but if not, sin is a demon lurking at the door:
his urge is toward you, yet you can be his master."
 
Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let us go out in the field."
When they were in the field,
Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.
Then the LORD asked Cain, "Where is your brother Abel?"
He answered, "I do not know.
Am I my brother's keeper?"
The LORD then said: "What have you done!
Listen: your brother's blood cries out to me from the soil!
Therefore you shall be banned from the soil
that opened its mouth to receive
your brother's blood from your hand.
If you till the soil, it shall no longer give you its produce.
You shall become a restless wanderer on the earth."
Cain said to the LORD: "My punishment is too great to bear.
Since you have now banished me from the soil,
and I must avoid your presence
and become a restless wanderer on the earth,
anyone may kill me at sight."
"Not so!" the LORD said to him.
"If anyone kills Cain, Cain shall be avenged sevenfold."
So the LORD put a mark on Cain, lest anyone should kill him at sight.
 
Adam again had relations with his wife,
and she gave birth to a son whom she called Seth.
"God has granted me more offspring in place of Abel," she said,
"because Cain slew him."
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Commentary on Gn 4:1-15, 25
 
The story of Cain and Abel first establishes that the ability to join in God’s creative plan through procreation is his gift to us, as Eve exclaims: "I have produced a man with the help of the LORD." “Consequently, the Church reminds married couples of their duty 'to transmit human life and to educate their children; they should realize that they are thereby cooperating with the love of God the Creator and are, in a certain sense, its interpreters.'" [4]
 
The story also gives us the rationale for some of the peoples being nomadic. It establishes the rights of these peoples to subsist on the land. At a deeper level, however, we see that when Cain first became envious, the Lord warned him about sin. God explains that sin is always ready to take the unwary, a “demon lurking at the door.”
 
CCC: Gen 4:1-2 2335; Gen 4:3-15 401; Gen 4:3-7 2538; Gen 4:4 2569; Gen 4:8-12 2259; Gen 4:10-11 2259; Gen 4:10 1736, 1867, 2268; Gen 4:25-26 2335
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 50:1 and 8, 16bc-17, 20-21
 
R. (14a) Offer to God a sacrifice of praise.
 
God the LORD has spoken and summoned the earth,
from the rising of the sun to its setting.
"Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you,
for your burnt offerings are before me always."
R. Offer to God a sacrifice of praise.
 
"Why do you recite my statutes,
and profess my covenant with your mouth
Though you hate discipline
and cast my words behind you?"
R. Offer to God a sacrifice of praise.
 
"You sit speaking against your brother;
against your mother's son you spread rumors.
When you do these things, shall I be deaf to it?
Or do you think that I am like yourself?
I will correct you by drawing them up before your eyes."
R. Offer to God a sacrifice of praise.
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Commentary on Ps 50:1 and 8, 16bc-17, 20-21
 
Psalm 50 is didactic in explaining that God does not want sacrifice for the sake of sacrifice or praise, which is just lip service. Rather he wants genuine obedience and sincere praise. He rebukes the hypocritical worshiper.
 
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Gospel: Mark 8:11-13
 
The Pharisees came forward and began to argue with Jesus,
seeking from him a sign from heaven to test him.
He sighed from the depth of his spirit and said,
"Why does this generation seek a sign?
Amen, I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation."
Then he left them, got into the boat again,
and went off to the other shore.
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Commentary on Mk 8:11-13
 
Ironically, this passage follows the story of the “Multiplication of the Loaves.” It is clear from the language here that the Pharisees who confront him have gotten word of this event and are hoping for something to prove that Jesus’ announcement of the kingdom of God is valid. “The objection of the Pharisees that Jesus' miracles are unsatisfactory for proving the arrival of God's kingdom is comparable to the request of the crowd for a sign in John 6:30-31. Jesus' response shows that a sign originating in human demand will not be provided; cf. Numbers 14:11, 22.”[5]
 
It is interesting to note from the parallel passage in Matthew 16:1-4,that the phrase "The Pharisees and Sadducees came and, to test him, asked him to show them a sign from heaven" is identical in the Greek to the phrase used by the Evil One when he came to test Christ in the desert (Matthew 4:1ff). [6] Jesus gives those who also want to test him the same answer.  He turns his back on them.
 
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Reflection:
 
We find in Scripture the real impact of mankind’s fall from grace, the punishment given to Adam and Eve as a consequence of their disobedience to God.  In Genesis, the fallen nature of their offspring Cain and Abel is manifested in jealousy: “sin is a demon lurking at the door.”
 
It is likely that it was the same “resentful” attitude that caused the Pharisees to be blinded to the nature of Christ.  Demanding signs they could not see, they were to become the new Cain as they would ultimately persecute and kill Jesus.
 
It is for this reason Jesus came. He came so mankind, all mankind, could be restored to grace, and once more enjoy God’s loving presence.  When Jesus offered himself, the first fruits of salvation, as the perfect sacrifice, he reopened the gates of heaven. These gates had been closed and barred since Adam’s first bite at the apple ended innocence and introduced sin into the world.
 
In baptism we were adopted by God.  We were washed clean of original sin, Adam’s sin, and sanctified, made holy so that we might have the grace of Christ as part of our inheritance.  While sin remains in the world, and we need to be aware of it, it no longer finds easy roots in our hearts.  The Holy Spirit has strengthened that place in our being, and we can reject it if we draw on that strength.  It is the same grace, given to us in baptism, which allows us to see the signs Christ gave to this generation.  We only need to open the eyes of faith and we see that Christ’s miracles abound.
 
Pax
 

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[1] The picture used is “Cain Killing Abel” by Daniele Crespi, 1818-1820.
[2] S.S. Commemoratio
[3] The readings are taken from the New American Bible, with the exception of the psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for English in Liturgy (ICEL). This republication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.
[4] Vatican II, "Gaudium et spes," 50.
[5] NAB footnote on Mark 8:11-12.
[6] Fire of Mercy Heart of the Word Volume II, Erasmo Leiva-Merikakis, Ignatius Press, San Francisco, CA, © 2003 p.487.