“Often, it's not one great, dramatic thing that God asks us to do but hundreds of little everyday things. If we want to be used by Him, if we're ready to be used and aren't all tangled up with your own plans and projects, then He'll show us the work He has for us.”
― Lynn Austin, Waves of Mercy
(Ask for guidance. Listen deeply for the response. You'll know it by the sense of peace and rightness.)
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Gn 6:5-8; 7:1-5, 10; Psalm 29:1a and 2, 3ac-4, 3b and 9c-10
Mk 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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Reflection on the Scriptures
Today’s Gospel reading features an intriguing warning from Jesus: “Watch out, guard against the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.” Only a small bit of leaven is needed to transform a large batch of bread, so it makes sense to guard against even seemingly inconsequential amounts. But what did Jesus mean by “the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod?” I have heard and
read a number of reasonable and interesting interpretations, but I (and apparently the disciples) are not entirely clear about what Jesus specifically meant – so I am not much help on that front. In the verses that follow, I see Jesus is warning about some thing, or things, that will harden hearts and make them unreceptive to Him, His message, and His teachings.
As I looked for definitions about leaven (Pharisaic or Herod’s), I learned about Bedikat Chametz. For Jewish people, preparation for Passover includes removing leaven from the home. Chametz is the name for leavened food, and the ceremony of Bedikat Chametz is the final search for leaven, which is then burned so that the house is kosher (that is, pure and suitable) for Passover.
This is not just a token gesture. It is a thorough search that involves shining a light into every nook and cranny to ensure that nothing impure remains.
On this Shrove Tuesday, as we prepare our minds, bodies and souls for the holy season ahead, let us enact our own Bedikat Chametz. Let us prayerfully examine our lives. We who follow Jesus – the Light of the World (see John 8:12) – have access to a spiritual light that can shine into the hidden recesses of our hearts. This may not be comfortable, and I for one am a little nervous about
what I will find. But take comfort! Je
- by David Crawford
The Son of God Became Human
From The Catechism of the Catholic Church
Part One, Section Two, Chapter Two
Article 3: He Was Conceived by the Power of the Holy Spirit, and Born of the Virgin Mary
Paragraph 1: The Son of God Became Man
III. TRUE GOD AND TRUE MAN
468 After the Council of Chalcedon, some made of Christ's human nature a kind of personal subject. Against them, the fifth ecumenical council, at Constantinople in 553, confessed that "there is but one hypostasis [or person], which is our Lord Jesus Christ, one of the Trinity."93 Thus everything in Christ's human nature is to be attributed to his divine person as its proper subject, not only his miracles but
also his sufferings and even his death: "He who was crucified in the flesh, our Lord Jesus Christ, is true God, Lord of glory, and one of the Holy Trinity."
(Footnote references in the Catechism.)
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