DO YOU STILL NOT UNDERSTAND?”
Introduction
The liturgy celebrates today two great missionaries from the Eastern Church, the monk Cyril and his brother, Methodius, bishop. Born in Thessalonica in Greece, they evangelized the Bulgarians, Moravians and Bohemians in the 9th Century. They created the Slavonic (Slavic) alphabet – called “Cyrillic” – translated the scriptures and prepared liturgies in Slavonic. On account of this inculturation of the liturgy, they met with much opposition, but Rome approved what they had done.
Opening Prayer
Lord our God,
you inspired your missionaries
Saints Cyril and Methodius
to be inventive and adaptive
in proclaiming your good news to people.
Make all Christians aware, we pray you,
that your Son Jesus Christ
should be recognizable in us
and help us to renew ourselves again and again
that we may bear the true face of Christ,
who is your Son and our Lord for ever. Amen!
1 Reading 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.
Responsorial 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 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 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.
Alleluia JOHN 14:23
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Whoever loves me will keep my word, says the Lord;
and my Father will love him
and we will come to him.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
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?”
Commentary
Beware of the yeast of the political power centres
Today’s Gospel warns against the yeast of the Pharisees and Herodians. Mark was writing his text of the Gospel for the Catechumens in Rome. He wanted to communicate a specific message to those receiving baptism and coming into Faith: The Good News of Jesus spreads and multiplies. But not everything that multiplies is good news! In the previous chapters, Mark portrayed the Pharisees as hypocrites and power-mongers.
In every miracle story of Jesus, there were opposing voices from the religious leaders. They opposed the forgiveness of God. Observation of the Sabbath was imposed as a burden on people; they sought recognition in public places. They were jealous of the extraordinary powers and popularity that Jesus was gaining. Jealousy, hypocrisy, and all the evil tendencies work like yeast and contaminate society.
Mark’s sense of the leaven of Herod had been masterfully outlined in his dramatisation of the execution of John the Baptist. Herod wanted political security at any cost and could not accept criticism. He valued personal “honour” more than the life of another. To look good was more important than to do good, and doing good was irrelevant. He could feast and make merry while his subjects were exploited beyond endurance.
Mark’s reference to the one loaf of bread with the disciples on the boat out on the waters was significant. The boat was perhaps a symbol of Mark’s community on mission. Within the community of disciples, there was to be only one loaf, the leaven of God – that is, Jesus. It was spectacularly more than enough for everyone, Jew and Gentile.
Later in the narrative, Jesus takes a loaf in his hands and invites his disciples to eat it, declaring it to be his body broken for all. In Jesus’ mind, Eucharist would be the celebration of the all-inclusive vision of God, of God’s universal offer of forgiveness and life to the full. The Eucharistic bread would allow no place for the leaven of Pharisees or Herod. The pandemic in the past year had forced the closure of churches, depriving the faithful of access to sacraments. In these moments of trials, pay attention to the warning in today’s Gospel: Let’s not be deceived by the leaven of the modern-day Herodians – political power centres that keep the faithful away from the life of the Church.
Mark recorded Jesus’ profound sadness that even the disciples had not understood the mind of Jesus. Yet Jesus did not withdraw from his mission. He continued to work with his hard-hearted disciples. Despite all their limitations, he loved them and had hope for them. Let us be united around the life-giving Word and the bread on board – the Word of God and the Eucharist in the Church.
Intentions
– For those who are tempted, that they may remember how Jesus overcame temptation and ask him to give them the strength to resist, we pray:
– For those who have seriously sinned, that they may remember that God still loves them and is ready to forgive them, we pray:
– For all of us, that we may see the signs of God’s goodness and of the faith of good people, we pray:
Prayer over the Gifts
Lord our God, we are gathered here
with your Son in our midst.
May we celebrate this Eucharist
in spirit and in truth
and express in it what we live in everyday life.
May thus our friendship and love
for you and for everyone
become deeper and more real
every time we come together
in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen!
Prayer after Communion
Lord our God,
Jesus has spoken to us here
his word that has to become flesh and blood
in the life of each of us
and in our Christian communities.
Help us to see that word always
as a challenge to us today,
a challenge to which we can respond
by the strength of the bread of life.
And let the Church and its pastors
do all they can to bring the liturgy
close to the life of the people.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen!
Blessing
Just open your eyes and your ears and learn to see the good things God does among us even today. Keep seeing and believing, for there are signs enough. May Almighty God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen!