DAILY- HOMILY

February 17, 2015 TUESDAY, 6th Week in Ordinary Time

Seven Holy Founders of the Order of Servites

Green

Gn 6: 5-8; 7:1 -5, 10 / Mk 8: 14-21

[Seven members of a confraternity from Florence founded the Order of Servites of the Blessed Virgin Mary in 1233, with special devotion to Our Lord's Passion and the Blessed Virgin Mary as Our Lady of Sorrows. They were canonized by Pope Leo XIII in 1888.]

Reading: Gn 6: 5-8; 7:1 –5

     Yahweh saw how great was the wickedness of man on the earth and that evil was always the only thought of his heart. Yahweh regretted having created man on the earth and his heart grieved. He said, "I will destroy man whom I created and blot him out from the face of the earth, as well as the beasts, creeping creatures and birds, for I am sorry I made them." But Noah was pleasing to God.

     Yahweh said to Noah, "Go into the ark, you and all your household, for I see that you are just in this generation. Of all the clean animals, you are to take with you seven of each kind, male and female, and a pair of unclean animals, a male and a female. In the same way for the birds of the air, take seven and seven, male and female, to keep their kind alive over all the earth, for in seven days I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights. I will blot out from the face of the earth all the living creatures I have created."

     Noah did all as Yahweh had commanded. Noah was six hundred years old when the floodwaters covered the earth.

     And after seven days the waters of the flood were over the earth.

Gospel: Mk 8:14-21

     The disciples had forgotten to bring more bread and had only one loaf with them in the boat. Then Jesus warned them, "Keep your eyes open and beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod." And they said to one another, "He saw that we have no bread."

     Aware of this, Jesus asked them, "Why are you talking about the loaves you are short of? Do you not see or understand? Are your minds closed? Have you eyes that don't see and ears that don't hear? And do you not remember when I broke the five loaves among five thousand? How many baskets full of leftovers did you collect?" They answered, "Twelve." "And having seven loaves for the four thousand, how many wicker baskets of leftovers did you collect?" They answered, "Seven." Then Jesus said to them, "Do you still not understand?"

Reflection:

     The disciples forget to bring enough bread. "Bread" makes Jesus think of yeast. Yeast is fungus, good in bread, but harmful to bodily health. Jesus uses this negative aspect to the hard-headedness and opposition of the Pharisees and the leaders of the Jews.

     But all that the disciples of Jesus could think about is not bringing enough bread. As one commentator said, "It is not about the bread!" It was not about the bread. The miracles Jesus performed, the "signs," were not miracles for miracles' sake; they had a deeper meaning and Jesus, through the series of questions he asked his disciples, is trying to get them to probe deeper.

     What could be the deeper meaning of the miracle of multiplication of bread and fishes? Commentators say, "This miracle as with all of Jesus' miracles point to him as Jesus the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus does what only God can do. He continues to provide bread for the people in the wilderness, just as God provided manna for the Israelites. And the disciples are worried about having only one loaf of bread?"

     We can so easily get preoccupied with the problems and needs of the present that we lose track of the larger picture and of God.

WE PRAY FOR MTQ DAILY PRAYER DIARY INTENTIONS:

BIRTHDAY

     ELIZABETH CUNANAN SHOIAB

     ERNIE DY

IN MEMORIAM (+)

     CARLOS O. LAO, JR.

Finally, we pray for one another, for those who have asked our prayers and for those who need our prayers the most. 

Have a good day!

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