February 14, 2026
Memorial of Saints Cyril,
Monk, and Methodius, Bishop
Lectionary: 334
Reading
1
Jeroboam thought
to himself:
"The kingdom will return to David's house.
If now this people go up to offer sacrifices
in the temple of the LORD in Jerusalem,
the hearts of this people will return to their master,
Rehoboam, king of Judah,
and they will kill me."
After taking counsel, the king made two calves of gold
and said to the people:
"You have been going up to Jerusalem long enough.
Here is your God, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt."
And he put one in Bethel, the other in Dan.
This led to sin, because the people frequented those calves
in Bethel and in Dan.
He also built temples on the high places
and made priests from among the people who were not Levites.
Jeroboam established a feast in the eighth month
on the fifteenth day of the month
to duplicate in Bethel the pilgrimage feast of Judah,
with sacrifices to the calves he had made;
and he stationed in Bethel priests of the high places he had built.
Jeroboam did not give up his evil ways after this,
but again made priests for the high places
from among the common people.
Whoever desired it was consecrated
and became a priest of the high places.
This was a sin on the part of the house of Jeroboam
for which it was to be cut off and destroyed from the earth.
Responsorial
Psalm
R. (4a) Remember
us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
We have sinned, we and our fathers;
we have committed crimes; we have done wrong.
Our fathers in Egypt
considered not your wonders.
R. Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
They made a calf in Horeb
and adored a molten image;
They exchanged their glory
for the image of a grass-eating bullock.
R. Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
They forgot the God who had saved them,
who had done great deeds in Egypt,
Wondrous deeds in the land of Ham,
terrible things at the Red Sea.
R. Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia,
alleluia.
One does not live on bread alone,
but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
In those days when
there again was a great crowd without anything to eat,
Jesus summoned the disciples and said,
“My heart is moved with pity for the crowd,
because they have been with me now for three days
and have nothing to eat.
If I send them away hungry to their homes,
they will collapse on the way,
and some of them have come a great distance.”
His disciples answered him, “Where can anyone get enough bread
to satisfy them here in this deserted place?”
Still he asked them, “How many loaves do you have?”
They replied, “Seven.”
He ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground.
Then, taking the seven loaves he gave thanks, broke them,
and gave them to his disciples to distribute,
and they distributed them to the crowd.
They also had a few fish.
He said the blessing over them
and ordered them distributed also.
They ate and were satisfied.
They picked up the fragments left over–seven baskets.
There were about four thousand people.
He dismissed the crowd and got into the boat with his disciples
and came to the region of Dalmanutha.
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/021426.cfm
Commentary on 1
Kings 12:26-32; 13:33-34
Today is our last reading from the First Book of Kings for a
while. While Solomon’s former courtier, Jeroboam, ruled over 10 of the tribes
of Israel, Solomon’s son, Rehoboam, ruled over Judah (including Simeon) which
contained Jerusalem and the Temple. For Jeroboam this meant that the people in
Jeroboam’s territory might still continue to go to Jerusalem to worship and
could be won over to give their allegiance to Rehoboam, who would, in turn, get
rid of Jeroboam. Jeroboam did not have confidence in the divine promise given
to him through the prophet Ahijah (see yesterday’s Reading and 1 Kgs 11:38) and
thus took action that led to his losing God’s blessing on his kingship.
He made two calves and built two shrines, one in Bethel and
the other in Dan, to house them. Pagan gods of the Arameans and Canaanites were
often represented as standing on calves or bulls as symbols of their strength
and fertility. To the people Jeroboam said:
You have gone up to Jerusalem long enough. Here are your
gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.
Jeroboam’s intention was not to adopt another god, but to
use the symbol of Baal-hadad to represent the Israelites’ invisible God. Such
representations were never used; Yahweh could not properly be represented by a
human-made image. In doing so, Jeroboam was reducing Yahwism to the level of
the surrounding religions. It was very similar to what Aaron did when the
people waited impatiently for Moses to come down from Mount Sinai and made the
golden calf. Like Aaron, Jeroboam attempted to combine the pagan calf symbol
with the worship of the Lord, although he apparently attempted no physical
representation of the Lord – no ‘god’ stood on the backs of his bulls (as in
the case of the Canaanites).
Bethel and Dan had long been places of worship. Dan was
located in the far north of the kingdom near the source of the River Jordan. In
the time of the Judges, there was a similar paganised form of worship practised
here. Bethel was situated about 20 km (12 miles) north of Jerusalem, close to
the border of Ephraim, but within the territory of Benjamin. It held an
important place in the history of Israel’s worship of Yahweh. The two sites
marked the limits of the new northern kingdom and the clear implication was
that it was not necessary to go beyond them to worship the Lord.
“And this thing became a sin” says the writer. This tactic
of Jeroboam violated the second part of the First Commandment (the carving of
idols for worship) and it inevitably led to the violation of the first part
(“You shall not have other gods besides me”). What is worse, although Jeroboam
intended the worship of Yahweh (but not in Jerusalem), it opened the way for
full pagan practices to come into Israel’s religious rites. This happened
especially under King Ahab.
Jeroboam also built temples in high places. When they
entered Canaan, the Israelites often followed the Canaanite tradition (and
other cultural traditions too) of locating altars on high hills. These were
probably former places of worship to Baal. It is clear that the Israelites were
forbidden to take over pagan altars and high places and use them for the
worship of the Lord. Altars were to be built only at divinely sanctioned sites.
It is not clear whether a multiplicity of altars was totally forbidden provided
the above conditions were met. It seems, however, that these conditions were
not followed even in the time of Solomon, and pagan high places were being used
for the worship of the Lord. These practices would lead in time to a falling
away from the true worship of Yahweh and involve the mixing of different
religious practices, which was strongly condemned.
For all of these innovations, Jeroboam began to provide
priests to minister at the shrines. But these priests were from the common
people and not from the tribe of Levi which was the Mosaic tradition. It is
likely that Levite priests in his kingdom had migrated to Jerusalem (and the
Temple), because non-Levites had been promoted as priests for the worship in
Dan and Bethel, or because they declined to function at these shrines.
Jeroboam also instituted a feast to correspond to the Jewish
Feast of Tabernacles for which the people would normally travel to Jerusalem.
Now they could celebrate the feast in Bethel. Priests from the shrines in the
high places were appointed to officiate at Bethel. Finally, Jeroboam himself
offered sacrifices and overstepped his privileges as king by assuming the role
of priest.
It is clear that Jeroboam did all of this not out of
religious conviction, but simply to protect his throne. His motives were
political and not religious. He had to keep his people away from Jerusalem and
the kingdom of Judah. But precisely for that reason and for neglecting clear
warnings he was given [not in our readings], Jeroboam incurred the wrath of God
and was ultimately destroyed.
The story reminds us of the dangers of abusing religion for
other ends. The mutual relationship of church and state is always a complex
issue. The end of our commitment to Jesus Christ is to join with him in the
establishment of the Kingdom of God on earth. It is to bring us closer to God
and to each other, to lead us to an ever deeper understanding of what is true
and good, which should be a source of justice and peace and unity. But it can
so often become, as we well know, a source of terrible divisions, hatred,
violence and destruction.
It is also the case that religion when lived on the very
highest level can be a source of division and hostility to those who feel
threatened by it. Jesus said very provocatively that he had come to bring not peace,
but the sword and the division of families. But this is a very different issue
from the abuse of religion and we need to distinguish both. As Christians we
cannot isolate ourselves from the important concerns of our communities.
Religion is false when it leads to hatred and destruction.
Religion is true when it leads to unity and the creation of more good. But in
either case, religion will never be free from divisions because all true
religion is both a contradiction and a challenge to conventional thinking.
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Commentary on Mark
8:1-10
Today we have the second of two multiplication stories found
in Mark. The first, with 5,000 people, was in a predominantly Jewish area while
this one, with 4,000 people, is in mainly gentile territory. Jesus is reaching
out to both groups. The people have nothing to eat and are hungry. The meaning
is both physical and spiritual.
Once again we see Mark indicating the emotional response of
Jesus. He is filled with compassion for the people in their need.
I have compassion for the crowd…If I send them away
hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way—and some of them have come
from a great distance.
They will collapse “on the way”, i.e. on the road. Jesus is
the Way, the ‘Road’. To walk the road of Jesus, we need a certain kind of
nourishment. This is what Jesus came to give.
The disciples, interpreting Jesus literally, as they usually
do, ask:
How can one feed these people with bread here in the
desert?
In the presence of Jesus, the question answers itself, but
the disciples have not yet clicked. In Mark’s Gospel, they are often shown to
be without an understanding of just who their Master is—that is because they
represent us.
The disciples are asked what they can supply. Seven loaves
and a few fish is all they have. There is a strong Eucharistic element in this,
as in the former story (with the 5,000). The people are told to sit down, and:
…he took the seven loaves, and after giving thanks [Greek, eucharistesas] he
broke them and gave them to his disciples to distribute, and they distributed
them to the crowd.
Again, we note that Jesus himself does not give out the food
the people need. It comes from him, but is distributed by his disciples. The
same is true today. It is our task to feed the hungry—both physically and
spiritually. All were filled—4,000 people altogether—and even so, there were
seven (a perfect number) baskets left over. A sign of God’s abundance shared
with his people.
As before:
…he sent them away. And immediately he got into the boat
with his disciples and went to the district of Dalmanutha. [i.e. back
to Jewish territory]
Jesus was leaving no room for any misinterpretations of what
he had done. The disciples, too, are quickly removed from the scene. There was
to be no self-congratulation or glorying in their connections with Jesus, the
wonder worker. Through the miracle, the teaching had been given and that was
it.
And so, we pray:
Lord, teach me to serve you as you deserve;
to give and not to count the cost;
to fight and not to heed the wounds;
to labour and seek no reward,
save that of knowing that I do your holy will.
(Prayer of St Ignatius Loyola)
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Saturday, February 14, 2026
Ordinary Time
Opening Prayer
Father, watch over Your family and keep us safe in
Your care, for all our hope is in You. We ask this through our Lord Jesus
Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, One God,
forever and ever. Amen.
Gospel Reading - Mark 8: 1-10
In those days when there again was a
great crowd without anything to eat, Jesus summoned the disciples and said, “My
heart is moved with pity for the crowd, because they have been with me now for
three days and have nothing to eat. If I send them away hungry to their homes,
they will collapse on the way, and some of them have come a great distance.”
His disciples answered him, “Where can anyone get enough bread to satisfy them
here in this deserted place?”
Still he asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” They
replied, “Seven.” He ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground. Then, taking
the seven loaves he gave thanks, broke them, and gave them to his disciples to
distribute, and they distributed them to the crowd. They also had a few fish.
He said the blessing over them and ordered them distributed also. They ate and
were satisfied. They picked up the fragments left over–seven baskets. There
were about four thousand people. He dismissed the crowd and got into the boat
with his disciples and came to the region of Dalmanutha.
Reflection
The Gospel today speaks about the
second multiplication of the loaves. The unitive thread of several episodes in
this part of the Gospel of Mark is the food, the bread. After the banquet of
death (Mk 6: 17-29), comes the banquet of life (Mk 6: 30-44). During the
crossing of the Lake the disciples are afraid, because they have understood
nothing of the bread multiplied in the desert (Mk 6: 5152). Then Jesus declares
that all food is pure (Mk 7: 1-23). In Jesus’ conversation with the Canaanite
woman, the gentiles ate the crumbs which fell from the table of the children
(Mk 7: 24-30). And here, in today s Gospel, Mark speaks about the second
multiplication of the loaves (Mk 8: 1-10).
•
Mark 8: 1-3: The situation of the people and the
reaction of Jesus. The crowds who gathered around Jesus in the desert had no
food to eat. Jesus calls the disciples and presents the problem to them: I feel
pity for this people, because for three days they have been following Me and
have not eaten. If I send them away to their homes without eating, they will
faint on the way; and some came from very far! In Jesus’ concern there are two
important things: a) People forget home and food and follow Jesus to the
desert! This is a sign that Jesus aroused great sympathy, up to the point that
people followed Him into the desert and remained with Him three days! b) Jesus
does not ask them to solve the problem. He only expresses His concern to the
disciples. It seems to be a problem without a solution.
•
Mark 8: 4: The reaction of the disciples: the
first misunderstanding. The disciples then think of a solution, according to
which someone had to bring bread for the people. It does not even occur to them
that the solution could come from the people themselves. They say: And how
could we feed all these people in the desert? In other words, they think of a
traditional solution. Someone has to find the money, buy bread and distribute
it to the people. They themselves perceive that, in that desert, to buy bread,
this solution is not possible, but they see no other possibility to solve the
problem. That is, if Jesus insists in not sending the people back to their
homes, there will be no way to feed them!
•
Mark 8: 5-7: The solution found by Jesus. First
of all, He asks how much bread they have: seven loaves! Then He orders the
people to sit down. Then, He takes those seven loaves of bread, gives thanks,
breaks them and gives them to the disciples to distribute; and they distribute
them to the crowds. And He does the same thing with the fish. As in the first
multiplication (Mk 6: 41), the way in which Mark describes Jesus’ attitude,
recalls the Eucharist. The message is this: participation in the Eucharist
should lead to the gift and to the sharing of bread with those who have no
bread.
•
Mark 8: 8-10: The result: Everyone ate, they
were satisfied, and bread was left over! This was an unexpected solution, which
began within the people, with the few loaves of bread that they had brought! In
the first multiplication, twelve baskets of bread were leftover: here, seven.
In the first one, they served five thousand people. Here four thousand. In the
first one there were five loaves of bread and two fish. Here, seven loaves of
bread and a few fish.
•
The time of the dominant ideology. The disciples
thought one way, Jesus thinks in another way. In the way of thinking of the
disciples there is the dominant ideology, the common way of thinking of people.
Jesus thinks in a different way. It is not by going with Jesus and living in a
community that a person is already a saint and renewed. Among the disciples,
the old mentality always emerges again, because the leaven of Herod and of the
Pharisees (Mk 8: 15), that is, the dominant ideology, had profound roots in the
life of those people. The conversion requested by Jesus is a deep conversion. He
wants to uproot the various types of leaven.
The leaven of the community closed
up in itself, without any openness. Jesus responds: The one who is not against
is in favor! (Mk 9: 39-40). For Jesus, what is important is not if the person
forms part of the community or not, but if he/she is generous, available or not
to do the good which the community has to do.
The leaven of the group which considers itself superior to
others. Jesus responds: You do not know what spirit animates you (Lk 9: 55).
The leaven of the mentality of class and of competition,
which characterized the society of the Roman Empire and which permeated the
small community which was just beginning. Jesus responds: Let the first one be
the last one (Mk 9: 35). This is the point on which He insists the most; it is
the strongest point of His witness: “I have not come to be served, but to
serve” (Mk 10: 45; Mt 20: 28; Jn 13: 1-16).
The leaven of the mentality of the culture of the time.
Jesus responds: Allow the little ones to come to me! Jesus indicates that the
little ones are the models of discipleship for adults: anyone who does not
accept the kingdom of God as a child will not enter it (Lk 18: 17).
The reading of the Gospel,
done in community, can help us to change life and the vision and can help us to
continue to convert ourselves and to be faithful to the words of Jesus.
Personal Questions
•
We can always encounter misunderstandings with
friends and enemies. What is the misunderstanding between Jesus and the
disciples on the occasion of the multiplication of the loaves? How does Jesus
face this misunderstanding?
•
In your house, with your neighbors or in the
community, have there been misunderstandings? How have you reacted?
•
Has your community had misunderstandings or
conflicts with the civil or ecclesiastical authority? How did this happen?
•
What is the leaven which today prevents the
realization of the Gospel and should be eliminated?
Concluding Prayer
Lord, You have been our refuge from age to age.
Before the mountains were born, before the earth and the world came to birth,
from eternity to eternity You are God. (Ps 90: 1-2)
Saints
Cyril, Monk, and Methodius, Bishop
Cyril and Methodius were two Byzantine Greek brothers from a
noble family in Thessalonika, a district in north-eastern Greece. Methodius was
born about 815 AD, and Cyril (known through most of his life as Constantine)
the younger, was born about 827 AD. Though belonging to a senatorial family,
they set aside all secular honours and became priests. They were living as
monks in a monastery on the Bosphorous, when the Khazars sent a request to
Constantinople asking for a Christian teacher. (At the height of their empire,
the Khazars controlled much of what is today southern Russia, western
Kazakhstan, eastern Ukraine, Azerbaijan and large portions of the Caucasus.)
Constantine was chosen, but his brother went with him. They
learned the Khazar language and made many converts. Soon afterwards, there was
also a request from the Moravians for a preacher of the Gospel (Moravia is
today in the east of the Czech Republic). German missionaries had been working
there, but because they did not know the local language, met with little
success. The Moravians wanted someone who could teach them, and conduct their
liturgy in the Slavonic language.
Because of their knowledge of the language, Constantine and
Methodius were chosen. They went to Moravia in 863 AD and worked there for four
and a half years. However, to do their work more effectively, Constantine
devised an alphabet, based on the Greek alphabet, but with extra letters to
accommodate sounds in the Slavonic language. With the help of his brother, he
then translated the Gospels and the needed liturgical books into the Slavonic
language which now could also be read using the new alphabet (the alphabet is
called ‘Cyrillic’ after its creator).
In spite of their success, they were not trusted by the
German church. This happened, first, because they had come from Constantinople
where the church was very divided by schism and, second, because they
celebrated the liturgy in the Slavonic language rather than Latin. Because of
this, they were called to Rome by Pope Nicholas I, who, however, died before
their arrival. They were received kindly by his successor, Pope Adrian II.
Having been convinced of their doctrinal orthodoxy, the pope approved of their
missionary work, sanctioned the use of Slavonic in the liturgy and ordained
Methodius and Constantine bishops. They had arrived in Rome in 868 AD where
Constantine entered a monastery, taking the name Cyril, by which he is now
remembered. However, he died only a few weeks later on 4 February, 869 and is
buried in the Church of San Clemente (now taken care of by Irish Dominicans).
At the request of the Moravian princes and a Slav prince, the
people established the Archdiocese of Moravia and Pannonia, and made it
independent of the German church. Methodius was its first archbishop. But two
years later in 870 AD, Methodius was called to a synod in Ratisbon. There, he
was deposed and put in prison.
Three years later he was released on the orders of Pope John
VIII and reinstated. However, he was again called to Rome on the allegations of
a German priest, Wiching, who questioned his orthodoxy and his use of the
Slavonic language instead of Latin. After an enquiry, the use of Slavonic was
approved with the proviso that the Gospel had first to be read in Latin before
being read in Slavonic. Wiching then became a suffragan bishop under Methodius,
but continued to oppose him. One of the last things Methodius did was to go to
Constantinople where, with the help of some priests, he completed the
translation of the Bible, with the exception of the Books of Maccabees. Worn
out by his labours and struggles, Methodius died on 6 April, 885.
Formerly the feast of Saints Cyril and Methodius was
celebrated in Bohemia and Moravia on 9 March, but Pope Pius IX changed the date
to 5 July. Pope Leo XIII, by his Encyclical Grande Munus of 30
September, 1880, extended the feast to the universal Church. On 1 October,
1999, Saints Cyril and Methodius were named Patrons of Europe by Pope John Paul
II together with Saints Benedict, Bridget of Sweden, Catherine of Siena and
Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein).
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