Saturday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 334
Lectionary: 334
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.
“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 PS
106:6-7AB, 19-20, 21-22
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.
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.
Gospel MK 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.
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.
Meditation:
"Can one feed with bread in the desert?"
Can
anything on earth truly satisfy the hunger we experience for God? The enormous
crowd that pressed upon Jesus for three days were hungry for something more
than physical food. They hung upon Jesus’ words because they were hungry for
God. When the disciples were confronted by Jesus with the task of feeding four
thousand people many miles away from any source of food, they exclaimed: Where
in this remote place can anyone get enough bread to feed them? The
Israelites were confronted with the same dilemma when they fled Egypt and found
themselves in a barren wilderness. Like the miraculous provision of manna in
the wilderness, Jesus, himself provides bread in abundance for the hungry crowd
who came out into the desert to seek him. The gospel records that all were
satisfied and they took up what was leftover. When God gives he gives
abundantly – more than we deserve and more than we need so that we may have
something to share with others as well. The Lord Jesus nourishes and sustains
us with his life-giving word and with his heavenly bread.
The
sign of the multiplication of the loaves, when the Lord says the blessing,
breaks and distributes through his disciples, prefigures the superabundance of
the unique bread of his Eucharist or Lord’s Supper. When we receive from the
Lord’s table we unite ourselves to Jesus Christ, who makes us sharers in his
body and blood. Ignatius of Antioch (35-107 A.D.) calls it the "one
bread that provides the medicine of immortality, the antidote for death, and
the food that makes us live for ever in Jesus Christ" (Ad Eph.
20,2). This supernatural food is healing for both body and soul and strength
for our journey heavenward. When you approach the Table of the Lord, what do
you expect to receive? Healing, pardon, comfort, and refreshment for your soul?
The Lord has much more for us, more than we can ask or imagine. The principal
fruit of receiving from the Lord's Table is an intimate union with Christ
himself. As bodily nourishment restores lost strength, so the Eucharist
strengthens us in charity and enables us to break with disordered attachments
to creatures and to be more firmly rooted in the love of Christ. Do you hunger
for Jesus, the true "bread of life"?
"Lord
Jesus, you alone can satisfy the hunger in our lives. Fill me with greatful joy
and eager longing for the true heavenly bread which gives health, strength, and
wholeness to body and soul alike.”
 Goodness in Abundance |
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Saturday of the Fifth Week of Ordinary Time
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Mark
8:1-10
In
those days when there again was a great crowd without anything to eat, he
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?" "Seven," they replied. 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 them and got into the boat with his disciples and came
to the region of Dalmanutha.
Introductory Prayer:Lord, how quickly I lose faith and
begin to trust more in things that I can touch and see than in your promises
and strength. But I do believe in you, that you are the Bread of Life, and
that only you can satisfy the deepest longings of my heart. As you are my
Creator, you know what I need and provide for me each day. As you are my
Redeemer, you lead me along the pathway of the cross and forgiveness. I want
to follow you more closely.
Petition: Lord, strengthen my faith, so that I can be
magnanimous like you.
1. “I feel sorry for all these people.” Jesus shows compassion
for the crowd, even for their temporal needs. He knows how earthly they can
be, seeking only to satisfy their need for bread and water. In another
passage he says, “Why worry about what you are to eat, or drink, or what you
are to wear? … All these things the pagans seek” (Matthew 6:25-33) ––
“pagans,” that is, those with no faith or trust in the heavenly Father. Our
Lord does not worry about food and clothing for himself, although he does
seek to provide them for others. But his charity doesn’t end there. He
sincerely desires their greatest good, and for this reason gives them much
more than a passing meal. Together with bread and water, he gives them the
gift of faith. After all, man does not live on bread alone” (Luke 4:4).
2. “Where could anyone get bread to feed these people in a
deserted place like this? The apostles ask a very human question,
revealing the poverty of their faith in Jesus. Such a question, without
faith, would become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Since the task seems
impossible, why try at all? How often does this way of thinking rein us in
from doing great things for God and expecting great things from him? How
often do we resign ourselves to defeat, content to mourn and lament seemingly
hopeless situations, as if God were not almighty and willing to help us? We
need the faith of the Blessed Virgin, who believed the impossible and became
the mother of all who believe.
3. “They ate as much as they wanted and they collected
seven basketfuls of the scraps left over.” Jesus offers the
fullness of life and love, an abundance of goodness and grace, to all who
follow him. His ways are the ways of life. He allows us to suffer want in
this life so that we will tap into the true source of abundance through
faith, hope and love. Those who seek themselves by seeking purely material
goods — which are limited by definition — will always be in want and will
always feel the threat of losing what they have. Those who seek Christ and
his grace — which is unlimited by definition — will never fear when they lose
their earthly goods. That is why Jesus says that to anyone who has (faith,
hope, love, grace, the gifts of the spiritual life), more will be given, and
from the one who has not (none of these spiritual gifts), even what he seems
to have (material possessions which are here today and gone tomorrow, always
decaying and coming to an end) will be taken away (Luke 8:18).
Conversation with Christ: Lord, give me the gift
of compassion, so that I may serve others with your heart. Give me the gifts
of faith, hope and love so that I will understand that your goodness knows no
bounds or limits, and that you wish to pour out your grace on all until our
cups are overflowing.
Resolution: I will be magnanimous in my charity towards
others today.
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SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 15, MARK 8:1-10
(1 Kings 12:26-32, 13:33-34; Psalm 106)
(1 Kings 12:26-32, 13:33-34; Psalm 106)
KEY VERSE: "Then, taking the seven loaves he gave thanks, broke them, and gave them to his disciples to distribute" (v 6).
READING: This is the second account of the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves in Mark's Gospel. The first took place in Galilee with the Jews (Mk 6:34-44). The second event occurred in Gentile territory. When Jesus saw the hungry crowd, he took pity on them, though his disciples wondered how they could possibly feed them. Jesus took the seven loaves that were offered to him, gave thanks to God, broke them, and gave them to his disciples to distribute. When everyone had eaten their fill, the fragments were gathered in seven baskets (twelve baskets in the first miracle). The number seven was symbolic of the seven ministers in the early Gentile Christian Church (Acts 6:1-6). In this feeding of the Gentile people, Jesus demonstrated that all people had equal right to the Eucharist.
REFLECTING: Am I able to explain the Eucharist to those not of our faith?
PRAYING: Lord Jesus, your people give thanks and praise at your Eucharistic table.
NOTE: At the consecration of the bread in the Mass, the priest performs the same actions as in the miracle of the loaves and fishes. He takes the bread, blesses it, breaks it and offers it to the people.
OPTIONAL MEMORIAL OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY
Chapter V of the Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy, issued by the Holy See in December 2001, describes the Church's traditional dedication of Saturday to the Virgin Mary. "Saturdays stand out among those days dedicated to the Virgin Mary. These are designated as memorials of the Blessed Virgin Mary" (218). The chapter also describes the importance of Mary, the Mother of Jesus, in Catholic devotional life, including the Liturgy, and includes reflections on popular devotions to Mary, her feast days, and the Rosary. See the complete document on Vatican web site (www.vatican.va) Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy
MINUTE
MEDITATIONS
Children of God
At
our Baptism God infused His spiritual DNA into our souls. The blood of Christ
not only washes us clean but transforms us into children of God! We are sons
and daughters of the living God!
Lord, remember us, for the love you bear your people
‘My heart is moved with pity for the crowd.’The feeding of the four thousand highlights the amazing wonders our God can work in people’s lives. The disciples collected seven baskets of leftovers. Not only is this the God who provides but he gives even more than we need! There are some of us who believe we don’t deserve God’s goodness. How sad! Watching my one-year-old granddaughter eat her lunch today highlighted to me what my attitude should be towards God’s providence. Her mother had packed the lunchbox to overflowing - just in case! Although my granddaughter loves her food, there was no way she could eat it all. There were sufficient leftovers to feed another child. She had cried when she was hungry, waited for lunch, ate it and was satisfied. What a lesson in expectant faith. May we cry out to God for help today, expecting God to provide even more than we need.
February
15
St. Claude de la Colombière
(1641-1682)
St. Claude de la Colombière
(1641-1682)
This is a special day for the Jesuits, who claim today’s saint as
one of their own. It’s also a special day for people who have a special
devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus—a devotion Claude de la Colombière
promoted, along with his friend and spiritual companion, St. Margaret Mary
Alacoque. The emphasis on God’s love for all was an antidote to the rigorous
moralism of the Jansenists, who were popular at the time.
Claude
showed remarkable preaching skills long before his ordination in 1675. Two
months later he was made superior of a small Jesuit residence in Burgundy. It
was there he first encountered Margaret Mary Alacoque. For many years after he
served as her confessor.
He was
next sent to England to serve as confessor to the Duchess of York. He preached
by both words and by the example of his holy life, converting a number of
Protestants. Tensions arose against Catholics and Claude, rumored to be part of
a plot against the king, was imprisoned. He was ultimately banished, but by
then his health had been ruined.
He died
in 1682. Pope John Paul II canonized Claude de la Colombière in 1992.
LECTIO DIVINA:
MARK 8,1-10
Lectio:
Saturday, February 15, 2014
1) 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, for ever and ever. Amen.
2) Gospel reading - Mark 8,1-10
And now once again a great crowd had gathered,
and they had nothing to eat. So Jesus called his disciples to him and said to
them, 'I feel sorry for all these people; they have been with me for three days
now and have nothing to eat. If I send them off home hungry they will collapse
on the way; some have come a great distance.'
His disciples replied, 'Where could anyone get
these people enough bread to eat in a deserted place?' He asked them, 'How many
loaves have you?' And they said to him, 'Seven.'
Then he instructed the crowd to sit down on
the ground, and he took the seven loaves, and after giving thanks he broke them
and began handing them to his disciples to distribute; and they distributed
them among the crowd. They had a few small fishes as well, and over these he
said a blessing and ordered them to be distributed too. They ate as much as
they wanted, and they collected seven basketfuls of the scraps left over.
Now there had been about four thousand people.
He sent them away and at once, getting into the boat with his disciples, went
to the region of Dalmanutha.
3) Reflection
• The Gospel today speaks about the second
multiplication of the loaves. The thread of union 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, 51-52). Then Jesus declares that all food
is pure (Mk 7, 1-23). In the conversation of Jesus with the Canaanite woman,
the pagans 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, which 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 come from very far!” In this concern of Jesus
there are two important things: a) People forget the house and the food and
follow Jesus to the desert! This is a sign that Jesus aroused great sympathy,
up to the point that people followed him in the desert and remain 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 solution to feed them!
• Mark 8, 5-7: The solution found by Jesus.
First of all, he asks how much bread they have: “Seven!” Then he orders the
people to sit down. Then, he takes those seven loaves of bread, gives thanks,
broke them and gave them to the disciples to distribute them; and they
distributed them to the crowds. And he did the same thing with the fish. Like
in the first multiplication (Mk 6, 41), the way in which Mark describes the
attitude of Jesus, recalls the Eucharist. The message is this: the
participation in the Eucharist should lead to the gift and to the sharing of
the 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 left over. Here, seven.
In the first one, they served five thousand persons. 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 of 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 persons. Jesus thinks in a different way. It is not by the fact of
going with Jesus and of living in a community that a person is already a saint
and renewed. Among the disciples, the old mentality always emerges again,
because of 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
favour!” (Mk 9, 39-40). For Jesus, what is important is not if the person forms
part or not of the community, 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” (Lc 9, 55).
* the “leaven” of the mentality of class and
of competition, which characterizes 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 and it is the strongest point of his witness: “I have not come
to be served, but to serve” (Mc 10, 45; Mt 20, 28; Jo 13, 1-16).
* the “leaven” of the mentality of the culture
of the time Jesus responds: “Allow the little ones to come to me!” which
marginalized the little ones, the children. (Mk 10, 14). He indicates that the
little ones are the professors of adults: “anyone who does not accept the
Kingdom of God as a child, will not enter in” (Lk 18, 17).
As it happened in the time of Jesus, also
today, the Neo-liberal mentality is reviving and arises in the life of the
communities and of the families. The reading of the Gospel, made in community,
can help us to change life, and the vision and to continue to convert ourselves
and to be faithful to the project of Jesus.
4) Personal questions
• We can always meet misunderstandings with
friends and enemies. Which 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 neighbours 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?
• Which is the leaven which today prevents the
realization of the Gospel and should be eliminated?
5) 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)
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