First Reading - Genesis 6:5-8,7:1-5,10
Gospel - Mark 8:14-21
The first reading recounts an account of the flood in the time of Noah. The flood story reminds us of two important aspects; the unfaithfulness of people and the faithfulness of Noah. The decision of God to save Noah with his family paves the way to see a ray of hope even in the midst of gruesome sin of people. Why did Noah find favour with God? It's certainly obvious that he lived a righteous life; he was watchful lest he would offend God. Whereas, the other people became a reason of grief for God because there were not watchful. They gave theselves to their temptations and allurements. Conversely, they displeased God.
In the gospel, the Apostles in the boat misunderstands Jesus’ warning as a scolding for their having forgotten to bring enough bread for all of them. Hence, Jesus reminded them of his miraculous provision of bread in the feedings of the five thousand and of the four thousand people as evidence that they did not have to worry about food they had forgotten to bring for their supper. (The twelve baskets full of leftovers after the miraculousl feeding five thousand people represent the twelve tribes of Israel whom God first established as His chosen people to preserve the belief in the one true God. The seven baskets full of leftovers after the miraculous feeing of the the four thousand people represent the seven nations of the Gentiles to whom salvation is extended.) Jesus clarifies by these miracles that while salvation is universal, the way to salvation is through him, the Messiah. He warns his disciples to beware of the false ways of salvation offered by the two extreme philosophies of the Pharisees and the King Herod and the Herodians. The Jews considered fermentation by yeast as equivalent to putrefaction and, hence, something evil. That is why Jesus equated evil influence with leaven. Jesus considered the hypocrisy of the Pharisees and the immoral life of the king Herod as leaven corrupting the dough of Israel. Hence, he gave the warning against their evil influence to his disciples while they were crossing the Lake in a boat.
Dear friends, we can't deny the fact of temptations (in the form of challenges, trials, difficulties etc.) that we encounter in our lives. The temptations, when we are through trials of our lives or through success stories or through confused situations or through dispair moments etc., come to distance us from God. Many of such temptations can lead us astray from God, if we are not watchful as Jesus speaks about it in the gospel. We need to recognise the bad effects of such temptations as they are able to corrode our spiritual life and our faith in God. It's by being watchful, we can recognise the bad influence of such temptations.
The first reading also warns us against our attitude towards the temptations in our lives. We should not be carried away by such temptations but learn to school our passions so that we can overcome our temptations. Noah stands as a righteous man before God whereas other people as the perverted. Noah becomes righteous before God because he didn't forget God in his life and also never gave himself to any corruption of life that could distance him from God. On the other side, people forgot God, gave themselves to the temptations of their lives and distanced themselves from God, hence God sends flood to destroy them. What went wrong with the people? They were not watchful of their spiritual life; they were not watchful of their relationship with God. We need to pay a close attention to our spiritual journey. Let's be watchful of our choices we make; do they distance us from God? Let's be watchful of our words and actions; do they make us pleasing in the sight of God? Let's be watchful of our thoughts; do they influence us to think and do evil or good?
Let's pray that God may help us overcome our daily crosses that we encounter in the form of our temptations.
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