Tuesday of 6th Week in Ordinary Time

Use Your Eyes and Ears!

James calls blessed those who resist the test of temptations. But temptations do not come from God but from the concupiscence within ourselves. From God comes all good gifts.

The theme of yesterday is continued in today’s reading. We should not ask for extraordinary signs but learn to see God’s presence and saving action in the events of life. The apostles have seen the signs Jesus worked among them. We too, should open our eyes and ears to the good things God does among us.

First Reading: James 1:12-18 

Anyone who meets a testing challenge head-on and manages to stick it out is mighty fortunate. For such persons loyally in love with God, the reward is life and more life.

Don’t let anyone under pressure to give in to evil say, “God is trying to trip me up.” God is impervious to evil, and puts evil in no one’s way. The temptation to give in to evil comes from us and only us. We have no one to blame but the leering, seducing flare-up of our own lust. Lust gets pregnant, and has a baby: sin! Sin grows up to adulthood, and becomes a real killer.

So, my very dear friends, don’t get thrown off course. Every desirable and beneficial gift comes out of heaven. The gifts are rivers of light cascading down from the Father of Light. There is nothing deceitful in God, nothing two-faced, nothing fickle. He brought us to life using the true Word, showing us off as the crown of all his creatures

Gospel: Mark 8:14-21 

He then left them, got back in the boat, and headed for the other side. But the disciples forgot to pack a lunch. Except for a single loaf of bread, there wasn’t a crumb in the boat. Jesus warned, “Be very careful. Keep a sharp eye out for the contaminating yeast of Pharisees and the followers of Herod.”

Meanwhile, the disciples were finding fault with each other because they had forgotten to bring bread. Jesus overheard and said, “Why are you fussing because you forgot bread? Don’t you see the point of all this? Don’t you get it at all? Remember the five loaves I broke for the five thousand? How many baskets of leftovers did you pick up?”

They said, “Twelve.”

 “And the seven loaves for the four thousand—how many bags full of leftovers did you get?”

“Seven.”

 He said, “Do you still not get it?”

Prayer

Lord our God,
when we do not see clearly in life,
when suffering comes our way,
we tend to blame you or people.
Help us to realize clearly
how much of the evil around us
comes from within ourselves,
from our greed for riches and power,
from our self-complacency and selfishness.
Speak to us your word of forgiveness
and change us from a silent majority of evil
into solidarity of love,
by the grace of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. 

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