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Gospel: Mark 8: 14-21
The disciples had forgotten to bring bread,
and they had only one loaf with them in the boat.
Jesus enjoined them, “Watch out,
guard against the leaven of the Pharisees
and the leaven of Herod.”
They concluded among themselves that
it was because they had no bread.
When he became aware of this he said to them,
“Why do you conclude that it is because you have no bread?
Do you not yet understand or comprehend?
Are your hearts hardened?
Do you have eyes and not see, ears and not hear?
And do you not remember,
when I broke the five loaves for the five thousand,
how many wicker baskets full of fragments you picked up?”
They answered him, “Twelve.”
“When I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand,
how many full baskets of fragments did you pick up?”
They answered him, “Seven.”
He said to them, “Do you still not understand?”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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Jesus said to them, “Watch out, guard against the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.”
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Leaven, also known as yeast, makes dough rise. A tiny amount is all you need to permeate an entire loaf.
Jews often referred to the evil inclinations within us as leaven. When left unchecked, just a touch of evil – a single lie, a single malignant cell, a single evil thought – can take over an entire person.
Today we call that leaven, Original Sin.
It’s affected all of us. Our work as Christians centers around uprooting that leaven by doing good and avoiding evil.
But the day we stop trying is the day that leaven starts growing again.
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Herod and the Pharisees have given in to the leaven. Their hearts are hardened towards Jesus; now they’re plotting to kill him.
Jesus warns his disciples not to join them.
Although the disciples struggle to grasp the fullness of his teachings, they cannot give up. Rather, they must persevere with open minds and hearts.
Eventually, the leaven of their doubt will give way to faith. Then, they’ll fully understand.
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In a sense, that’s what Lent is all about – growing in faith.
At times we struggle to understand the Lord; we struggle to understand his teachings and his actions in our lives. But like the disciples, the leaven of doubt must give way to faith.
Tomorrow we begin a penitential season of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. If we devote ourselves to these practices, then surely our hearts will not be hardened.
Rather, the opposite; we’ll better understand the Lord, seeing him clearly acting in our lives.
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