leaven

Last night at mass I heard a Gospel story -- Mark 8: 14-21-- that I don't recall ever hearing before. This passage occurs immediately after the multiplication of the bread and fish, and picks up as Jesus and his disciples get into a boat to head to the other shore...

"They (the disciples) had forgotten to bring bread, and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. He (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?"

As many times as I have heard the story of the loaves and the fish, I don't ever remember hearing what happened immediately after. I can almost picture the disciples looking at their one loaf of bread, and looking around at one another-- hungry and wanting something to eat. They had just helped to feed thousands of people with a few loaves of bread and a few fish, and now here they are with one little loaf to share among their boat.

And Jesus says, "Watch out. Guard against the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod..."


Hearing this Gospel made me think of the lesson that my dear friend Amy teaches as a catechist to illustrate the parable in Matthew 13:33, "The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed with three measures of wheat flour until the whole batch was leavened."
In front of the children she mixes two batches of bread dough-- in one batch she adds a small amount of yeast. Over the course of the next few hours the children watch one loaf begin to rise and learn the lesson of how the smallest amount of leaven will effect the whole batch of dough.

The point seems to be that the 'bread' of our lives will rise in some fashion, according to the leaven that has been added. This is (I think) why Jesus tells the disciples in this rather ordinary moment as they face the reality of their hunger to guard their hearts against the wrong kind of leaven. Yep, although the smallest decisions and influences might seem to disappear into the overall story of our lives, they are in a powerful way mediating an effect that will be known in time. For better or for worse.


This morning when I woke up I had an e-mail waiting from Mrs. Skorich in which she shared with me a reflection from a devotional book "The Word Among Us" on yesterday's Gospel that helped me to understand this even more:

Twice the disciples had witnessed, twice participated in, a miracle of multiplying bread and fish (Mark 6:34-44; 8:1-10). Twice did they see Jesus satisfy everyone's physical need for food and spiritual need to know God's love and provision. Twice did they see the abundance: more bread and fish was left over than when they started. So why were they now concerned that they had only one loaf of bread?

Jesus must have confused them when he warned against the "leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod" (Mark 8:15). What did those people have to do with the disciples' lack of bread? But Jesus knew that the issue wasn't a lack of bread. It was a lack of faith. Having seen two miracles in which Jesus provided for so many people, the twelve still couldn't believe that he would take care of them.

Somehow, the doubts, cynicism, and skeptical attitudes of Jesus' enemies still had inroads in the disciples' minds. Like yeast in bread dough, these attitudes threatened to expand and take over their ways of thinking. And so Jesus reminded them once more about how good he is and how eager he was to care for their needs. In effect, he was cautioning them against having too narrow a concept of what God can or wants to do.

We face a similar challenge today. Every day, we have the privilege of witnessing one of God's most amazing miracles, as plain bread and wine are transformed into the body and blood of Christ. Every day, we have the opportunity of being fed--nourished and sustained--by the heavenly food of the Eucharist. And yet despite this amazing truth, we still find the philosophies of the world "leavening" our minds. "Maybe God doesn't really love me all that much," we think. Or "Maybe I'll be happier if I focus only on myself and don't worry about the needs of others."

Don't fall into that trap! Today in prayer, call to mind all the ways God has worked in your life. Think about the way he comes to you in the Eucharist, always feeding you and lifting you up into his presence. He really will take care of you. He really will provide for you.

Father, fill me with your love today and carry me close to your heart. Open my eyes to see how you provide for me. Help me to see your abundant goodness all around me."


God bless you all today!
love,
nicole