REFLECTIONS TODAY In the Gospel, Jesus warns his disciples to guard against the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod. In Luke, the leaven of the Pharisees is hypocrisy (12:1). Here, the leaven of the Pharisees points to their evil disposition: they ask for a sign from Jesus when they have already judged Jesus not to be an agent of God but an agent of the demon. Their leaven is in their hostility and unbelief. Herod, on the other hand, seeks Jesus to see a sign/miracle from him (Lk 23:8). He wants to be entertained and awed. The leaven in his case is the disposition to believe only if signs which compel faith are produced. In contrast, Jesus calls for faith and understanding apart from signs. 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?” SOURCE: “365 Days with the Lord 2021,” ST. PAULS, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 632-895-9701; Fax 632-895-7328; E-mail: [email protected]; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.