TUESDAY of 6th WEEK, uneven year
Week 6 : Tuesday 6th Week, uneven year
“The disciples had forgotten to take any bread and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. Then Jesus gave them this warning, ’Keep your eyes open; look out for the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod. And they said to one another,”It is because we have no bread.’“What a joy it is for us, knowing that Jesus wants us to be on the same level of his Heart.” Keep your eyes open.“This supposes a comparison with a person born blind, who has never seen colours. if I try to explain to him what white and black are, I may as well go on and on trying to explain, but that person will never have a direct knowledge of what this means, never having seen colours! The same thing goes for faith, it tells us about things we have never seen nor known about, we have no natural knowledge about them. If we are not careful, the leaven of the Pharisees and of Herod might come to dwell within us, that is, we might end up not believing in Jesus! We need to be vigilant and to discern what leaven is drowsing at the bottom of our hearts. We know how we can be bowled over when the poor and little ones put us in a position of failure. We come to the end of our tether and we start to feel violence stirring up in us! Dark thoughts at the bottom of our hearts rise up showing their dreary head. Jesus tells us :”“Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of Herod”: take a good look at what you are living. The leaven of the Pharisee’s and of Herod lead the world into greater
tribulation. This same violence is still in the world today.The Pharisees of the Gospel put Jesus to the test in order to take and condemn him, He the Just One
“And Jesus knew it and he said to them, Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not understand, still not realize? Are your minds closed? Have you eyes that do not see and ears and do not hear? Or do you not remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of scraps did you collect? They answered, ’Twelve.’”
To have faith in Jesus entails a certain connivance in our heart that remains nonetheless something obscure. Obscure, for this faith in Jesus proposes to us certain realities revealing to us that faith surpasses all natural light and goes beyond all human understanding. Hence this excessive light given to us through faith is for the soul a source deep darkness, so to speak. The sun eclipses other forms of light, to such an extent that when it shines , the stars seem devoid of their sparkling light. Likewise, the light of faith, by its prodigious excess, puts our human intelligence in a state of failure .In order to become “leaven of love”in the world, we need to be nourished by the Bread of Life. We might say that Jesus was this “Only Bread” with them in the boat. We are nourished daily by this Bread of Life, the Risen Christ Jesus. Thus, we too become a good bread . When we participate in the paschal mystery we are nourished by the Body and Blood of Christ. We want to become a “good leaven”. We need Jesus, we need his Body and Blood, so that we can reach Him.
“And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many baskets full of scraps did you collect? And they answered, ’Seven.’ The he said to them, Do you still not realize?’”
We have to believe Jesus. Faith is not a science which enters into us through our senses.It is an agreement of the soul that enters in, through the Living Word of God. Faith for us is a dark night, but it is through its very obscurity that it enlightens. The more it plunges our life into darkness, the more it s rays of light shine upon us. In fact, it is in blinding us that it enlightens us. As Isaiah said : “If you don’t believe, you won’t understand.”
We contemplate the way God comes to save his people. In God’s people there have always been those who remain, who intercede on behalf of all their brothers. Always in contact with the Living God, even if apparently there is no longer a sign from God for humanity. There remains this man “adjusted” to the heart of God, a leaven for a new humanity. Those who are adjusted to Jesus get into the Church’s boat , this new assembly who, each day, are attentive to the poorest and littlest ones. They find grace in the eyes of the Lord, all those who are adjusted on the Heart of God with Jesus, who saves the world.