18 February, Tuesday — Beware of the Leaven

Tuesday of Week 6 in Ordinary Time

Jas 1:12-18
Mk 8:14-21

“Keep your eyes open; be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.”

In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus mentioned the yeast of the leaven of the Pharisees. It seems like an odd topic. But we know Jesus never says anything without meaning; and, deep meaning at that.

It is amusing that the disciples with Jesus at the time thought He was hungry and that’s why Jesus was talking about bread. Then the amusement quickly turns to contemplation and perhaps self-examination. We can hear the urgency and sorrow in Jesus’ words when He asked them, “Do you not yet understand? Have you no perceptions? Are your minds closed? Have you eyes that do not see, ears that do not hear? Or do you not remember?”

If Jesus wasn’t talking about bread, then what could He possibly be talking about? Well, let’s look at the ingredients of this teaching (pun totally intended). Yeast, or leaven (as in some Bible translations), is an agent that makes dough rise. But another definition of yeast or leaven is “a pervasive influence that modifies or transforms something”.

This warning must be shocking to the Jewish people at that time. As the Pharisees were deemed to be teachers and strict upholders of the moral law and Jewish traditions. They were held in high esteem by the Jewish faithful. Ah! That’s where the problem began. Whatever the original intention was in the Pharisees, it soon started to deviate. From adherence to God’s teaching passed down from Moses, they imposed all sorts of ridiculous demands in the name of religious piety on the Jewish people at the time. They began to crave honour, glory, and influence more than their hunger for the Word of God. They became so blind that they couldn’t see God standing in front of them!

Their influence (coerced or bribed or bought) turned the people against Jesus, to the point of the crucifixion of Christ. 

Brothers and sisters in Christ, beware the leaven. Pharisees are no more, but their legacy lives on. It lives on in the likeness of certain social movements that oppose the teaching of the Church, in the negative attitude towards Christianity, in our own hypocrisy.

Let us not cause sorrow to Christ, and let us console Him, by not only listening to His words but actually hearing it and acting upon it. Let us not be afraid to uphold and defend our Catholic beliefs in a loving way. Let us not be the bad influences, but good ones. Lord knows, the world needs it today more than ever. 

(Today’s OXYGEN by Winnie Kung)

Prayer: Most loving Lord, we are sorry to have caused You much sorrow and pain in our obstinance. We pray that You grant us the grace so that we truly have eyes to see, ears to hear, and hearts open to Your word. May we remember and act upon Your word as You want us to.

Thanksgiving: Heavenly Father, thank you for giving us, Jesus, to teach us Your way. Thank you for giving us the Holy Spirit to guide us. Thank you for loving us, even when we are obstinate, and for never giving up on us.