12 February
Saturday
A Different Story
“You have eaten, then, from the tree of which I had forbidden you to eat!” – Genesis 3:11
“Hi, I’m Eve,“ she said, gazing into his sleepy eyes.
“I’m Adam. You’re so different from me, all soft and curvy,” he replied, getting a nice warm feeling.
“And you’re hard and muscular! What’s this? I don’t have this.” She curiously touched him.
“That’s my Adam’s apple.”
“What? You ate them already?!”
This is a story that I wrote as an exercise for the Short Forms of Creative Writing course that I took years ago. Naughty, naughty you if you were beginning to think about something else. Actually that was the whole point of my story: to trigger a wrong notion.
And that is how sin starts — as an unbidden thought, in misjudging someone, doing little acts that, if unchecked, will lead you to commit a great offense. So be careful with that first thought; it’s the “first bite” into temptation. Watch where it leads you so you can guard against sin.Lella Santiago (
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REFLECTION:
Have I done some small things today that might lead me to sin?
Father God, lead me away from things that will hurt You.
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1st READING
God spells out to Adam and Eve the consequences of their sin. Note how it affects every aspect of their life and has become the source of conflict between humanity and the Creator, God; between fellow human beings and especially men and women; and between humanity and creation itself. I am sure if we fully realized the detrimental effects of our sins, we would be far more hesitant in committing sin.
Genesis 3:9-24
9 The LORD God called to Adam and asked him, “Where are you?” 10 He answered, “I heard you in the garden; but I was afraid, because I was naked, so I hid myself.” 11 Then he asked, “Who told you that you were naked? You have eaten, then, from the tree of which I had forbidden you to eat!” 12 The man replied, “The woman whom you put here with me she gave me fruit from the tree, and so I ate it.” 13 The LORD God then asked the woman, “Why did you do such a thing?” The woman answered, “The serpent tricked me into it, so I ate it.” 14 Then the LORD God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, you shall be banned from all the animals and from all the wild creatures; on your belly shall you crawl, and dirt shall you eat all the days of your life. 15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will strike at your head, while you strike at his heel.” 16 To the woman he said: “I will intensify the pangs of your childbearing; in pain shall you bring forth children. Yet your urge shall be for your husband, and he shall be your master.” 17 To the man he said: “Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree of which I had forbidden you to eat, cursed be the ground because of you! In toil shall you eat its yield all the days of your life. 18 Thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to you, as you eat of the plants of the field. 19 By the sweat of your face shall you get bread to eat, until you return to the ground, from which you were taken; for you are dirt, and to dirt you shall return.” 20 The man called his wife Eve, because she became the mother of all the living. 21 For the man and his wife the LORD God made leather garments, with which he clothed them. 22 Then the LORD God said: “See! The man has become like one of us, knowing what is good and what is bad! Therefore, he must not be allowed to put out his hand to take fruit from the tree of life also, and thus eat of it and live forever.” 23 The LORD God therefore banished him from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he had been taken. 24 When he expelled the man, he settled him east of the garden of Eden; and he stationed the cherubim and the fiery revolving sword, to guard the way to the tree of life.
P S A L M
Psalms 90:2, 3-4, 5-6, 12-13
R: In every age, O Lord, you have been our refuge.
2 Before the mountains were begotten and the earth and the world were brought forth, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. (R) 3 You turn man back to dust, saying, “Return, O children of men.” 4 For a thousand years in your sight are as yesterday, now that it is past, or as a watch of the night. (R) 5 You make an end of them in their sleep; the next morning they are like the changing grass, 6 which at dawn springs up anew, but by evening wilts and fades. (R) 12 Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain wisdom of heart. 13 Return, O LORD! How long? Have pity on your servants! (R)
G O S P E L
This miracle of physical provision for the hungry indicates to a small degree the love of God for us and His desire that we lack nothing in our lives. This does not mean that food will always ‘magically’ appear for the hungry. I think the miracle is a challenge to us as Christians to do what we can to ensure that all have what they need to live a dignified human life. Let us not limit our concern to food but focus upon the full dignity of the human person and our responsibility to respect it in every way we can.
ALLELUIA
R: Alleluia, alleluia
One does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.
R: Alleluia, alleluia
Mark 8:1-10
1 In those days when there again was a great crowd without anything to eat, Jesus summoned the disciples and said, 2 “My heart is moved with pity for the crowd, because they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat. 3 If I send them away hungry to their homes, they will collapse on the way, and some of them have come a great distance.” 4 His disciples answered him, “Where can anyone get enough bread to satisfy them here in this deserted place?” 5 Still he asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” “Seven,” they replied. 6 He ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground. Then, taking the seven loaves he gave thanks, broke them, and gave them to his disciples to distribute, and they distributed them to the crowd. 7 They also had a few fish. He said the blessing over them and ordered them distributed also. 8 They ate and were satisfied. They picked up the fragments left over — seven baskets. 9 There were about four thousand people. He dismissed them 10 and got into the boat with his disciples and came to the region of Dalmanutha.
my reflections
t h i n k : If we fully realized the detrimental effects of our sins we would be far more hesitant in committing sin.
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A MEAL FOR ALL
If we want to read about Jesus’ miracles, Mark is the man. His Gospel contains the most number of miracles. But he is rather picky when it comes to miracle stories. He never repeats an account he already wrote about. Today’s Gospel, however, seems to be an exception. In verses 34 through 44 of the sixth chapter, Mark already narrates a miracle story similar to today’s Gospel. Very few lay people, even among the devout readers of the New Testament, know that the Gospel today comes as a rather big surprise given Mark’s writing habits. But why this Gospel then?
Some 1,500 years ago, St. Augustine, reflecting on today’s Gospel, already gave the main reason for what seems to be an exception from the Marcan style of writing. He said that in Mark 6:34-44, the miraculous feeding involved only Jews. Today’s Gospel (Mark 8:1-10), however, judging from where it occurred (7:31), included Gentiles, too.
Thus, the Gospel today is not a repetition at all. Moving down to verses 19-21 of the same chapter, Jesus Himself clarifies this. The second miraculous feeding today, far from being a re-run of the first, puts across a very important point: the day will come when Jews and Gentiles will break bread together. And this indeed happened as reported in the 10th chapter of Acts.
There is no doubt that Jesus can multiply food. I have no second thoughts that the story today actually happened. But the deeper significance of the miraculous event is not the feeding in itself. The miracle is in what the story pre-figures: the fellowship of Jews and Gentiles.
All are invited to the table of the Lord. No one is refused because of one’s color or culture. The only ticket to the banquet is faith in the Son of God. The Eucharist is a fellowship where all are brothers and sisters to one another — Jews and non-Jews, freemen and slaves, men and women. Where the Eucharist is exclusive, the Lord is abused.Fr. Bobby Titco
Reflection Question:
What is my view on exclusive celebrations of the Eucharist?
Lord Jesus, You invite all men and women to Your table. You offer Yourself to all. May we keep our Eucharistic celebrations authentic in their fellowship. Perform Your miracle again — this time, not on bread and fish, but in our hearts. Make our “breaking of bread” truly a breaking of ourselves for others. Amen.
St. Febronia, pray for us.