CCC Cross Reference:
Jas 1:13 2846; Jas 1:14-15 2847; Jas 1:17 212, 2642
Mk 8:19 1329
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Reading 1
Jas 1:12-18
Blessed is he who perseveres in temptation,
for when he has been proven he will receive the crown of life
that he promised to those who love him.
No one experiencing temptation should say,
“I am being tempted by God”;
for God is not subject to temptation to evil,
and he himself tempts no one.
Rather, each person is tempted when lured and enticed by his desire.
Then desire conceives and brings forth sin,
and when sin reaches maturity it gives birth to death.
Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers and sisters:
all good giving and every perfect gift is from above,
coming down from the Father of lights,
with whom there is no alteration or shadow caused by change.
He willed to give us birth by the word of truth
that we may be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
Responsorial Psalm
94:12-13a, 14-15, 18-19
R. (12a) Blessed the man you instruct, O Lord.
Blessed the man whom you instruct, O Lord,
whom by your law you teach,
Giving him rest from evil days.
R. Blessed the man you instruct, O Lord.
For the Lord will not cast off his people,
nor abandon his inheritance;
But judgment shall again be with justice,
and all the upright of heart shall follow it.
R. Blessed the man you instruct, O Lord.
When I say, “My foot is slipping,”
your mercy, O Lord, sustains me;
When cares abound within me,
your comfort gladdens my soul.
R. Blessed the man you instruct, O Lord.
Gospel
Mk 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?”
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
First reading James 1:12 - 18
Happy the man who stands firm when trials come. He has proved himself, and will win the prize of life, the crown that the Lord has promised to those who love him.
Never, when you have been tempted, say, ‘God sent the temptation’; God cannot be tempted to do anything wrong, and he does not tempt anybody. Everyone who is tempted is attracted and seduced by his own wrong desire. Then the desire conceives and gives birth to sin, and when sin is fully grown, it too has a child, and the child is death.
Make no mistake about this, my dear brothers: it is all that is good, everything that is perfect, which is given us from above; it comes down from the Father of all light; with him there is no such thing as alteration, no shadow of a change. By his own choice he made us his children by the message of the truth so that we should be a sort of first-fruits of all that he had created.
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 93(94):12-15,18-19
Happy the man whom you teach, O Lord.
Happy the man whom you teach, O Lord,
whom you train by means of your law;
to him you give peace in evil days
while the pit is being dug for the wicked.
Happy the man whom you teach, O Lord.
The Lord will not abandon his people
nor forsake those who are his own;
for judgement shall again be just
and all true hearts shall uphold it.
Happy the man whom you teach, O Lord.
When I think: ‘I have lost my foothold’;
your mercy, Lord, holds me up.
When cares increase in my heart
your consolation calms my soul.
Happy the man whom you teach, O Lord.
Gospel Mark 8:14 – 21
The disciples had forgotten to take any food and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. Then he gave them this warning, ‘Keep your eyes open; be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.’ And they said to one another, ‘It is because we have no bread.’ And Jesus knew it, and he said to them, ‘Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you not yet understand? Have you no perception? Are your minds closed? Have you eyes that do not see, ears that do not hear? Or do you not remember? When I broke the five loaves among the five thousand, how many baskets full of scraps did you collect?’ They answered, ‘Twelve.’ And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many baskets full of scraps did you collect?’ And they answered, ‘Seven.’ Then he said to them, ‘Are you still without perception?’
Readings and Commentary from the Navarre Bible
Tuesday of the 6th Week in Ordinary Time
From: James 1:12-18
The Value of Suffering (Continuation)
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[12] Blessed is the man who endures trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life which God has promised to those who love Him.
The Source of Temptation
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[13] Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted with evil and He Himself tempts no one; [14] but each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. [15] Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin; and sin when it is full-grown brings forth death.
[16] Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. [17] Every good endowment and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. [18] Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth that we should be a kind of first fruits of His creatures.
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Commentary:
12. These words, which expand on the idea contained in verses 2-4, echo our Lord's own words: "Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on My account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in Heaven" (Matthew 5:11-12). The simile of the crown – a mark of victory and kingship--is used to convey the idea of definitive triumph with Christ: the Lord will appear crowned in glory (Revelation 14:14); the Woman of the Apocalypse, symbolizing the Church and the Blessed Virgin, is also described as crowned (cf. Revelation 12:1); and this reward is promised to those who stay true to God in this life (cf. Revelation 2:10; 3:11). It is also to be found in other New Testament passages to convey the idea of the ultimate reward of Heaven (cf. 1 Corinthians 9:25; 2 Timothy 4:8; 1 Peter 5:4).
This means that Christians should not be depressed or cowed by the difficulties which God permits them to experience; on the contrary, they should see them as a series of tests which with God's help they should surmount in order to receive the reward of Heaven. "The Lord does not allow His followers to experience these trials and temptations unless it be for their greater good," St. John of Avila comments. "[...] He disposed things in this way: endurance in adversity and struggle against temptation prove who His friends are. For the mark of a true friend is not that he keeps you company when times are good, but that he stands by you in times of trial [...]. Companions in adversity and later in the Kingdom, you should strive to fight manfully when you meet opposition that would separate you from God, for He is your help here on earth and your reward in Heaven" ("Audi, Filia", 29).
13-18. These verses identify the source of the temptations man experiences: they cannot come from God but are, rather, the effect of human concupiscence (verses 16-18).
Sometimes temptation means putting a person's faithfulness to the test; in this sense it can be said that God "tempts" certain people, as happened in the case of Abraham (cf. Genesis 22:1 ff). However, here the reference is to temptation in the strict sense of incitement to sin: God never tempts anyone in this way, He never encourages a person to do evil (cf. Sirach 15:11-20). Therefore, we cannot attribute to God our inclination to sin, nor can it be argued that by endowing us with freedom He is the cause of our sin. On the contrary, the natural and supernatural gifts we have received are resources which help us act in a morally good way.
14-15. St. James' teaching is that the source of temptation is to be found in our own passions. Elsewhere he says that the world (cf. 1:27; 4:4) and the devil (4:7) are causes of temptations; but to actually commit sin the complicity of one's own evil inclinations is always necessary.
Concupiscence ("desire"), here as elsewhere in the New Testament (cf., e.g., Romans 1:24; 7:7 ff; 1 John 2:16), means all the disordered passions and appetites which, as a result of original sin, have a place in men's hearts. Concupiscence as such is not a sin; but rather, according to the Council of Trent, "since it is left to provide a trial, it has no power to injure those who do not consent and who, by the grace of Jesus Christ, manfully resist"; and if it is sometimes called sin (cf. Romans 6:12 ff) it is "only because it is from sin and inclines to sin" ("De Peccato Originali", 5).
Using the simile of generation St. James describes the course of sin from the stage of temptation to that of the death of the soul. When one gives in to the seduction of concupiscence sin is committed; this in turn leads to spiritual death, to the soul's losing the life of grace. This is the opposite process to the one described earlier (cf. verses 2-12), which begins with trials (temptations in the broad sense: cf. note on 1:2-4) and ends up in Heaven; whereas in this passage, the process also begins with temptation but because of sin ends up with the death of the soul. Bl. John Paul II describes the process as follows: "Man also knows, through painful experience, that by a conscious and free act of the will he can change course and go in a direction opposed to God's will, separating himself from God ("aversio a Deo"), rejecting loving communion with Him, detaching himself from the life-principle which God is, and consequently choosing "death" ("Reconciliatio Et Paenitentia", 17).
16-18. "The Father of lights": a reference to God as Creator of the heavenly bodies (cf. Genesis 1:14 ff; Psalm 136:7-9) and, in the symbolism of light, as the source of all good things, material and, especially, spiritual. Unlike heavenly bodies, which change position and cast shadows, there is no variation or shadow in God: no evil can be attributed to Him (cf. verse 13), but only good things.
"First fruits of His creatures": Christians, who have been recreated by God by "the word of truth" (the Gospel) already constitute the beginning of the New Heaven and the New Earth (cf. Revelation 21:1) and are a sign of hope for all mankind and for the whole of Creation (cf. Romans 9:19-23).
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From: Mark 8:14-21
The Leaven of the Pharisees (Continuation)
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[14] Now they had forgotten to bring bread; and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. [15] And He (Jesus) cautioned them, saying, "Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod." [16] And they discussed it with one another, saying, "We have no bread." [17] And being aware of it, Jesus said to them, "Why do you discuss the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? [18] Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember? [19] When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?" They said to Him, "Twelve." [20] And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?" And they said to Him, "Seven." [21] And He said to them, "Do you not yet understand?"
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Commentary:
15-16. In another Gospel passage--Luke 13:20-21 and Matthew 31:33—Jesus uses the simile of the leaven to show the vitality of His teaching. Here "leaven" is used in the sense of bad disposition. In the making of bread, leaven is what causes the dough to rise; the Pharisees' hypocrisy and Herod's dissolute life, stemming from their personal ambition, were the "leaven" which was poisoning from within the "dough" of Israel and which would eventually corrupt it. Jesus seeks to warn His disciples about these dangers, and to have them understand that if they are to take in His doctrine they need a pure and simple heart.
But the disciples fail to understand: "They weren't educated; they weren't very bright, if we judge from their reaction to supernatural things. Finding even the most elementary examples and comparisons beyond their reach, they would turn to the Master and ask: 'Explain the parable to us.' When Jesus uses the image of the 'leaven' of the Pharisees, they think that He's reproaching them for not having purchased bread....These were the disciples called by our Lord. Such stuff is what Christ chose. And they remain just like that until they are filled with the Holy Spirit and thus become pillars of the Church. They are ordinary people, full of defects and shortcomings, more eager to say than to do. Nevertheless, Jesus calls them to be fishers of men, co-redeemers, dispensers of the grace of God" (St. J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By", 2). The same thing can happen to us. Although we may not be very gifted, the Lord calls us, and love of God and docility to His words will cause to grow in our souls unsuspected fruit of holiness and supernatural effectiveness.
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Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and by Scepter Publishers in the United States. We encourage readers to purchase The Navarre Bible for personal study. See Scepter Publishers for details.
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