CCC Cross Reference:
Gen 6:5 401
Ps 29:2 2143
Mk 8:19 1329
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Reading 1
Gn 6:5-8; 7:1-5, 10
When the LORD saw how great was man’s wickedness on earth,
and how no desire that his heart conceived
was ever anything but evil,
he regretted that he had made man on the earth,
and his heart was grieved.
So the LORD said:
“I will wipe out from the earth the men whom I have created,
and not only the men,
but also the beasts and the creeping things and the birds of the air,
for I am sorry that I made them.”
But Noah found favor with the LORD.
Then the LORD said to Noah:
“Go into the ark, you and all your household,
for you alone in this age have I found to be truly just.
Of every clean animal, take with you seven pairs,
a male and its mate;
and of the unclean animals, one pair,
a male and its mate;
likewise, of every clean bird of the air, seven pairs,
a male and a female,
and of all the unclean birds, one pair,
a male and a female.
Thus you will keep their issue alive over all the earth.
Seven days from now I will bring rain down on the earth
for forty days and forty nights,
and so I will wipe out from the surface of the earth
every moving creature that I have made.”
Noah did just as the LORD had commanded him.
As soon as the seven days were over,
the waters of the flood came upon the earth.
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 29:1a and 2, 3ac-4, 3b and 9c-10
R. (11b) The Lord will bless his people with peace.
Give to the LORD, you sons of God,
give to the LORD glory and praise,
Give to the LORD the glory due his name;
adore the LORD in holy attire.
R. The Lord will bless his people with peace.
The voice of the LORD is over the waters,
the LORD, over vast waters.
The voice of the LORD is mighty;
the voice of the LORD is majestic.
R. The Lord will bless his people with peace.
The God of glory thunders,
and in his temple all say, “Glory!”
The LORD is enthroned above the flood;
the LORD is enthroned as king forever.
R. The Lord will bless his people with peace.
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 Genesis 6:5-8,7:1-5,10
The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that the thoughts in his heart fashioned nothing but wickedness all day long. The Lord regretted having made man on the earth, and his heart grieved. ‘I will rid the earth’s face of man, my own creation,’ the Lord said ‘and of animals also, reptiles too, and the birds of heaven; for I regret having made them.’ But Noah had found favor with the Lord.
The Lord said to Noah, ‘Go aboard the ark, you and all your household, for you alone among this generation do I see as a good man in my judgment. Of all the clean animals you must take seven of each kind, both male and female; of the unclean animals you must take two, a male and its female (and of the birds of heaven also, seven of each kind, both male and female), to propagate their kind over the whole earth. For in seven days’ time I mean to make it rain on the earth for forty days and nights, and I will rid the earth of every living thing that I made.’ Noah did all that the Lord ordered.
Seven days later the waters of the flood appeared on the earth.
Responsorial Psalm:
Psalm 28(29):1-4,9-10
The Lord will bless his people with peace.
O give the Lord, you sons of God,
give the Lord glory and power;
give the Lord the glory of his name.
Adore the Lord in his holy court.
The Lord will bless his people with peace.
The Lord’s voice resounding on the waters,
the Lord on the immensity of waters;
the voice of the Lord, full of power,
the voice of the Lord, full of splendour.
The Lord will bless his people with peace.
The God of glory thunders.
In his temple they all cry: ‘Glory!’
The Lord sat enthroned over the flood;
the Lord sits as king for ever.
The Lord will bless his people with peace.
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 Naverre Bible
Tuesday of the 6th Week in Ordinary Time
From: Genesis 6:5-8; 7:1-5, 10
The spread of wickedness
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[5] The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. [6] And the Lord was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. [6] So the Lord said, "I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the ground, man and beast and creeping things and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them." [8] But Noah found favour in the eyes of the Lord.
[1] Then the Lord said to Noah, "Go into the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation. [2] Take with you seven pairs of all clean animals, the male and his mate; and a pair of the animals that are not clean, the male and his mate; [3] and seven pairs of the birds of the air also, male and female, to keep their kind alive upon the face of all the earth. [4] For in seven days I will send rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living thing that I have made I will blot out from the face of the ground."
Boarding the ark
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[5] And Noah did all that the Lord had commanded him.
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Commentary:
6:1-8. From the very beginning, evil and sin spread in tandem with the growth of mankind. We can see this in the episode of Cain and Abel and the same point is being made, somewhat obscurely in this account, which bears traces of the ancient Yahwistic tradition.
6:5-8. The severity of these words shows just how corrupt mankind had become. There is also a lesson here about the absolute sovereignty of God, who has power to wipe mankind off the face of the earth.
God's original plan when he created man seems to have been a failure – hence his decision (couched in very human terms) to destroy what he has made. But that is not going to happen: mankind will be saved through the fidelity of one man, Noah; and the earth will he populated again after the flood. We see two themes coming in here which have a high profile in the Bible: the first is that God loves everything he creates, and his interventions (even in the form of punishment) are always aimed at man's salvation; the second is that the righteous man, or a small remnant of faithful people, brings about the salvation of all mankind. It is in this sense that the Fathers also see in Noah a figure of Christ, because through Christ's obedience God's mercy reaches every human being.
Jesus recalled this episode of Genesis to warn us that we need to be always vigilant and ready to receive him at his second coming: "As were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they did not know until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of man"' (Mt 24:37-39).
6:9-8:22. The flood happens because man rejected the law of God (this process began with Adam and Eve). God punishes man's disobedience by undoing the order of nature that he himself had established for man's benefit. Thus, the waters above and below, which God had wisely separated from the earth (cf. 1:7), now invade the land in full force (cf. 7:11). The result is a return to chaos, and mankind is on the point of disappearing. The situation calls for a new beginning following on a severe purification. The bible is offering us here an impressive lesson about the destiny of mankind when it turns its back on God and rejects the laws that are stamped on creation itself.
In many religions, not only those of the Near East, we can find stories to do with the destruction of mankind (or a large part of it) in pre-history -- be it by water or fire or sonic cataclysm. Most of these stories tie in with belief in malevolent gods and man's fear of them, or with his sense of a need or purification. For example, certain Sumerian and Babylonian legends had features very like those in the Bible account of the flood. But there is a fundamental difference: the Bible depicts the blood as a consequence of mankind's sin, and as a new starting point from which the true God, the Creator of the world and of man, can advance his plans of salvation through a remnant; from that remnant will later emerge Abraham, the father of the chosen people.
7:4. On the seven days' downpour St Ambrose, following 1 Peter 3:20, which speaks of God's patience at that time, explaining that "the Lord made available a time for penance, because he prefers pardon to punishment" ("De Noe et arca", 13, 42).
7:5. In contrast with Adam's disobedience, which was the source of all evil in the world, Noah followed the Lord's instructions exactly, even in the smallest details (cf. 6:22). For his obedience Noah will he exalted as one who put his faith in God into practice: "By faith Noah, being warned by God of events as yet unseen, took hold and constructed an ark for the saving of his household; by this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness which comes by faith" (Heb 11:7).
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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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