FIRST READING
Jeroboam made two calves of gold.
A reading from the first Book of Kings (1 Kings 12:26-32; 13: 33-34)
In those days: Jeroboam said in his heart, “Now the kingdom will turn back to the house of David; if this people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will turn again to their lord, to Rehoboam king of Judah, and they will kill me and return to Rehoboam king of Judah.” So the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold. And he said to the people, “You have gone up to Jerusalem long enough. Behold your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. And he set one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan. And this incident became a sin, for the people went to the one at Bethel and to the other as far as Dan. He also made houses on high places, and appointed priests from among all the people, who were not of the Levites. And Jeroboam appointed a feast on the fifteenth day of the eighth month like the feast that was in Judah, and he offered sacrifices upon the altar; so he did in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he had made. And he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places that he had made. After this incident Jeroboam did not turn from his evil way, but made priests for the high places again from among all the people; any who would, he consecrated to be priests of the high places. And this thing became sin to the house of Jeroboam, so as to cut it off and to destroy it from the face of the earth.
The word of the Lord.
RESPONSORIAL PSALM Psalm 106:6-7ab. 19-20.21-22 (R. see 4a)
R/. O Lord, remember us with the favour you show to your people.
Like our fathers, we have sinned.
We have done wrong; our deeds have been evil.
Our forebears, when they were in Egypt,
did not grasp the meaning of your wonders. R/.
They fashioned a calf at Horeb,
and worshipped an image of metal,
they exchanged their glory
for the image of a bull that eats grass. R/.
They forgot the God who was their saviour,
who had done such great things in Egypt,
such wonders in the land of Ham,
such marvels at the Red Sea. R/.
ALLELUIA Matthew 4:4b
Alleluia. Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Alleluia.
GOSPEL
“They ate, and were satisfied.”
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (Mark 8: 1-10)
In those days, when again a great crowd had gathered, and they had nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples to him, and said to them, “I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three days, and have nothing to eat; and if I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way; and some of them have come a long way.” And his disciples answered him, “How can one feed these men with bread here in the desert?” And he asked them, “How many loaves have you?” They said, “Seven.” And he commanded the crowd to sit down on the ground; and he took the seven loaves, and having given thanks he broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and they set them before the crowd. And they had a few small fish; and having blessed them, he commanded that these also should be set before them. And they ate, and were satisfied; and they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. And there were about four thousand people. And he sent them away; and immediately he got into the boat with his disciples, and went to the district of Dalmanutha.
The Gospel of the Lord.
Today’s Reflection
The people’ hunger for spiritual nourishment made them ignore their physical need. Jesus however, was not going to ignore their physical need. He cares for them both spiritually and physically. For three days they had been with Jesus and no longer had anything to eat. Considering the huge number of people to be fed, seven loaves is considered insufficient. But then, in the hands of Jesus, human insufficiency is replaced by divine sufficiency. In following Christ, we too are prone to be in circumstances of need. We must look to Jesus, no matter what the need is: he is Lord of Heaven and Earth and there is nothing beyond his power to do.