Daily Gospel Reflection
Join the Notre Dame family of faith. Receive God’s Word and a unique reflection in your inbox each day.
February 14, 2023
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?”
The disciples’ response to Jesus is laughable. How can they so comically miss the point of Jesus’ teachings and instead think it’s all about not having food? How could they forget how Jesus multiplied food for the hungry crowds—twice!
But there is a reason the disciples come across as forgetful in Mark’s Gospel. His Gospel was written for Christians who may not have known or heard about Jesus when he walked the earth.
Like us, these Christians might have said “I’m sure I would have really believed in Jesus if I could have seen him myself.” Yet, as Mark shows, the disciples who knew him best still struggled in their belief. This is because seeing is not actually believing. Trusting is believing.
It’s impossible to count the number of times I have been faced with problems, large and small. Then, a mini miracle happens, a moment of grace, to keep things on track and remind me of God’s love.
The mysterious man who handed me $100 in the grocery store at the end of the month. The hospital audit that erased a medical debt. A KindND event that provided breakfast when I didn’t have time to eat. An accident with a totaled car but unharmed family. A text from an old friend that lightened a dark day.
And yet, every time I am faced with a new crisis, I forget to trust.
Perhaps, like the disciples, most of whom went on to become martyrs, we need to be reminded of what God has done for us. We can do this by proactively reflecting on all the times God has performed small miracles in our lives.
And maybe, then, we will be able to trust that God will give us the grace we need for the next trial that comes our way.
Prayer
Lord Jesus Christ, you multiplied the loaves so that your disciples would be one and would know that you are the bread of life. Give us today this daily bread: your flesh for the life of the world. Consume in us whatever prevents us from being consumed in you. Amen.
Saint of the Day
Although not as famous as the saint we celebrate popularly today, Valentine, Cyril and Methodius, like Valentine, represent the strength of Christian love, as the strong bond of brotherly love of these two men strengthened them as they spread Christianity among the Slavic peoples of Europe.
Cyril and Methodius were born in the early ninth century in Thessalonica, which is now part of contemporary Greece. Methodius, the elder, was born around 818AD and Cyril around 827AD. Some sources claim that they were ethnically Turkish by birth, others that they were Greek. Their father died when they were still young and they were raised by the great preacher Theoktistos, who was not only a revered minister but was a powerful figure in the court of the Emperor.
Cyril was sent on his first missionary expedition East on his own, while Methodius became an abbot of a monastery. Cyril returned and studied philosophy, while he continued having great influence in the affairs of the empire. The brothers were sent on a mission to Moravia, at the request of Prince Rastislav of Moravia. Moravia had recently rejected paganism and converted to Christianity. But the people needed more instruction in the faith. Cyril and Methodius, imitating Christ's gospel command to journey two-by-two, traveled to Moravia and spread the faith. Furthermore, they created a new alphabet—Glagolitic—to write down the Slavic language, in order that they might receive religious instruction and practice the liturgy in the local tongue. This original alphabet still exists as modern Cyrillic (named after Cyril himself).
The brothers worked tirelessly to bring Christianity to the Slavs in their native tongue. They translated the liturgy and most books of the Bible into the Slavonic language.
Cyril died in 869 in Rome and Methodius died several years later in 885, after serving as archbishop of Moravia after his brother's death. The brothers have been celebrated as saints early as the eleventh century, and many Eastern European countries honor them with public holidays. They are the patron saints of Europe and also of Bulgaria, Macedonia, Czech Republic, and Slovakia.
They are witnesses to the creative ability of missionaries to bring the love of God into every culture and to speak the Word of God in rich and beautiful new languages.
Saints Cyril and Methodius, brothers who spread Christianity throughout Eastern Europe—pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of Sts. Cyril and Methodius is in the public domain. Last accessed December 5, 2024 on Wikimedia Commons.
