Daily Gospel Reflection
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February 18, 2025
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?”
When I first read these verses in Mark, I felt an appropriate title would be “Jesus teases the disciples.” Jesus does a call-and-response that resembles a teacher trying to review again a simple math equation or a mother reminding her children about the rules at the dinner table.
Jesus recognizes the shortsighted memory of the disciples. They are worried about not having enough bread, a food item Jesus literally multiplied twice just a few verses earlier. He must remind them what he has done for them before they can truly listen to him. It feels like the same thing that occurs during Mass. God knows we need at least one weekly reminder of the sacrifice of the Son with the hope that in times of anxiety or stress, we remember that God has been and is always with us.
Today is the feast day of a saint familiar to the Notre Dame community, St. Bernadette. I can recall kneeling behind her many times at the Grotto, looking up at Mary, flooding Mary with prayer requests regarding tests, ill family members, or an unknown future. In many of those moments, I was like the disciples in the gospel. I allowed these worldly concerns to overshadow the blessings that God had given me. I couldn’t see the loaves and fish in my life.
As I reflected on this gospel, I recognized my loaf and fish as my wife and my four children. (Emily, forgive me for comparing you to bread.) But like a miraculous blessing, my family constantly opens my eyes to the joy God has bestowed on me. What are your loaves and fish? I challenge all of us today to remember God’s blessings in our lives and allow them to open our eyes, ears, and hearts.
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
Fra Angelico is just as famous for his artwork as he is for his holiness.
He was a Dominican friar known as Brother Giovanni of Fiesole, but because of his faithfulness and the beauty of his art, people simply called him the Angelic Brother (in Italian, Fra Angelico—“fra” is a contraction of the Latin word for brother, frater). In 1992, Pope John Paul II beatified him, which made official the holiness implied in his name.
He was born in 1395 in Tuscany. Nothing is known of his parents; he was baptized and named Guido de Pietro. At the age of 22, he had already begun to develop his skill as an artist, but he also felt a calling to dedicate his life to God, and he joined a devotional group at his parish.
By 1423, he had entered the Dominican friars in his hometown and took the name Giovanni. It appears that he came under the tutelage of a brother who worked as an illustrator of sacred texts in the friary. Soon, Giovanni’s own artwork became famous and he was sought after to decorate churches.
In 1436, Giovanni moved to a new friary in Florence with a number of other brothers. He was asked to decorate the new monastery, and his location in Florence put him in touch with many other important artists and patrons of the age. He was later called to Rome to paint frescoes that decorated several chapels at the Vatican.
Brother Giovanni—or Fra Angelico—is described as having a rare and perfect talent, and his paintings and frescoes were completed with an effort of his whole self. Picking up the brush was a prayer for him, and he wept when he painted the crucifixion.
His work was simple—his figures were usually unadorned and carefully arranged. He skillfully used expression and posture in his figures to portray the faithfulness that he sought to exemplify in his own life.
At the same time, Fra Angelico was well-known for his humility and modesty. He embodied the words of his motto: “He who does Christ's work must stay with Christ always."
He died while visiting in Rome, and is buried there. The epitaph on his tomb in Rome reads:
“When singing my praise, don't liken my talents to those of Apelles. Say, rather, that, in the name of Christ, I gave all I had to the poor. The deeds that count on Earth are not the ones that count in Heaven. I, Giovanni, am the flower of Tuscany.”
Fra Angelico is patron saint of Catholic artists. Shown below are some of his works, the first is a detail from the fresco, Noli Me Tangere, which depicts Jesus appearing to Mary after the resurrection. The Transfiguration is also pictured here, as is the Annunciation (below).
Blessed Fra Angelico, patron saint of Catholic artists, whose art was aflame with love for Christ—pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of Bl. Fra Angelico is in the public domain. Last accessed December 5, 2024 on Wikimedia Commons. All of Bl. Fra Angelico's own works have also been pulled from various sources on Wikimedia Commons.
