Reading I
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.
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?”
Meditation: James 1:12-18
In Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic tale, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Dr. Henry Jekyll experiments with a potion that separates his good and evil sides.
When he takes the potion, he changes into the monstrous Edward Hyde, who commits terrible crimes. Although Jekyll is attracted to Hyde’s lack of restraint, he is repulsed by Hyde’s character. However, the more potion he consumes, the more Hyde’s nature takes control of him, until it eventually kills him.
Stevenson’s story is an apt illustration of James’s teaching on temptation. We all have been given free will to choose good or evil. But our bad choices affect us in somewhat the same way Jekyll’s potion affected him: They make us less than human. The more we give into sinful habits and attitudes, the more they define us. It’s then we understand the truth of Paul’s words: “I do not do the good I want, but I do the evil I do not want.” (Romans 7:19). If we’re not careful, these sins can destroy us!
But James wants us to know that sin is not the end of the story. God has provided an antidote: the living word of Scripture. It is this word that is able to save us (James 1:21). To be saved doesn’t mean that we have no more temptations, but that we have the power to overcome them. It means that we can now experience true freedom, the freedom of God’s children. Coming to Christ doesn’t necessarily change all our circumstances, but it does give us a divine hope and divine power!
How can Scripture help you to live a new life? By taking it in regularly—and properly. So read a little every day, and chew it slowly. Read one passage over several times. Make sure you get the flavor of the passage. Does it bring you comfort, encouragement, or conviction? Then let it digest. Try to let that word affect your daily actions and interactions. As you develop this habit, your life will become a “word” of God—a word of truth and compassion. Trust him to make it happen, for he has promised that his word “shall not return … void” (Isaiah 55:11).
“Lord, show me your beauty when I read your word. Help me, also, to reflect it in the way I live. May your word be the light that guides me and the food that sustains me!”
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