Jas 1:12-18 / Mk 8:14-21
Often when we meet someone new or when we’re observing a prominent public figure from a distance, we wonder what makes that person “tick.” What are his or her motivations? Why does he do what he does, or not do something else that would seem so obvious? What is she at the core, underneath all the masks and pretensions? We wonder and we guess, and sometimes we’re delighted and sometimes we’re appalled.
In today’s gospel, Jesus is telling us that we ought to be appalled as well as wary of getting sucked into the worldview of certain of His powerful contemporaries. “Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.” The apostles thought He was talking about bread, but He was pointing to what made those people “tick” at the deepest levels. And His verdict was: All that grasping for power, and prestige, and recognition, that’s not for you! There’s no life there.
So what is it that should make us “tick”? What should be the energizing vision that moves us to do great deeds and live noble lives? Our vision should be communion, big family with all God’s people gathered around His table, with no one left outside. It’s the only vision that lasts, the only vision that will ever bring us peace.
