Serious warning.

Parents and educators are asked to warn their charges whom they are educating of possible evil. From the warned can often be heard: Nothing can happen to me. I have my mind, experience, etc.

But we must remember that also in the sphere of faith; it is laid on the heart of all who have an influence on young people and the growth of trust in others in general, to encourage them to be good regularly and to guide them in such a way as to keep them from spiritual harm.

In the Gospel, the Lord Jesus Himself seizes upon this duty and warns His apostles, saying, “Take heed, and beware of the leaven of Herod.” (Mk. 8:15).

Jesus often uses a simile in His words to emphasize His words and warnings. Today it is “leaven.” We know that leaven is there to give flavor to the flour. If the leaven were terrible, it would not make the bread palatable but spoil it.

So, also have a moral doctrine to give good direction to human activity. But the insincere morals and hypocrisy of the Pharisees hurt souls. In addition to this, the fun and general sinfulness of Herod had a directly corrupting influence on the minds of men. These are harsh words addressed to the apostles, who were concerned about what they put into their mouths when they forgot to take bread with them. They had but one, and there were thirteen of them. The apostles often did not immediately understand Jesus’ warnings, and perhaps one could even sense the hardness in their demeanor. For they had seen so many strange events in which they had had a direct part, such as the multiplication of the loaves in the wilderness, the several healing, and the like. From this alone, they could realize that Jesus was the Messiah, the expected shepherd of the nation who had come to take care of the nation. They could see that Jesus was interested in the nation; he cared for it. Jesus is not just bringing material bread to the nation but also, above all, the bread of salvation. And because of their lack of understanding, Jesus admonishes them. And the Pharisees were only asking for miracles. They tempted him to show them a sign, and they believe. Therefore Jesus answers them: “This generation will not receive a sign.” (Mk 8:12). And Jesus walked away from them.
The behavior of the Pharisees can quickly sway the apostles. And Jesus, like God, also knows that every man from the sin of his grandparents has within him a tendency to unbelief, which can manifest itself in a superficiality to duty, a carelessness about the commands given. Therefore, we must realize that we cannot rid ourselves of this by hard perseverance and devotion to Christ.

Often we find that we learn from our own mistakes, only to our detriment. Our faith must not be based on something exceptional like the Pharisees who only wanted to see miracles. Nor must our faith be based on feelings. We see John the Baptist speaking out strongly against Herod and saying bluntly, “You must not live with your brother’s wife!” (Mk 6:19).

In faith, feelings must go aside. Alternatively, one must keep them under the control of reason. So, the author of the words of the hymn to the Eucharist instructs us: My sight and my taste would deceive me, but my hearing – that is, my reason – teaches me to have a firm faith…
Jesus wants us to have confidence in him, for he is still the same yesterday and today. Though today we see him only under the sacramental emblems of bread and wine, yet he is the same God, Jesus Christ, who in the wilderness multiplied five loaves to five thousand.

We are not only to be aware of this fact, but we must put it into practice in our lives. The yeast of unbelief is also in our environment and wants to penetrate our souls. A severe and powerful weapon is vigilance and caution.

A man remembers his childhood when his mother taught him to pray. She devoted herself to his soul. His father tolerated his wife went to church, but without conviction. Like every other child whose mother was committed, the child took her words seriously and enriched his life about his parents. One day, he overheard his parents arguing. The mother scolded the father to be an example to his children. And then, thinking that the children were asleep, he began to say all sorts of evil things about the faithful, the priests, the Church. The boy heard it all. He didn’t quite understand it, yet something remained in him that came out years later. His father had once, already as an adult, scolded him about something. And then the son repeated all this after his father…

Let us beware of bad examples, and let us take care that we do not set a lousy standard by our actions.