Like the green olive tree in the house of the Lord, I trust in the mercy of my God now and forever.

First Reading: 1 Kings 12,26-32; 13.33-34 Jeroboam divides the people, Jesus divides the bread. In this act he does not act alone, but counts on the collaboration of the disciples and the crowd. Sharing represents the Eucharist, in which the bread broken and distributed is Jesus himself. Reading from the first book of Kings – In those days, 26Jeroboam reflected to himself: “As things stand, the kingdom will return to the house of David. 27If these people continue to go up to the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem to offer sacrifices, their hearts will turn to their ruler, Rehoboam, king of Judah; they will kill me and turn to Rehoboam king of Judah.” 28After he had thought it over, the king made two golden calves and said to the people, “Do not go up to Jerusalem again! Behold, Israel, the gods who brought you out of the land of Egypt.” 29He placed a calf in Bethel and another in Dan. 30This was an occasion of sin, because the people went in procession to Dan to worship one of the calves. 31Jeroboam also built temples on high places and appointed as priests men taken from the people, who were not sons of Levi. 32And he instituted a festival on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, like the one celebrated in Judah. And he went up to the altar. He did the same thing at Bethel, to sacrifice the calves he had made. And he established in Bethel priests in the sanctuaries which he had built in the high places. 13:33After this, Jeroboam did not turn from his evil way, but continued to take men from among the people and make them priests of the sanctuaries in the high places. Everyone he wanted was consecrated and became a priest of the high places. 34This course of action caused the house of Jeroboam to fall into sin and caused its ruin and extermination from the face of the earth. - Word of the Lord. Responsorial Psalm: 105(106) Remember, O Lord, me, remember, / according to the love you show to your people. 1. We sinned as our fathers once did, / we did evil and were impious; / in Egypt our parents did not care / about your admirable great deeds. – R. 2. They built a calf in Horeb / and worshiped a metal statue; / they exchanged their God, who is their glory, / for the image of an ox that eats hay. – R. 3. They forgot the God who had saved them, / who had done wonders in Egypt; / in the country of Ham he did so many wonderful works, / in the Red Sea, so many amazing things. – R. Gospel: Mark 8:1-10 Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah. Man does not live on bread alone, / but on every word from the mouth of God (Mt 4,4). – R. Proclamation of the holy Gospel according to Mark – 1In those days, there was again a large crowd and they had nothing to eat. Jesus called his disciples and said: 2 “I have compassion on this crowd, because they have been with me for three days and have nothing to eat. 3If I send them home without eating, they will faint along the way, because many of them have come from far away.” 4The disciples said, “How could anyone satisfy them with bread here in the desert?” 5Jesus asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” They replied, “Seven.” 6Jesus ordered the crowd to sit on the ground. Then he took the seven loaves and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to his disciples to distribute. And they distributed them to the people. 7There were also some fish. After pronouncing the blessing on them, he ordered them to distribute them too. 8They ate and were satisfied, and they collected seven baskets with the pieces that were left over. 9There were four thousand, more or less. And Jesus sent them away. 10 Immediately getting into the boat with his disciples, Jesus went to the region of Dalmanuta. – Word of salvation. Reflection: In the same way that Jesus shared bread and fish with the Jews, now he does so with the pagans. This fact indicates that the Messiah extends his work of salvation not only to Israel, but also to other peoples. No people are superior to another. Feeling compassion for the crowd, Jesus sets out to satisfy their hunger. He then promotes joint action, which involves the participation of everyone (disciples and crowd). Collect from people what they can offer. The number seven indicates totality: collaboration of each person to feed everyone. The sharing of bread is a figure of the Eucharist and an expression of love and life in favor of all humanity. It is not enough to feel compassion for our poorest brothers and sisters; We need to show them, with concrete gestures, our solidarity.

 Like the green olive tree in the house of the Lord, I trust in the mercy of my God now and forever.

First Reading: 1 Kings 12,26-32; 13.33-34 Jeroboam divides the people, Jesus divides the bread. In this act he does not act alone, but counts on the collaboration of the disciples and the crowd. Sharing represents the Eucharist, in which the bread broken and distributed is Jesus himself. Reading from the first book of Kings – In those days, 26Jeroboam reflected to himself: “As things stand, the kingdom will return to the house of David. 27If these people continue to go up to the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem to offer sacrifices, their hearts will turn to their ruler, Rehoboam, king of Judah; they will kill me and turn to Rehoboam king of Judah.” 28After he had thought it over, the king made two golden calves and said to the people, “Do not go up to Jerusalem again! Behold, Israel, the gods who brought you out of the land of Egypt.” 29He placed a calf in Bethel and another in Dan. 30This was an occasion of sin, because the people went in procession to Dan to worship one of the calves. 31Jeroboam also built temples on high places and appointed as priests men taken from the people, who were not sons of Levi. 32And he instituted a festival on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, like the one celebrated in Judah. And he went up to the altar. He did the same thing at Bethel, to sacrifice the calves he had made. And he established in Bethel priests in the sanctuaries which he had built in the high places. 13:33After this, Jeroboam did not turn from his evil way, but continued to take men from among the people and make them priests of the sanctuaries in the high places. Everyone he wanted was consecrated and became a priest of the high places. 34This course of action caused the house of Jeroboam to fall into sin and caused its ruin and extermination from the face of the earth. - Word of the Lord. Responsorial Psalm: 105(106) Remember, O Lord, me, remember, / according to the love you show to your people. 1. We sinned as our fathers once did, / we did evil and were impious; / in Egypt our parents did not care / about your admirable great deeds. – R. 2. They built a calf in Horeb / and worshiped a metal statue; / they exchanged their God, who is their glory, / for the image of an ox that eats hay. – R. 3. They forgot the God who had saved them, / who had done wonders in Egypt; / in the country of Ham he did so many wonderful works, / in the Red Sea, so many amazing things. – R. Gospel: Mark 8:1-10 Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah. Man does not live on bread alone, / but on every word from the mouth of God (Mt 4,4). – R. Proclamation of the holy Gospel according to Mark – 1In those days, there was again a large crowd and they had nothing to eat. Jesus called his disciples and said: 2 “I have compassion on this crowd, because they have been with me for three days and have nothing to eat. 3If I send them home without eating, they will faint along the way, because many of them have come from far away.” 4The disciples said, “How could anyone satisfy them with bread here in the desert?” 5Jesus asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” They replied, “Seven.” 6Jesus ordered the crowd to sit on the ground. Then he took the seven loaves and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to his disciples to distribute. And they distributed them to the people. 7There were also some fish. After pronouncing the blessing on them, he ordered them to distribute them too. 8They ate and were satisfied, and they collected seven baskets with the pieces that were left over. 9There were four thousand, more or less. And Jesus sent them away. 10 Immediately getting into the boat with his disciples, Jesus went to the region of Dalmanuta. – Word of salvation. Reflection: In the same way that Jesus shared bread and fish with the Jews, now he does so with the pagans. This fact indicates that the Messiah extends his work of salvation not only to Israel, but also to other peoples. No people are superior to another. Feeling compassion for the crowd, Jesus sets out to satisfy their hunger. He then promotes joint action, which involves the participation of everyone (disciples and crowd). Collect from people what they can offer. The number seven indicates totality: collaboration of each person to feed everyone. The sharing of bread is a figure of the Eucharist and an expression of love and life in favor of all humanity. It is not enough to feel compassion for our poorest brothers and sisters; We need to show them, with concrete gestures, our solidarity.

​