— — — —

Gospel Reading:
Jesus Heals a Blind Man at Bethsaida

They came to Bethsaida,
and some people brought a blind man
and begged Jesus to touch him.
He took the blind man by the hand
and led him outside the village.
When he had spit on the man’s eyes
and put his hands on him, Jesus asked,
“Do you see anything?”

He looked up and said,
“I see people; they look like trees walking around.”

Once more Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes.
Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored,
and he saw everything clearly.
 Jesus sent him home, saying,
“Don’t even go into the village.”
(Mark 8:22-26).

* * *

God sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.
We saw his son and are now telling others about him.
(1 John 4:14 NIV)

   — — — —

Gospel Reading:

The Yeast of the Pharisees and Herod

The disciples had forgotten to bring bread,
except for one loaf they had with them in the boat.
 “Be careful,” Jesus warned them.
“Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod.”

They discussed this with one another and said,
“It is because we have no bread.”

 Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked them:
“Why are you talking about having no bread?
Do you still not see or understand?
Are your hearts hardened?
Do you have eyes but fail to see,
and ears but fail to hear?
And don’t you remember?
When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand,
how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?”

“Twelve,” they replied.

 “And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand,
how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?”

They answered, “Seven.”

²¹ He said to them,
“Do you still not understand?”
(Mark 8:14-21).

* * *

God sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.
We saw his son and are now telling others about him.
(1 John 4:14 NIV)

   — — — —

Gospel Reading:
Jesus Feeds the Four Thousand

 During those days another large crowd gathered.
Since they had nothing to eat,
Jesus called his disciples to him and said,
 “I have compassion for these people;
they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat.
 If I send them home hungry,
they will collapse on the way,
because some of them have come a long distance.”

 His disciples answered,
“But where in this remote place can anyone get enough bread to feed them?”

“How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked.

“Seven,” they replied.

 He told the crowd to sit down on the ground.
When he had taken the seven loaves and given thanks,
he broke them and gave them to his disciples
to distribute to the people, and they did so.
 They had a few small fish as well;
he gave thanks for them also and told the disciples to distribute them.
The people ate and were satisfied.
Afterward the disciples picked up seven basketfuls
of broken pieces that were left over.
About four thousand were present.
After he had sent them away,
he got into the boat with his disciples
and went to the region of Dalmanutha.

The Pharisees came and began to question Jesus.
To test him, they asked him for a sign from heaven.
He sighed deeply and said,
“Why does this generation ask for a sign?
Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to it.”
 Then he left them,
got back into the boat and crossed to the other side.
(Mark 8:1-13).

* * *

God sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.
We saw his son and are now telling others about him.
(1 John 4:14 NIV)

   — — — —

Gospel Reading:
Jesus Heals a Deaf and Mute Man

Then Jesus left the vicinity of Tyre and went through Sidon,
down to the Sea of Galilee and into the region of the Decapolis.
There some people brought to him a man who was deaf
and could hardly talk,
and they begged Jesus to place his hand on him.

After he took him aside,
away from the crowd,
Jesus put his fingers into the man’s ears.
Then he spit and touched the man’s tongue.
 He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him,
“Ephphatha!” (which means “Be opened!”).
At this, the man’s ears were opened,
his tongue was loosened
and he began to speak plainly.

Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone.
But the more he did so,
the more they kept talking about it.
 People were overwhelmed with amazement.
“He has done everything well,” they said.
“He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”
(Mark 7:31-37).

* * *

God sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.
We saw his son and are now telling others about him.
(1 John 4:14 NIV)

   — — — —

Gospel Reading:
Jesus Honors a Syrophoenician Woman’s Faith

Jesus left that place and went to the vicinity of Tyre.
He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it;
yet he could not keep his presence secret. 
In fact, as soon as she heard about him,
a woman whose little daughter was possessed
by an impure spirit came and fell at his feet.
 The woman was a Greek,
born in Syrian Phoenicia.
She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter.

 “First let the children eat all they want,” he told her, 
“for it is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”

“Lord,” she replied,
“even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”

Then he told her, 
“For such a reply, you may go;
the demon has left your daughter.”

She went home and found her child lying on the bed,
and the demon gone.
(Mark 7:24-30).

* * *

God sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.
We saw his son and are now telling others about him.
(1 John 4:14 NIV)

   — — — —

Gospel Reading:
Jesus Walks on the Water

Immediately Jesus made his disciples
get into the boat and go on ahead of him to Bethsaida,
while he dismissed the crowd.
 After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray.

 Later that night,
the boat was in the middle of the lake,
and he was alone on land.
 He saw the disciples straining at the oars,
because the wind was against them.
Shortly before dawn he went out to them,
walking on the lake.
He was about to pass by them, 
but when they saw him walking on the lake,
they thought he was a ghost. 
They cried out,
 because they all saw him and were terrified.

Immediately he spoke to them and said,
 “Take courage! It is I.
Don’t be afraid.” 
Then he climbed into the boat with them,
and the wind died down. 
They were completely amazed,
 for they had not understood about the loaves;
their hearts were hardened.

 When they had crossed over,
they landed at Gennesaret and anchored there. 
As soon as they got out of the boat,
people recognized Jesus.
 They ran throughout that whole region
and carried the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was.
 And wherever he went—into villages, towns or countryside—
they placed the sick in the marketplaces.
They begged him to let them touch even the edge of his cloak,
 and all who touched it were healed.
(Mark 6:45-56).

* * *

God sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.
We saw his son and are now telling others about him.
(1 John 4:14 NIV)

   — — — —

Gospel Reading:
Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

The apostles gathered around Jesus
and reported to him all they had done and taught. 
Then, because so many people were coming and going
that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, 
“Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”

So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place. 
But many who saw them leaving recognized them
and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. 
When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd,
he had compassion on them,
because they were like sheep without a shepherd. 
So he began teaching them many things.

By this time it was late in the day,
so his disciples came to him.
“This is a remote place,” they said, “and it’s already very late.
 Send the people away so that they can go to the surrounding countryside
and villages and buy themselves something to eat.”

 But he answered, “You give them something to eat.”

They said to him, “That would take more than half a year’s wages!
Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?”

“How many loaves do you have?” he asked. “Go and see.”

When they found out, they said, “Five—and two fish.”

Then Jesus directed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass. 
So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties. 
Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven,
he gave thanks and broke the loaves. 
Then he gave them to his disciples to distribute to the people.
He also divided the two fish among them all. 
They all ate and were satisfied,
 and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish. 
The number of the men who had eaten was five thousand.
(Mark 6:30-44).

* * *

God sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.
We saw his son and are now telling others about him.
(1 John 4:14 NIV)

   — — — —

Gospel Reading:
Jesus Sends Out the Twelve

Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village. 
Calling the Twelve to him,
 he began to send them out two by two 
and gave them authority over impure spirits.

These were his instructions: 
“Take nothing for the journey except a staff—
no bread, no bag, no money in your belts.
 Wear sandals but not an extra shirt.
 Whenever you enter a house,
stay there until you leave that town.
 And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you,
leave that place
and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.”

They went out and preached that people should repent.
 They drove out many demons
and anointed many sick people
with oil and healed them.
(Mark 6:7-13).

* * *

God sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.
We saw his son and are now telling others about him.
(1 John 4:14 NIV)