Gospel (Mk 8,14-21) - At that time, the disciples had forgotten to take some loaves and had only one loaf of bread with them on the boat. Then Jesus warned them, saying: "Be careful, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod!". But they argued among themselves because they had no bread. He noticed this and said to them: «Why do you argue that you have no bread? Do you still not understand and do not understand? Do you have a hard heart? Do you have eyes and do not see, do you have ears and do not hear? And don't you remember, when I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of pieces you took away? They said to him, "Twelve." «And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many bags full of pieces did you take away?». They said to him, "Seven." And he said to them, "Do you still not understand?"

The commentary on the Gospel by Monsignor Vincenzo Paglia

The evangelist narrates one of the many crossings of the lake that Jesus made with his disciples. And this time he notices that they had forgotten to take enough bread for everyone: "They had only one loaf of bread with them in the boat." That bread, Mark seems to say, is Jesus. But when you are caught up in yourself and in your own discussions and complaints, you don't notice him, because something else matters. And the evangelist mentions a discussion that arose between them about who was responsible for the forgetfulness. But Jesus intervenes in the matter and takes advantage of it for a new teaching. They think that Jesus wants to intervene in their internal disputes, but the master does not come to their plan. In fact, he called them not so that they would remain prisoners of their silly disputes, but to involve them in his dream of changing the world. And he reproaches them: «Why do you argue that you have no bread?». In fact, they had not yet understood: «Do you still not understand and do you not understand? Do you have a hard heart? Do you have eyes and do not see, do you have ears and do not hear? Jesus directly unites eyes, ears and heart. But the heart is the source of both sight and hearing. In fact, if the heart is hardened we can neither see nor hear. We need an open heart, not full of ourselves, not poisoned by our own pride and self-sufficiency to be able to understand what happens around the Gospel. Then there is a need to "remember" the works and miracles of God in order to understand the presence of Jesus, bread of eternal life. In fact, the disciples had the "true" bread with them, but they had not yet understood it. And this was not only true in a symbolic way, but in a real way. So much so that Jesus reminds them of the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves that he had just performed. Jesus satisfies both the body and the heart. It is the meaning of the Eucharistic celebration, but also the meaning of listening to the Gospel. And we must remember what Jesus said: "Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God."