Word to the Wise
Tuesday, February 13, 2007 - Bl. Jordan of Saxony, OP (6th Tues in Ordinary Time)
[Genesis 6:5-8; 7:1-5, 10 and Mark 8:14-21]So the Lord said, "I will wipe out from the earth the humans whom I have created, and not only the humans, but also the beasts and the creeping things and the birds of the air, for I am sorry that I made them." But Noah found favor with the Lord.
So the Lord said, "I will wipe out from the earth the humans whom I have created, and not only the humans, but also the beasts and the creeping things and the birds of the air, for I am sorry that I made them." But Noah found favor with the Lord. Although the circumstances are dire, we finally meet a biblical character who has some charm Noah! The lectionary gives us a most unfortunately edited (sort of Reader's Digest) version of the story. I urge everyone to get out the Bible and read the unexpurgated version, and do try to forget Bill Cosby's funny rendition, no matter how enjoyable! (Or the Bluegrass song, "The Unicorn!") The story of the great flood is one of those archetypal stories that appear in the records of many a civilization. The author of Genesis has used it as well and for all we know there may have been a particular flood the author had in mind, if not the one of archetypal character. Certainly the use of an archetypical element such as water carries tremendous meaning. The next time you go to a Catholic baptism, listen to the blessing of the baptismal water where the waters of baptism, the waters of the great flood and the waters of the Red Sea are all mentioned! The basic idea is to wash away sin, and the Bible makes it clear that God intended a complete wash! Out of it comes a new covenant with Noah and his descendants. In a sense, he is a second Adam. One could hardly blame the folks on the Gulf Coast and New Orleans if they thought God tried again, but that is not what the Biblical flood is about. It applies to us all. It matters not where we live or what our culture is. If we become corrupt and unfaithful we can only blame ourselves for whatever disaster befalls us. Those who persevere will know what to do. AMEN
config
view
logs
3840.0 KB
72 ms
4
