Word to the Wise
Saturday, February 21, 2009 - St.Peter Damian
[Hebrews 11:1-7 and Mark 9:2-13]....[F]or anyone who approaches God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. By faith Noah, warned about what was not yet seen, with reverence built an ark for the salvation of his household. Through this, he condemned the world and inherited the righteousness that comes through faith.
The last couple of days have featured Noah and the Ark and have offered us the opportunity to consider the meaning of that story and how it could include us in our day. Today we see how at least one New Testament author viewed the story! It's all about faith and consequences! The Letter to the Hebrews gives a long list of heroes in the faith and Noah is third on the list. The Second Letter of Peter (2 Peter 2:5) seems to imply that Noah warned his contemporaries about the coming disaster (unseen) but they refused to believe. Noah did believe and thus saved his home and all created beings! It is always a puzzle to me that some folks will believe in many different intangible things but find it difficult to believe in God. When it comes to God, they start looking for "scientific proof." I suspect that anytime someone makes a demand on our time or for a change in the way we live, we ask for some tangible reason. Part of this is the convenience and danger of denial, which shields us from realities we would prefer to avoid acknowledging: (e.g. bad companions, bad eating and drinking habits, overspending, etc). Because Noah believed in God he had to take God's word seriously. Sometimes we will even ignore "scientific evidence" because denial is more pleasant. (I remember a series of articles in the Times-Picayune newspaper in New Orleans a year or two before Hurricane Katrina hit that predicted pretty much what eventually happened, yet little or nothing was done to prepare! There was certainly no Ark!) Religious faith is prophetic by its nature because it calls us to act according to its demands. Others may deny what we believe or even be threatened by it, but the Letter to the Hebrews encourages the faithful to stand firm and gain the reward of God's presence now and forever! AMEN
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