Word to the Wise
Tuesday, February 18, 2025 - Tuesday in the 6th Week in Ordinary Time
[Gen 6:5-8; 7:1-5, 10 and Mark 8:14-21]When the Lord saw how great was man's wickedness on earth, and how no desire that his heart conceived was every anything but evil, he regretted that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was grieved. So the Lord said: "I will wipe out from the earth the men whom I have created, and not only the men, but also the beasts and the creeping things and the birds of the air, for I am sorry I made them." But Noah found favor with the Lord. [Genesis]
FEBRUARY 18, 2025 [Bl. John of Fiesole, OP a/k/a Fra Angelico]
When it comes to popularity in biblical stories, the story of Noah and the Ark would be hard to beat. Biblical scholars have gone into the origins and details, but the story and its meaning have endured the investigations. The account is edited in the lectionary to omit all the details about the dimensions and materials. Over the years, illustrators have depicted the scene of animals marching two-by-two up a ramp and the giraffes' heads poke through the roof of the little house. Humor abounds, as well. "Why didn't Noah swat the two mosquitos (roaches, etc.)?" (Are insects included under "creeping things?") What can be easily lost is the meaning. If only Noah and his family found favor with the Lord, things must have gotten really bad. The flood in the story is an instrument of accountability.
In applying the story to our own situation and times, especially in the extreme weather events of the past several years, one might wonder if we humans are creating our own "flood." But this is not just a matter of meteorological climate change. The destruction and violence around the planet which appears in the news speaks to a different but nevertheless real "climate." The story of Noah and the Ark has endured because it speaks across the centuries. We can romanticize it and draw cartoons but how close do we come to Noah? AMEN