Word to the Wise
Wednesday, February 19, 2025 - Wednesday in the 6th Week in Ordinary Time
[Gen 8:6-13, 20-22 and Mark 8:22-26]"Never again will I doom the earth because of man since the desires of man's heart are evil from the start; nor will I ever again strike down all living beings, as I have done. As long as the earth lasts, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winer, and day and night shall not cease."
Our imagination is left to wonder what life on that ark must have been like during the forty days of the flood! I'm fairly sure that the dove Noah sent out was glad to get away eventually! The olive tree that provided the branch was, no doubt, a fast-growing variety! We may also note that Noah only offered "clean animals" in a sacrifice of thanksgiving. He was kosher long before kosher was declared! Again, we are left with the wonder of a great epic to ponder its lessons.
One of the great lessons comes in God's declaration that God will not again destroy the earth as happened in Noah's day. That job seems to be ours now! We can't blame God for extreme weather events that are in large part the result of human misuse of the environment. Pope Francis has written eloquently of this in two encyclicals: Laudato si' and Laudate Dominum. Both these teachings have been criticized or ignored by economic interests and powers that benefit from misuse of the environment! There will be no "ark" big enough to hold humanity and plants and animals. Noah's story, like all good stories, endures because the lessons to be learned are enduring. But we humans, plants and animals seem to have forgotten those lessons. We are stewards of "our common home" and the real owner will hold us accountable. AMEN