Word to the Wise
Friday, February 21, 2025 - Friday in the 6th Week in Ordinary Time
[Gen 11:1-9 and Mark 8:34—9:1]Thus the Lord scattered them from there all over the earth, and they stopped building the city. That is why it was called BAbel, because there the Lord confused the speech of all the world. It was from that place that he scattered them all over the earth. [Genesis]
The story of the Tower of Babel shows that even after the lessons of Noah, the human race still persisted in its pride. The tower of Babel seems a foolish effort, but humans are quite capable of such foolishness. The result of their efforts shows up in any of our own efforts to learn a new language! And, mind you, there can be significant and sometimes comical results in the same language. The English spoken in Britain is not always the same as that in the USA or Canada or Australia or Africa! Communication becomes the challenge and often the cross that we bear.
In the gospel scripture for today, Jesus warns the disciples about taking up the cross if they wish to follow him. Learning to communicate with one another even in our own Catholic tradition remains a challenge. It is hard to be unified when we communicate at cross-purposes! The Tower of Babel stands in Genesis to remind us that our pride and our desire for power will inevitably put us at odds with God. The many different languages serve as a brake on that! AMEN