Genesis 8:6-13,20-22. Psalm 116. Mark 8L22-26

Scripture: Chapter 8 of Genesis is a chapter of hope. It is Noah who is
found favorable in God's sight and who stems God's sorrow for having
created humankind. The covenant of love is renewed with Noah as we read in
verse 1 which says, "God remembered Noah." This is a turning point in the
stories of the sinfulness of humankind whereby we learn that God's mercy
and love are greater than God's justice. Whenever we read that God
remembers, it is a significant event in the Bible. God remembers Abraham
and spares Lot (Genesis 19:29); Rachel is remembered and she conceives
(Genesis 30:22); God remembers his covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob;
Israel is saved from Pharaoh because God remembers his covenant (Exodus
2:23-25). Remembering is the font of hope in each of us and by our own
recalling God's graces and favors to us, we have hope for the future. In
turning to the Gospel of Mark for the day we find that Jesus heals a blind
man. It takes two attempts on his part for the man sees people walking like
trees; he is myopic. With a second intervention the blind man sees
clearly. Sometimes it takes us several times before we realize that God is
showing us love and mercy. Our God surprises us each day with these
healings of mind and heart. I can learn patience from this miracle. Jesus
was patient and so was the blind man. Things then turned out right and the
blind man had twenty-twenty vision. So waiting patiently and with
perseverance may bring about our own seeing of Jesus clearly. He is always
at work within us. Amen.

Wednesday Scripture Reflection, February 15th, 2007 (Lectionary #338):

Scripture: Genesis 9:1-13. Psalm 102:16-22. and Mark 8:27-33:

Noah is now centerstage in the Genesis story. He is the faithful servant
of God; his name means "favored one." I see him as an image of hope for
us whenever we think about the tragedies our world is undergoing--almost
like a deluge of wars, violence, terrorism, etc. Returning to Noah and the
story of his building the ark shows us that God's mercy and love are
present despite the mess we seem to be in. The Genesis stories will soon
unravel some principal themes in the history of salvation: the covenant
with God is restored; the identity of ourselves made in the image and
likeness of God reappears in the narrative and we are commanded to stop
harming one another. Stewardship for sensient and plant life is mentioned
and concern for the environment appears. I recently read that Noah in
Hebrew does mean "favored" while the reversal of the consonants in his name
spells out Cain in Hebrew. So symbolically the reversal of fratricide is
indicated in his name. Hope is restored to the human race and soon the
waters will subside and the dove of peace will find a haven. In the
Gospel selection from Mark the apostle Peter begins to discover who Jesus
is and in answering Jesus' question,"Who do you say I am", he says, "You
are the Christ (the Messiah)." Jesus pushes the question further by
explaining that he is not a royal political Messiah but a suffering one and
Peter then reprimands his master! Jesus wants to have his disciple
understand this, but as we learned from the questions asked of them in the
last chapter, they come to recognize who he really is only after his
resurrection from the dead. Jesus is the Paschal Mystery for us and this
journeying in suffering is how we become his disciples. At the end of the
passage we learn about Mark's theology of the Cross in his expressing his
point of view in what Jesus is saying, "Get behind me, Satan! For you are
setting your mind not on divine things but on human things." We will hear
this same message from Jesus when he summons each one of us three times to
follow him but with the taking up of our cross each day, " If you want to
become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and
follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those
who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the Gospel will save
it." (See Mark 8:31; 8:34-35; Mark 9:30-32; and Mark 10:32-34). Amen.