The Renewal of the Face of the Earth

 Reflection on Today's Readings, Tuesday, 6th Week in Ordinary Time, Year 1, February 16th, 2021
Texts: Gen. 6:5-8; 7:1-5.10; Ps. 29:1-4.9-10; Mark 8:14-21
When God created heaven and earth, everything was good. Man was given the task of enhancing and maintaining the goodness of God's creation. So God expected a lot from man and had great concern for him. With the introduction of man to sin by the devil, man began to devalue the  face of the earth, instead of enhancing and maintaining it. Yesterday, we heard of  how Cain soaked the ground  with the blood of his brother, Abel. Hence, in today's first reading, it is said, "The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart." Man has failed in his responsibility to take care of the earth; man has given in to sin and corrupt the face of the earth. When the heart of man is corrupted, the whole man is corrupted. Man failed in his responsibility to take care of the earth because he was corrupt in his  thoughts. The way man thinks, so also he is.
God was sorry for having created man and grieved to the heart. This tells us how much we grieve God by our sin. God has been sharing from the weakness of man since the time of creation. This is because God has deeply involved in the affairs of man. This again assures us of God's love for man; though He hates our sin, He never abandons us because of our sin. This is a call to renew and intensify our trust in Him once again. God's act of sharing in our weakness became total and concrete in Jesus Christ. Hence, the reading expresses the tip of iceberg of what took place in Jesus Christ. In Jesus Christ, God is deeply, totally and concretely involved in our affairs. When we are in Jesus Christ, God's involvement in our lives is total and concrete. Then no one in Jesus Christ should think that God will ever abandon him/her at any time or place. It is man that often abandons God.
Man, by his sin, devalued the face of the earth. Hence, God decided to renew the face of the earth by washing it in water. It is said, " So the Lord said, 'I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the ground, man and beast and creeping things and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.' ..... For in seven days I will send rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living thing that I have made I will blot out from the face of the ground.'” This reminds us of the washing away of sins of the world in the pool of the blood of God's Son, Jesus Christ. We are more privileged that we are washed in the blood of His Son; it is a great honour and  unqualified show of love of God. The flood also looked towards baptism in our Lord Jesus Christ. At baptism we are cleansed and the blood of Jesus Christ is applied to our souls.

The Renewal of the face of the earth through water  also reminds us of the new heaven and earth that we are expecting. The current heaven and earth will still pass away. The new heaven and earth are merited for us by Jesus Christ.
One point we will not pass by today is that no matter how dark the day may be, there is always  star to show the way. Noah was the light of his days. No matter how corrupt the people were, God still found him just and incorruptible. This reminds us of God's power to always preserve people for himself. Wherever we are, let us know that God will always have His own people there, we should not think we are alone.
Today's gospel reading reminds us that our anxiety about the affairs of this world could make us lose the message God is passing to us. To grasp the meaning of God's word, we have to empty ourselves of the anxiety of what  to eat and drink. Every moment we spend with God should be spent with our hearts free of anxiety and emptied of concerns. We will be able and well disposed to listen to God's word and grasp the meaning of the message when our hearts are free of anxiety and concerns. When we are anxious about our life is a sign that we do not trust in God's providence. Jesus Christ, in the gospel reading, calls us to trust in God's providence. He does this as he brings to mind the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves of bread. Our God is able to take care of us, He only wants us to walk in his ways.

God our Father, we are sorry for many of the time we have grieved You by our sins, help us to reject sins always. Amen.

Fr. Andrew Olowomuke