(Homily for February 16, 2017).
While
reading the Bible, I have come to discover that the most difficult and
hard-to-swallow aspects are neatly intertwined with the seemingly sweet verses.
The story of Noah is one typical example. It is a sweet story that talks of a
man who obeyed God, built an ark, saved his family and the animals from the
flood and began humanity again. God even blessed him with the same words of
blessing that He used for Adam and Eve: “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the
earth.” In the midst of this very beautiful story comes a hard reality; the
fact that we serve a God who could destroy the whole world and everything he
had made as a retribution for the wickedness that was upon the face of earth.
Thanks be
to God that this would not happen again. God himself swore that never again
would he destroy all life on earth by a flood. And a sign of this is the
Rainbow. This is a sweet story and it fills us with lots of consolation and
hope. However, a closer reading of this story reveals a rather tough message.
The Rainbow not only indicates the disappearance of floods, it is also a symbol
of a covenant; that is, an agreement between God and we his people. “This is
the sign of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living
creature that is with you, for all future generations: I set my bow in the
cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.”
Genesis 9:12-13.
What is
the meaning of a Covenant? In those days, when a king succeeds in raiding a
lesser kingdom, he may either destroy it completely or decide to enter into an
agreement with them such that the lesser kingdom becomes its subject. This
agreement or pledge of loyalty is called covenant and it usually contains both
blessings and curses. The blessings are the things the lesser king will enjoy
by remaining faithful while the curses are things that will happen should he
decide to rebel or seek for independence. This was exactly what God did with
Noah and to the rest of humanity.
In Jesus
Christ, we see a New Testament; that is to say, a new covenant between God and
humanity. And the sign of this New Covenant is the Cross on which Jesus shed
his blood for humanity. Jesus was born for this purpose and he was ready and
willing to die a painful and shameful death on the cross. Nothing would come
his way in achieving this purpose, not even the persuasion of Peter. To show
how serious Jesus was about suffering and dying, he called Peter “Satan” for
trying to discourage him.
Today, we
are beneficiaries of that covenant sealed by the blood of Jesus. Because of
what Jesus did for us, because of his suffering, shame, pain and death, we
stand to gain lots of blessings from God, we pray with boldness because this
covenant is our insurance policy, it is our guarantee, our open cheque to
everything good we ever desire. However, it is still a covenant – there are
blessings, there are also curses. This is why we cannot afford to joke with
God, this is why hell still exists and we shall face the curses if we decide to
go against the terms and conditions of the covenant agreement. Whenever we sin,
we are like a small king trying to rebel against the big king.
Let us
Pray: Lord Jesus, free me from my rebellious spirit. Amen.
Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith.
It is well with you. God bless you. (Thursday of the 6th Week in Ordinary Time. Bible
Study: Genesis 9:1-13 and Mark 8:27-33).
Fr. Abu.
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