16 February 2021 - Tuesday of the 6th Week of Ordinary Time - Genesis 6:5-8; 7:1-5, 10

        We have been hearing from the book of Genesis in our first readings in our daily Masses these past couple of weeks in ordinary time before we start the holy season of Lent.  We heard the story of creation and the Garden of Eden in some of these readings last week.  Today we hear of Noah and the great flood.  It is interesting that in many ancient civilizations a legend of a great flood.  When I was in college, I was a great admirer of Joseph Campbell, the great mythologist who spoke about archetype stories that span cultures and times, such as the archetype of the hero.  I remember that Campbell stated that it does not matter if a story is true or not; what matters most is the truth that in contained in that story.  I love so many stories in the Bible that appeal to our imagination, such as the three wise men, Jospeh and his brothers, and the story we hear today of Noah, the ark, and the great flood.   The setting of the story of Noah and the ark is that humanity had turned away from God and had become mired in sin and immortality.  God saw how the great wickedness of humanity on the earth.   There was moral corruption everywhere.  At this time, there was not yet distinction between Israel and everyone else.  Israel had not yet become his chosen people.  There is one human exception to the universal corruption of humanity.  Noah was a good man who had found favor with the Lord.  The destruction of creation to come will, through Noah, become a reconstruction.  Noah and his family will become a remnant which will survive and regenerate the earth, paving the way for the appearance of the chosen people of God in the person of Abraham.  Noah and all the different kinds of animals survive the flood, as Noah follows all of God’s instructions.  The message we receive from the story of Noah and the great flood is that God protects the virtuous and punishes the wicked.  Yet, we now have a new covenant in our Lord Jesus Christ and the salvation we have received in him.  However, the message of following God and not abandoning our faith still calls our today on the eve before we start our Lenten journey.