Today, we hear the last of our two week cycle of readings from Genesis in our daily masses. Like the story of the Garden of Eden, today’s story is a tale of humanity’s pride, arrogance, and folly. The people learn to make bricks. They want to construct a tower that will reach up into the heavens. God sees the pride and arrogance of the people, so he is not pleased. God feared further rebellion from them. God divides the people by making them speak languages incomprehensible by the others. They are scattered over the face of the earth, so the building of their city and their tower is abandoned. Arrogance and pride are sins that are still common today. We can think that we are in control of our lives and our destinies, but then something can happen that shows that we are not in control. We see natural disasters like hurricanes or tsunamis or tornados, we see tragedies like the 9/11 attack in New York or the federal building in Oklahoma City. Then, are are reminded of how fragile our existence here on earth really is and how it can be destroyed in an instant. As God scattered the people with language in the Tower of Babel, he united people being able to understand their different languages at Pentecost. With God and through our Lord, Jesus Christ, there is unity, there is hope.
No comments:
Post a Comment