22 February 2015
1st Sunday of Lent
God has wiped the slate clean! In the story of Noah, God has given humankind a fresh start, a new beginning. But he has not left Noah and the ark’s inhabitants to their own devices, merely depositing them on a mountaintop. God has given Noah and all humanity a unique gift of God’s fellowship: a covenant.
When we look at this story through the eyes of a child, we see a family, a menagerie of precious animals, an odd-looking boat, and vast flood waters. We also see a colorful rainbow and a pretty white dove.
When we look at this account with the eyes of faith, what do we see? Do we perceive the preciousness of life as God promises never again to allow such destruction? Do we see concrete evidence (“rainbows and doves”) of God’s providence in our world today? Are we in tune with the sentiment of St. Paul who tells us in today’s second reading that this story really prefigures our Baptism? That the vast chaotic waters of sin are now stilled by the mercy of God?
Do grasp the enormity of God’s reaching to us in covenant faithfulness, throughout time?
Most importantly, do we see in this account an echo of what is to come, the New Covenant, the ultimate fulfillment of all God’s promises in Jesus? God, indeed, has wiped our slates clean in the passion, death and resurrection of God's own Son.
This Lent, what will we do to bring our covenant relationship with God more fully to our minds and our lives, for the great grace of our salvation? How will we respond to the invitation to be loved by the Living God?
The author, Ms. Barbara Gawle, Class of 2001, leads Bible studies at her parish, Incarnation Church of Wethersfield, CT. She is the 2012 recipient of the Biblical School's highest award, the Lawrence Boadt Memorial Medal.
