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February 15, 2024When the passage of the flood is read it seems God is a vindictive God who wanted to punish all those people caught unaware. This section of the passage is when Noah started to come out of the ark, right then God makes a covenant. It almost feels like God is saying, “Perhaps I went a little bit overboard flooding the world and all. Next time I will be more careful.” What was just mentioned is not biblical, this is creative imagination, but it is clear God made a covenant not destroy bodily creatures again through a flood.
At the end of the first reading there is also a powerful image of the bow in the sky, which of course, many have interpreted as a rainbow. This beautiful, awesome sight was then not at the beginning of creation but appeared after this covenant. This bow has its symbolism. God places the bow in the sky, as if God is saying, “I surrender. I am not fighting you anymore. I put my weapon down. I am hanging up my bow so as not to fight you anymore.” God wanted to enter a covenant of love. The common perception (though sometimes not said aloud) is that God is out there to punish. The flood story almost seems to give some credibility to this perception, but the reality is God never punishes. Many times, what is experienced in life are the consequences of the actions undertaken. This first reading reminds God entered a covenant of love. God is not out there to destroy all mortal beings with water, fire, or whatever other elements.
The story of the flood should not be used as way to paint God in a negative way, but to prefigure of the sacrament of baptism, which God gives for love of humanity. God wants purification to happen in the lives of humans and wants to cleanse the sin out of lives and God does so now through the waters of baptism. This sacrament is not a bath to remove dirt, but to wash away the sins. It is so interesting (and at the same time sad) that some parents come to baptism and think its only a bath in the church. They have phrases to tell their kids like “it’s only water.” Some say, “it’s water to take away your little horns,” and many things like this that disfigure what baptism is all about. Yes, baptism cleanses and purifies, but it also makes the baptized a child of God. The waters of baptism will regenerate. The waters of baptism will give new life in the Spirit. The waters of baptism are then a testament of God’s love for the world. It can be said the flood waters had a destructive force, and only eight people were saved. The love of God is expansive. Now, the waters of baptism have power to save and are not limited to a small number. As St. Peter reminds us in his letter, “only a few persons, eight in all” (3:18-22) where saved by the flood, but now millions and millions have been saved by baptism.
Have you ever wondered why the Lord has not come yet? Perhaps it is because God loves so and wants many millions and millions of people to be saved through the waters of baptism. It is clear God loves, not punishes, and gives us the sacrament of baptism (along with the rest of the sacraments) as sign of his love. However humanity does not have a free pass to do whatever they want in life. Jesus begins his ministry by saying, “ Repent and believe in the Gospel” (Mk. 1:12-15), a simple message to turn lives toward God. Perhaps this small (yet powerful) phrase from the Lord can be amended to include baptism. Repent and start to live your baptism. Repent and turn back to God by remembering who you are, a baptized person called to live a life of holiness. Repent, even now, and start to live your identity as a child of God, as a Christian, acquired in baptism. Repent and renew your baptismal promises where Satan was rejected. Let us use lent to reflect about our baptism given by God out of love to renew us and sustain us in the life of faith.
