February 18.  These origin stories in the first books of Genesis are stories of theology, teaching stories, sometimes even quite simplistic.  Would God really have said, “I’m sorry I made man and will blot him out.”  Or is it an exaggerated message about how bad people had become?  Is the story using a natural event like a great flood to teach a life lesson?  Some people could say that the natural disasters of today, fires, hurricanes, floods and even the scourge of HIV/AIDS or Covid are punishments from God for the wickedness of mankind.  But how does our image of a loving forgiving God fit this scenario?          

Reflect, share. Scripture Gen 6:5-8.  The Lord was sorry that he had made man on the earth and it grieved him to his heart.   So the Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the ground, man and beast and creeping things and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.  But Noah found favour in the eyes of the Lord.   Pope Francis.  According to human logic it seems reasonable for God to think of rejecting an unfaithful people; they had not observed their pact and covenant with God and therefore deserved just punishment.  However, St Augustine says, “It is easier for God to hold back anger than mercy.” God’s anger lasts but a moment, his mercy forever. MV21 JUBILEE. Taking the heart seriously, then, has consequences for society as a whole. Vatican II teaches us that, “every one of us needs a change of heart; we must set our gaze on the whole world and look to those tasks we can all perform together in order to bring about the betterment of our race”. For “the imbalances affecting the world today are in fact a symptom of a deeper imbalance rooted in the human heart”. In pondering the tragedies afflicting our world, the Council explains that human beings “by their interior life, transcend the entire material universe; they experience this deep interiority when they enter into their own heart, where God, who probes the heart, awaits them, and where they decide their own destiny in the sight of God”. DN 29. Prayer and action. Pray for your needed “change of heart.”  Choose appropriate action.