Sunday Homily 2-26-12, 1st Lent
Readings: Genesis 9, 8-15, I set my bow in the clouds; Psalm 25, Your ways, O Lord, are love and truth to those who keep your covenant; 1 Peter 3, 18-22, That he might lead you to God; Mark 1, 12-15, He remained in the desert for 40 days.
Genesis: First book of the Bible, starts with creation & ends with the Patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, & Jacob (Israel).
Author: Not Moses as was thought for centuries before people began to study the work. At least 3 sources:
- a Y (or J) source for the group that addressed God as Yahweh;
- an E for the group who addressed God as Elohim (Like two historians calling NYC The Big Apple or New York City, or Denver by its name or Mile High City);
- and a P group that focused on the priestly class, activities, & customs.
Time: compiled and put together from 950 to 500 BCE.
Today's Selection: the flood has just receded and Noah is receiving a promise (called covenant) from Yahweh that never again will people be wiped out by a flood. Guess what the sign of the promise is.
40 Days
Picture this. It is night. Moon & stars. Sitting around a little campfire are 3 or 4 families, parents and a half dozen kids. It is maybe 1000 years before Christ. It is perfectly quiet except for the howl of a few animals out in the complete darkness.
A little girl says to her parents, "Where did that moon come from? The stars? Where did we come from?" The parents tell her about the stories they heard from their elders.
They say: Before people were here the earth was all desolate. It was dark & cold & waters were raging. God came along one day and decided to put some order into this mess. So he got up the next morning and divided up the daylight and the dark.
The next day he got up and created the dome of the sky. The third day he created the earth and starts plants growing. The day after that he sets up the sun, the moon, and the stars. On the fifth day he puts together fish and birds and tell them to multiply. The sixth day he really has to work hard: animals and especially man & woman. By now he is tired, so he takes the seventh day off and enjoys his work. This is the first account of creation in Genesis.
Now at another campfire many miles away a little boy is asking his family the same question. He is told another story. One day, say, Elohim is walking on a dirt path (like everyone did. No pavement). He leans down grabs a handful, wets it, and molds it into a new form, something with two legs, two arms, and a head. A man.
This man is given life and gets put into a marvelous garden with only one command. Don't eat from that tree. Time goes on and animals are created which the man names. However, the man is lonely, so God takes a rib out of his side and molds it into another human form. This one, however, is female and becomes man's partner. The man names her Eve, the mother of all. This is the second creation story.
At this point in time all is copasetic. One day, however, while Eve is strolling around the Garden of Eden, a snake begins to talk with her. Eventually the snake convinces her to try the fruit of the tree. Uh, oh. Then she shares it with the Man, now called Adam. Later, God comes strolling along in the evening and has to call out for Adam & Eve, who are hiding. He knows what they have done. They confess and he tells them they will be forever punished with difficult living. So they get kicked out of Eden.
Adam & Eve have kids. Cain first, Abel second. One day both boys make an offering to God. Unfortunately for some reason, Cain's offering is rejected by God. He is hurt and gets mad because his brother is accepted. He kills Abel. Then he, too, gets punished by God.
Time passes and apparently many more of Adam & Eve's kids turn out like Cain. In fact, God becomes so mad, so disappointed in his new creature man, that he regrets what he has done and decides to wipe everyone off the face of the earth–except one guy, Noah. At this time, Noah is 500 years old. He builds a boat and it rains 40 days. Which takes us up to today's reading, where the water has receded and God promises he will never kill everyone with a flood again, signing his name with a rainbow.
I tell these mythological stories for the following reasons.
First, we seldom hear or read these marvels.
Secondly, though it is not in the Genesis reading we have, there is a foundation setting up the thread between this part of Genesis 9 and Mark and today: the 40 days. Forty is a special number in the old times meaning a sufficient number. It rained 40 days. Jesus is in the desert 40 days. And we are spending 40 days of Lent.
Thirdly, when Jesus came out of the desert he really throws himself into his message, which contains 4 points in Mark:
- The Time is now.
- The Kingdom is here.
- Repent.
- Believe the Good News
Fourthly, for centuries up until Vatican 2, the 40 days of Lent focused on fasting and abstinence to imitate Jesus and to do penance for our bad ways. It was supposed to be a cleansing before Holy Week and Easter and a test of character.
Fasting usually meant giving up meals. Abstinence meant giving up a particular item, like Blue Bell or chocolate chip cookies. I found one amusing note:Thomas Aquinas, one of the great doctors of the Catholic Church who lived ca. 1250, suggested that the faithful abstain from meat, eggs, and dairy. Why? Because they were aphrodisiacs and generated lust. Food, alcohol, tobacco, and sex were all targets of the Church.
Today Mormons fast 1 day per month. Muslims fast dawn to dusk the month of Ramadan which around mid- August to mid-September. This fast often includes liquids.
I suggest that for a positive Lent we might practice sensitivity and service. This week we might fast. What about a fast from guilt and stress? What about fasting from my addiction? For a week? Food, alcohol, smoking, work?
How are you going to have a peaceful & happy Lent?
Sources:
Dominican Website; Creighton U. Spiritual Seminar; St. Raymond Church, Dublin, CA.; Wikipedia on Lent & Fasting;