THE LORD WAS SORRY HE MADE MAN…

Genesis 6:5-8;7:1-5,10
5 The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.6 And the LORD was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart.
7 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.”8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.
1 Then the LORD said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation.2 Take with you seven pairs of all clean animals, the male and his mate; and a pair of the animals that are not clean, the male and his mate;3 and seven pairs of the birds of the air also, male and female, to keep their kind alive upon the face of all the earth.4 For in seven days I will send rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living thing that I have made I will blot out from the face of the ground.”5 And Noah did all that the LORD had commanded him.10 And after seven days the waters of the flood came upon the earth.

Mark 8:14-21 

14 Now they had forgotten to bring bread; and they had only one loaf with them in the boat.15 And he cautioned them, saying, “Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.”
16 And they discussed it with one another, saying, “We have no bread.”
17 And being aware of it, Jesus said to them, “Why do you discuss the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened?
18 Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember?19 When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” They said to him, “Twelve.”20 “And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?”And they said to him,”Seven.”21 And he said to them, “Do you not yet understand?

MEDITATION 

THE FIRST READING: Aggrieved, sad and disenchanted that man’s imagination has run amuck and morphed him into an evil creature, God contemplated to blot out man from the face of the earth. Instead, God reversed the plan because of the exemplary pious virtuous way of life of Noah and his family! 

Noah and his family were thus instructed to built an ark to charter seven pairs of clean and unclean male and female animal species with his entire family to a new destination, because God needed to clean up the mess of the irreligious folks who unrelentingly disobeyed God’s commandments.

THE GOSPEL READING: Upon crossing the ocean and reaching the other side by boat with Christ, the disciples began to bellicose, because they had only one loaf of bread which according to them, would not be sufficient to feed the twelve. This quarrel left Christ bemused, baffled and dissipointed that the twelve had forgotten about the recent miraculous multiplication of the seven loaves, that fed seven thousand followers!

Whenever we are called out or criticized for our wickedness, lies and disordered way of living, we generally tend to blame the Bogeyman to the extent that we wish to end our lives because we feel sorry for ourselves, forgetting the days and years when we had sufficient if not plentiful—when life was good albeit not nesserarily fair, because we were fed with supernatural Eucharistic bread! It is time we stop bickering and blaming everyone other than ourselves for not being able to enter into the ark of God. Christ is holding out an olive branch calling us to repent—let go and let God—so we may enter into the Ark of grace, be fed the bread of life—His flesh and blood, the Holy Eucharist—to avoid the flood of death!

LET US PRAY:Psalms 29:1-4,9-10 

1 A Psalm of David.Ascribe to the LORD, O heavenly beings, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.
2 Ascribe to the LORD the glory of his name; worship the LORD in holy array.
3 The voice of the LORD is upon the waters; the God of glory thunders, the LORD, upon many waters.4 The voice of the LORD is powerful, the voice of the LORD is full of majesty.9 The voice of the LORD makes the oaks to whirl, and strips the forests bare; and in his temple all cry, “Glory!”10 The LORD sits enthroned over the flood; the LORD sits enthroned as king for ever.

Commentary. Henry R SYLVESTER Note: The daily scripture readings are taken from the Roman Missal which the Catholic Church use in the daily Celebration of the Holy Eucharist throughout the world.Some weekly readings may differ because of the celebration of local feast days.