A SEED OF GOODNESS

Genesis 6:5-8;7:1-5,10; Ps 29 The Lord will bless his people with peace; Mark 8:14-21

"When the Lord saw how great was man's wickedness on earth, and how no desire that his heart conceived was ever anything but evil, he regretted that he made man on earth, and his heart was grieved..so the Lord said, "I will wipe out from the earth the men whom I have created, and not only the men, but also the beasts and the creeping the things and the birds of the air, for I am sorry that I made them.  but Noah found favor with the Lord."

These are the opening lines from today's first reading.

God is aware of the evilness that has befallen man by man's own doing.  God's good creation has succumbed to the evil intentions of man's hearts.

This sounds like a precursor to a hollywood drama about the end of time.

How often are we confronted with the real possibility that we are our own worst enemies?

Think about the planet of the apes, the original.  The scene at the end of the movie where the man and woman realize they have been on earth the whole time and that the destruction to earth was a result of their own folly.

There is a bit, a glimmer of hope that swells up from within the stench of corruption.  God aware of the evil is on the look our for hope and goodness and he finds it in Noah.

A seed of goodness remains, a seed from which restoration and healing will sprout forth.

Where do we see that seed of goodness today?

We do not have to look beyond our own lives.  We, each of us, have received the spirit of God animating our life.  We bring that goodness to the front no matter the evil that befalls the world.  We are the light in the darkness.  The glimmer of hope is always within our reach for it is the reach we bring into the world around us.

God recognizes what is right with the world and it is Noah.  Do we recognize what is right with the world when we look int he mirror?

A seed of goodness has been planted in each of us.  That seed of goodness has been watered by the grace of God that comes to us in the sacraments.  We need to unleash the goodness within, for it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives with in me so saith St Paul.

We turn to the gospel.  Jesus asks a very poignant question to the disciple and to us, "And do you not remember..."

Who often do we not remember what God has done.  Like the disciples we forget how God multiplied the little we offer into so much more.  We are always  focussed on what God has done lately and we lose sight of how he has cared for us daily.

And do we not remember?  Perhaps this season of let will be a time for us to remember!