BETWEEN THE TOWER OF BABEL AND THE PENTECOST EXPERIENCE

⏰Friday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time 1 (17 Feb 2017)

????Gen 11:1-9; Ps 35:10-11, 12-13, 14-15 (R.v.12b); Mark 8:34 – 9:1

BETWEEN THE TOWER OF BABEL AND THE PENTECOST EXPERIENCE

Be careful when things are going well for you because that is the moment the devil will begin to make you assume that it is all about you – pride. The next would be to begin to go against the law that do not favour you – disobedience.

That was the progression that led to the punishment of the people in Gen 11:1-9 that made God to decide on punishing them? First, they wanted to be independent of God. Watch their language, “… Let us make a name for ourselves” (Gen 11:4a). This is unlike what happened at Pentecost – the disciples identified themselves only in Christ (cf. Acts 2:14-36).

Second, they wanted to change the plan of God for man when they said, “… Lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth” (Gen 11:4b). Remember that God had given man this command, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it” (Gen 1:28). But the disciples remained in Jerusalem as Jesus had commanded them (cf. Luke 24:49, 53).

The end story is that the same gift of God – LANGUAGE – resulted in division at Babel but unity at Pentecost. There are always two ways placed before us – for life or for death (Deut 30:15). The psalmist says that to choose the good way is to be blessed (cf. Ps 1).

In our world that is today bedeviled by movement away from God in the name of secular humanism and movement away from God’s commands in the name of freedom (Pro-Choice), we are invited to stand with God so that what he brings into the world shall attract a blessing to us. No matter how tempting worldliness becomes, we must resist it so that we may gain life in Christ (see Mark 8:35).

May the grace of God be your strength in times of great weakness. Amen. Peace be with you.