From the desk of the pastor for September 27, 2026

The Lord be with you! Before we return to Genesis, a brief update about the church roof. We will be removing the cupola. The cross may need to be braced, but the roofers think that it will be just fine. Although the top of our church will look different, Mass should actually be quieter without the cupola’s shutters clanging.

In Genesis 5 we encounter a genealogy from Adam to Noah with some extraordinary long life spans. For example, Noah was 500 years old when he had his sons! We can interpret these descriptions in two very different ways. Some have held that these men actually lived that long, which is how the Anglican bishop James Usher calculated the earth to be 6,000 years old. We can also interpret the ages to be symbolic for long periods of time. It should be noted that the second opinion was that of the Church Fathers and most theologians throughout history. Nevertheless, Genesis 5 is clearly stating that humanity had a long and difficult history between its creation and the Flood.

The account of the Flood (Genesis 6:6-Genesis 9:19) likely comes from two sources that have been skillfully woven together. We do not know this for certain since all we have is the written account. Still, these chapters are some of the best evidence for an oral history about Genesis before it was written down. We need to be very careful that we privilege the text over any theory about the text. Good scripture scholars carefully articulate what they imagine happened versus what the text actually states.

Getting back to the Flood in Genesis, we have a worldwide devastation on a scale that is hard for us to imagine. The story holds that all life on land ended except for what was in the Ark. The Flood destroyed the world so effectively that God recreated it with Noah. God was merciful to Noah not only for his benefit but the benefit of all. The LORD selected a remnant that would survive the coming catastrophe and repopulate the lands later. This pattern will repeat… a lot in the Old Testament.

If God destroying the world over sin seems harsh, then we have not considered Hell adequately. It is the teaching of the Church that those condemned to Hell will be punished for eternity. Although Dante’s Inferno is certainly fiction, his allegories for the punishments inflicted on the damned remain one of the best starting points here. Nothing is worse than Hell.

The lessons of the Flood are rather clear. First, sin has severe consequences including the ending of life. A world given over to sin is a world that will end whether God sends a Flood or simply allows it to perish. Second, God desires to save us with our assistance. Noah is tasked with building the ark and shepherding life through chaos. God did not need him but chose him to be an instrument of mercy. Third, God will not give up on us. When Noah and God form a new covenant, God promises to spare us whether we deserve it or not. Just as the LORD has spared our human family, He wishes to spare each of us as long as we return to Him.

In His Sacred Heart,

Fr. John