THE CLEANSING WATER OF BAPTISM

I SUNDAY OF LENT - Genesis 9:8-15

This Sunday, the first reading speaks about the aftermath of the great flood or the covenant that God made with Noah, humanity and the whole creation.

Natural disasters

Natural disasters that turn out to be great catastrophes have happened at different times and in different places. As an example, we can remember how science speaks about the catastrophe that wiped out the dinosaurs.

These catastrophes, which sometimes are of cosmic proportions, leave people terrified and hopeless. And most peoples and cultures go through this experience, be it in one way or another. In many parts of the world, people may experience tsunamis, tornados, hurricanes, earthquakes or volcanos. For many, it is the end of the world; the ones who survive, in most cases, give thanks to God for their salvation.

In the Bible, the great flood - a flood that affected the whole world - stands for all the natural disasters that fall upon people, leaving them speechless in the search for the meaning of life and the purpose of this world. While many survivors give thanks to God, because they were spared, many others question themselves about a God that allows so terrible a suffering to be inflicted on so many people. 

In the story of Noah and the flood, the Scriptures present us with several layers of understanding, which may shed some light on the relationship between God and people.

A God of Nature

In this story, we are presented with a God who is charge and in control of every phenomenon and every possible event that takes place in the world. This is a very traditional view, which can be found in many cultures. Here, they praise God as Chimba-milonga or Chenda-mu-mwela, meaning that which digs streams or walks on the wind. He is like a power full of energy that is present everywhere and in everything. And some go to the extreme of identifying natural phenomena, like the rain, the sun, lightening and thunder, with God.

An occasion of salvation

However, even though prisoner of this way of thinking, the Scriptures introduce new ways of understanding God as the One who sets his mind on a personal relationship with human beings. On one side, God regretted to have created human beings, because their sin was great and their rejection of God was so complete that they contaminated the whole world. The flood is presented as a punishment and a cleansing of the world, which had been corrupted by sin.

But the Scriptures do not dwell upon God’s anger that led him to inflict so great punishment on the world. Instead, the flood is seen as the opportunity for a new start. In the story, God shows his care for the ones who remained faithful to his love. Their lives are in his hands, and he holds them close to his heart. The flood became the occasion for a covenant and a promise of life.

If we are able to see and receive God’s love with open hearts, the darkest moments of our lives and of our history may become an occasion of salvation.

The cleansing of baptism

Many passages of the Old Testament acquired new meanings, as generations heard them being read and explained. St. Peter, in this Sunday’s second reading, explains that the water of the flood prefigures the water of baptism by which we are cleansed, not of the dirt of our bodies, but of our hearts, saving us through the resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Pe 3:21).

With these two passages, the Church asks us to direct our minds and our hearts to the Baptism: the baptism of all who were baptised long ago, and the baptism of those who are preparing themselves to be born of water and spirit. The baptism is not an external washing of the body, but a grafting in Jesus Christ, done by the power of the Holy Spirit. With baptism, we enter the New Covenant sealed in the blood of Jesus and then approved and promulgated with his resurrection.