The first reading today continues the story of God, Noah and the covenant he established with him. This is a kind of "re-creation" story – similar to the creation story in the earlier part of Genesis. God tells Noah and his family to be fertile and multiply and fill the earth. The animals would fear them and they would be subject to them. They were to eat green plants and meat of animals having no lifeblood within them.
Then he tells them something that has import for us today: for your own lifeblood, too, I shall demand an accounting; from every animal I will demand it, and from one man in regard to his fellow man I will demand an accounting for human life. If anyone sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has man been made. This spiritual law of God applies just as much in our own day as it did back in the days of Noah!
It would seem then that any form of homicide and murder is an abomination in the sight of God – and all of those involved in the abomination shall be accountable to God! This applies to all kinds of "killing" among people; this applies in a special way to the killing and premeditated murder by abortion of defenseless unborn children who reside in their mother's wombs. Any who have anything directly or indirectly to do with the continuance and availability of this heinous act will be liable to judgment before the throne of God on Judgment Day: this God promised in the first reading at Mass today!
To end on a positive note: the end of the passage tells us that there really can be a happy and productive relationship between God and his people! The new covenant of friendship is now placed within their hearts – and externally there is the sign of the rainbow to reassure all that God will be faithful to his promises – even should we not live up to our end of the deal! But we ought to be spending our days trying to live up to our end – trying to make decisions that support life, and love and caring! We have the power within us to stand on the right side now – we have the power of redemption within us since the day of our baptism – we have the power to say YES to life always!
The gospel passage shows us how Jesus is trying to prepare his disciples for the events of his suffering and death – as the price for our redemption, our salvation, our reconciliation to God the Father and the source of the power we need to live out our baptism and our YES to life. Though Peter calls him the "Christ" in the passage – Peter also immediately tries to talk him out of such suffering: his thinking was that it does not seem right that the Christ should have to suffer: why would God have to suffer? Peter obviously missed the whole point of the mission of Jesus at this time. But one day he would understand: after the Resurrection and the coming of the Spirit of power at Pentecost!
May we this day pray that God allow us to think more as he does, rather than as unredeemed human beings. There is so much depth and beauty to see from the bird's eye view of faith and hope!
From heaven the Lord looks down on the earth; he looks down and has pity, he hears our prayers, he adjusts our vision, he gives us strength to carry on!
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