Have you ever had a time when it seemed that you were disconnected from God? God didn’t make sense to you. Maybe you prayed, but it seemed God wasn’t listening. Or you thought God wanted one thing, but later you found out he wanted something else. Or you had turned away from God to choose sin over him. If that has been your experience, today’s readings are for you.
In the first reading, almost all the people on earth are disconnected from God. The habit of choosing selfishly, begun by Adam and Eve and their children Cain and Abel, has spread across the earth. God had created people to love, but they were not choosing to love or to obey God so they could learn to love. They chose evil and sin. God saw “how no desire that man’s heart conceived was ever anything but evil.” God meant for people to center their lives in obedience and love. They were not doing that. God grieved. He was sad. He decided to send a great flood to stop the evil. God did not like to be disconnected from the people he created.
In the Gospel, Jesus is frustrated at the disconnect with his disciples. If you remember the reading from yesterday, the Pharisees wanted a sign from heaven. They wanted to test Jesus. This caused Jesus to “sigh from the depths of his heart.” (Mark 8: 12) He was sad because the leaders of his faith did not trust or understand him. Discouraged, he and his disciples got in their boat to go to another place. From the tone of it, in the boat Jesus began to vent about the Pharisees. “Watch out,” he told them. “Guard against the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.” The disciples did not understand what Jesus meant. They thought he was upset with them because they had forgotten to bring food. That was more of a disconnect for Jesus! Listen to the hurt and frustration in his voice, “Do you not yet understand or comprehend?” he asked. “Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes and not see, ears and not hear? And do you not remember…” Jesus was discouraged like his Father before him had been.
In between these two pictures of disconnect with God are two examples of connection. The first is Noah in the first reading. Noah had found favor with the Lord. Noah had a connection with God. He was God’s hope. Noah was so connected with God that God could give him very specific instructions about how to build an ark to save himself, his family, and enough animals to start creation over after the waters of the flood had receded. Because Noah was so connected and obedient, God promised to never send another flood to cover the earth. He created the rainbow as a sign of his promise. God used the connection with Noah to renew the earth.
The other connection is the psalm for today. It is a psalm of praise. “Give to the Lord, you sons of God, give to the Lord glory and praise.” When there is a connection with God, praise comes out of our hearts. We see God all around us. As we praise God, we are connected with him and with all the people and events of our lives. We live lives of love from that connection. We say, “The Lord will bless his people with peace” because our connection with him brings a deep quiet to our hearts.
How is your connection with God? Today is a good day to ask that question.
Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday. Lent begins. What plans have you made for Lent? How could you use Lent to have a better connection with God?
You might notice that in both the story of Noah from Genesis and the story of Jesus’ frustration in the Gospel, it is God who takes the lead to change a disconnect to a connection. God notices Noah’s willingness to listen to him. Because Noah was connected enough to listen, his whole family was saved from the flood. God used Noah to replenish the earth because Noah was connected, he listened, and he obeyed. In the Gospel Jesus had tried to get the Pharisees to understand. He then tried to get his disciples to understand. He’s asking them questions to get them to think. He wants connection. He is knocking at the doors of their minds.
God wants a connection with each person he created. He wants a connection with you.
God often makes a connection with us when we read Scripture carefully to make it a prayer. You might want to do one of the prayer activities below from today’s Scripture readings to let let God know you are open to a stronger connection.
Prayer Activities to Deepen Your Reflection
- Read the whole story of Noah and the flood in Genesis Chapters 6 through 9. Imagine you are a member of Noah’s family. Be that person as Noah builds the ark. Get in the boat as it starts to rain. Imagine you are in that boat with all those animals while it rains for 40 days. Be that person while you wait for months for land to appear again. How is that person like you? How are you called to wait for the Lord at this time in your life?
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Read the Gospel again and imagine you are a disciple in the boat. Jesus is asking tough questions and looking straight at you. “Do you not yet understand or comprehend?” he says. What is it that Jesus wants you to understand? What is it you want him to explain more? In your prayer, talk about those questions. How can you use those questions to be more connected to Jesus?
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Read Psalm 29. After each verse, praise God for something he has done in your life. How is the Holy Spirit working in you at this time? How might God be moving you through your connection with him to reach out to others?
Petition prayer: “Lord, I want to be more connected with you. Lead the way. Put in my mind and heart or the circumstances of my life today what you want me to do for Lent, that I might have a deeper connection with you when Easter comes.”
