Reading and meditation on the Word of God on Wednesday of the 6th week in Ordinary Time, February 19, 2025

Delivered by Father Peter Tukan, SDB from Salesian Don Bosco Gerak in the Diocese of Labuan Bajo, Indonesia. Genesis 8: 6-13.20-22; Rs psalm 116: 12-13.14-15.18-19; Mark 8: 22-26SEEING THE NEW WORLD The theme for our meditation today is: Seeing the NewWorld. God's cleansing of the earth from sin and evil gives an immediate resultof seeing a new world. Cleaning a dirty yard or house, will show you what looksnew, which is clean and beautiful. A person who has just finished receiving thesacrament of penance, has been made new, his life renewed, his heart cleansed,and his mind refreshed. After two siblings quarreling and not speaking to eachother for three years, they agreed to end the war and start a new life. Thefirst time they met, one looked at the other with a new look. Each consideredhis brother to have been reborn. Each of them didn't want to be stuck goingback to their past problems. Each wanted to see and treat his brother likethere had never been a problem between them. A new life had begun between them. Our need to see and enjoy the new world is the mandateof God's word for His beloved mankind. The main reason for this need is thatthe old world is time to pass. The old world is in principle marked by sinwhich is the real fruit of man's fall into sin. Whether through a radicalprocess such as revolution and physical struggle, or through a process ofspiritual and mental renewal, the new world is truly desired by God and mankindas well. A life is saved. The story in the book of Genesis about Noah and hisrelatives experiencing a new world after the flood passed, is a form of thatsalvation. Along with the passing of the flood, so did all forms of evil andsin that had already filled the earth. In the context of living faith and lifeof the Church today, the flood reminds us of all forms of the renewal processthat we undergo in principle and regularly as followers of Christ. In otherwords, the old world, which is marked by evil and sin, must be abandoned througha process of struggle and determination. In the new world, our baptism is a time of theprinciple of renewal. We also undergo regular renewal such as spiritualpractice, examination of conscience, the sacrament of penance and mortification.Our Church uses these ways to make us new. For when we are in an atmosphere ofsin, we are the same as a blind or semi-blind person. We cannot see withcertainty the goodness and the truth. But once the obstacles are removed, wewill see everything very clearly.Let us pray. In the name of the Father... O Jesus, make ourlives new again, so that we are also renewed in Your joy and become theFather's beloved people in heaven. Hail Mary full of grace... In the nameof the Father...