Father Koch: Water stands as both a sign of death and life
February 16, 2024 at 9:00 a.m.
Gospel reflection for Feb. 18, 2024, First Sunday of Lent
Here in the Northeast of the U.S., we seldom concern ourselves with water. We have very predictable and steady precipitation, we border the ocean and there are many streams, rivers, ponds and lakes around us. While we have the occasional summer drought, it never becomes problematic. If anything, especially when we experience a Nor'easter, we can have too much water, so as to cause some street flooding and, occasionally, destroy property and disrupt business.
This bounty of water is, sadly, not common in many parts of the world, including the west coast of the US.
According to the Genesis tradition and confirmed by many other ancient accounts and the archaeological record, at some point in the distant past a great flood overcame the earth, which caused unspeakable destruction to the planet and life itself.
The biblical account of this deluge is a brief story of Noah and his family. God called to Noah to build an ark to save his family and the animal life in order to preserve a microcosm of God’s creation in order that it be preserved and sustained. This flood destroyed all life outside of the ark, and all began anew.
As Noah emerges from the ark God promises that he will never again destroy the earth with the waters of a flood. God then makes an everlasting covenant with all of creation. This covenant is strengthened with Abraham, expanded through Moses, and brought to fruition with David. It is, however, the Son of David, who will bring about the fullness of the Covenant through his own self-sacrifice.
This Son of David appears on the scene as a mature adult and presents himself for a baptism at the hands of John the Baptizer. As he emerges from the waters he feels compelled to enter the wilderness, just as Adam and Eve were when expelled from the Garden of Eden. Eden was a lush land, sitting at the confluence of four great rivers. The wilderness was harsh, and a stark reminder of the sin brought an end to their time in the Garden. They lived out their lives struggling to survive in the harshness of the land they occupied.
That sin of Adam and Eve left the rest of humanity in the wilderness. By entering this wilderness Jesus symbolically takes on the isolation and emptiness of all of humanity as he prefigures his taking on the sin of humanity in his crucifixion. Though tempted by Satan, Jesus, unlike Adam and Eve, overcomes concupiscence and does not fall prey to the wiles of Satan. Deprived of basic sustenance in the desert -- a privation of food and water -- Jesus himself becomes bread (Eucharist) and water (Baptism).
Jesus emerges from the desert proclaiming that the Kingdom of God is at hand.
Jesus restores the original covenant that God planned and intended. It is through water – the very waters of baptism which are prefigured in the Great Deluge – that we are all brought to share in this covenant.
Father Garry Koch is pastor of St. Benedict Parish, Holmdel.
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Gospel reflection for Feb. 18, 2024, First Sunday of Lent
Here in the Northeast of the U.S., we seldom concern ourselves with water. We have very predictable and steady precipitation, we border the ocean and there are many streams, rivers, ponds and lakes around us. While we have the occasional summer drought, it never becomes problematic. If anything, especially when we experience a Nor'easter, we can have too much water, so as to cause some street flooding and, occasionally, destroy property and disrupt business.
This bounty of water is, sadly, not common in many parts of the world, including the west coast of the US.
According to the Genesis tradition and confirmed by many other ancient accounts and the archaeological record, at some point in the distant past a great flood overcame the earth, which caused unspeakable destruction to the planet and life itself.
The biblical account of this deluge is a brief story of Noah and his family. God called to Noah to build an ark to save his family and the animal life in order to preserve a microcosm of God’s creation in order that it be preserved and sustained. This flood destroyed all life outside of the ark, and all began anew.
As Noah emerges from the ark God promises that he will never again destroy the earth with the waters of a flood. God then makes an everlasting covenant with all of creation. This covenant is strengthened with Abraham, expanded through Moses, and brought to fruition with David. It is, however, the Son of David, who will bring about the fullness of the Covenant through his own self-sacrifice.
This Son of David appears on the scene as a mature adult and presents himself for a baptism at the hands of John the Baptizer. As he emerges from the waters he feels compelled to enter the wilderness, just as Adam and Eve were when expelled from the Garden of Eden. Eden was a lush land, sitting at the confluence of four great rivers. The wilderness was harsh, and a stark reminder of the sin brought an end to their time in the Garden. They lived out their lives struggling to survive in the harshness of the land they occupied.
That sin of Adam and Eve left the rest of humanity in the wilderness. By entering this wilderness Jesus symbolically takes on the isolation and emptiness of all of humanity as he prefigures his taking on the sin of humanity in his crucifixion. Though tempted by Satan, Jesus, unlike Adam and Eve, overcomes concupiscence and does not fall prey to the wiles of Satan. Deprived of basic sustenance in the desert -- a privation of food and water -- Jesus himself becomes bread (Eucharist) and water (Baptism).
Jesus emerges from the desert proclaiming that the Kingdom of God is at hand.
Jesus restores the original covenant that God planned and intended. It is through water – the very waters of baptism which are prefigured in the Great Deluge – that we are all brought to share in this covenant.
Father Garry Koch is pastor of St. Benedict Parish, Holmdel.