Daily Readings - Wed Feb 20 2019

⁶After forty days Noah opened the window he had made in the ark⁷and sent out a raven, and it kept flying back and forth until the water had dried up from the earth.⁸Then he sent out a dove to see if the water had receded from the surface of the ground.⁹But the dove could find no place to set its feet because there was water over all the surface of the earth; so it returned to Noah in the ark. He reached out his hand and took the dove and brought it back to himself in the ark.¹⁰He waited seven more days and again sent out the dove from the ark.¹¹When the dove returned to him in the evening, there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf! Then Noah knew that the water had receded from the earth.¹²He waited seven more days and sent the dove out again, but this time it did not return to him.¹³By the first day of the first month of Noah's six hundred and first year, the water had dried up from the earth. Noah then removed the covering from the ark and saw that the surface of the ground was dry.²⁰Then Noah built an altar to the LORD and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it.²¹The LORD smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: "Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.²²"As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease."

Mark

Chapter 8

²²They came to Bethsaida, and some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him.²³He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he had spit on the man's eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, "Do you see anything?"²⁴He looked up and said, "I see people; they look like trees walking around."²⁵Once more Jesus put his hands on the man's eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly.²⁶Jesus sent him home, saying, "Don't go into the village. "

Sermon

The readings today invite us to reflect on the themes of trust, patience, and the transformative power of God’s grace. In the first reading from Genesis, Noah’s story unfolds as he waits for the floodwaters to recede. Sending out the raven and then the dove, Noah demonstrates his trust in God’s promise of renewal. The dove’s return with an olive branch signals hope and new life, while Noah’s act of building an altar expresses gratitude and a desire to reconnect with God. This passage reminds us that even in uncertain times, God’s plan unfolds in His own time, and our response should be one of faith and thanksgiving. In the Gospel, Mark presents a unique healing story where Jesus restores a blind man’s sight in stages. The blind man first sees people as walking trees, and only after a second touch does he see clearly. This narrative suggests that spiritual sight, like physical sight, may come gradually. The man’s journey from darkness to light mirrors our own journey of faith, where God reveals truth step by step. Jesus’ instruction to the man to tell no one about the healing adds another layer, reminding us that true faith often begins in quiet, personal encounters with God before it is shared with others. These readings call us to embrace patience and trust in God’s timing. Like Noah, we may face periods of waiting, unsure of what lies ahead, but we can trust that God is working to bring new life. Like the blind man, we may experience moments of partial understanding, but with persistence and openness, God will deepen our vision. Let us allow these stories to inspire us to trust in God’s plan, to wait with hope, and to seek His transformative grace in our lives.