C
cheeto1
Guest
usccb.org/nab/readings/022009.shtml
“Let us…confuse their language, so that one will not understand
what another says”
If I woke up tomorrow, and I couldn’t understand the language
of other people, that wouldn’t make me leave my home and go
live in the wilderness somewhere. And does God really dislike
cities that much? Is He mad that we have tall buildings today?
Does He prefer shorter buildings? What did they mean when
they said, “let us make a name for ourselves?” And if they didn’t
want to be scattered, why didn’t they just stay? I don’t believe in
the idea of stories in the bible being made up, but this one doesn’t make any sense to me. God has always been in the
business of helping people understand each other more, not
less.
“Whoever wishes to come after Me must deny himself, take up
his cross, and follow Me.”
These are some of the most mysterious words in the whole
bible. Just as much as Jesus’ words about the Eucharist,
which when spoken caused many to leave His company.
Let’s see… deny myself: O.K., I don’t exist. Now, where’s
my cross? Oops, wait. I’m still here. Or does it mean to deny myself “something”, like we do in lent. Or does it mean to deny
yourself any pleasures of sin? How do I take up my cross?
Is there a special way to follow Jesus that I never thought of
before?
So what struck you about today’s readings?:bible1:
“Let us…confuse their language, so that one will not understand
what another says”
If I woke up tomorrow, and I couldn’t understand the language
of other people, that wouldn’t make me leave my home and go
live in the wilderness somewhere. And does God really dislike
cities that much? Is He mad that we have tall buildings today?
Does He prefer shorter buildings? What did they mean when
they said, “let us make a name for ourselves?” And if they didn’t
want to be scattered, why didn’t they just stay? I don’t believe in
the idea of stories in the bible being made up, but this one doesn’t make any sense to me. God has always been in the
business of helping people understand each other more, not
less.
“Whoever wishes to come after Me must deny himself, take up
his cross, and follow Me.”
These are some of the most mysterious words in the whole
bible. Just as much as Jesus’ words about the Eucharist,
which when spoken caused many to leave His company.
Let’s see… deny myself: O.K., I don’t exist. Now, where’s
my cross? Oops, wait. I’m still here. Or does it mean to deny myself “something”, like we do in lent. Or does it mean to deny
yourself any pleasures of sin? How do I take up my cross?
Is there a special way to follow Jesus that I never thought of
before?
So what struck you about today’s readings?:bible1: