CCC Cross Reference:
Gen 8:8-12 701; Gen 8:20-9:17 2569
Ps 116:12 224; Ps 116:13 1330
Mk 8:22-25 1151, 1504; Mk 8:23 699
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Reading 1
Gn 8:6-13, 20-22
At the end of forty days Noah opened the hatch he had made in the ark,
and he sent out a raven,
to see if the waters had lessened on the earth.
It flew back and forth until the waters dried off from the earth.
Then he sent out a dove,
to see if the waters had lessened on the earth.
But the dove could find no place to alight and perch,
and it returned to him in the ark,
for there was water all over the earth.
Putting out his hand, he caught the dove
and drew it back to him inside the ark.
He waited seven days more and again sent the dove out from the ark.
In the evening the dove came back to him,
and there in its bill was a plucked-off olive leaf!
So Noah knew that the waters had lessened on the earth.
He waited still another seven days
and then released the dove once more;
and this time it did not come back.
In the six hundred and first year of Noah’s life,
in the first month, on the first day of the month,
the water began to dry up on the earth.
Noah then removed the covering of the ark
and saw that the surface of the ground was drying up.
Noah built an altar to the LORD,
and choosing from every clean animal and every clean bird,
he offered burnt offerings on the altar.
When the LORD smelled the sweet odor, he said to himself:
“Never again will I doom the earth because of man
since the desires of man(s heart are evil from the start;
nor will I ever again strike down all living beings, as I have done.
As long as the earth lasts,
seedtime and harvest,
cold and heat,
Summer and winter,
and day and night
shall not cease.”
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 116:12-13, 14-15, 18-19
R. (17a) To you, Lord, I will offer a sacrifice of praise.
or:
R. Alleluia.
How shall I make a return to the LORD
for all the good he has done for me?
The cup of salvation I will take up,
and I will call upon the name of the LORD.
R. To you, Lord, I will offer a sacrifice of praise.
or:
R. Alleluia.
My vows to the LORD I will pay
in the presence of all his people.
Precious in the eyes of the LORD
is the death of his faithful ones.
R. To you, Lord, I will offer a sacrifice of praise.
or:
R. Alleluia.
My vows to the LORD I will pay
in the presence of all his people,
In the courts of the house of the LORD,
in your midst, O Jerusalem.
R. To you, Lord, I will offer a sacrifice of praise.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Gospel
Mk 8:22-26
When Jesus and his disciples arrived at Bethsaida,
people brought to him a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him.
He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village.
Putting spittle on his eyes he laid his hands on the man and asked,
“Do you see anything?”
Looking up the man replied, “I see people looking like trees and walking.”
Then he laid hands on the man’s eyes a second time and he saw clearly;
his sight was restored and he could see everything distinctly.
Then he sent him home and said, “Do not even go into the village.”
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
First reading Genesis 8:6-13,20-22
At the end of forty days Noah opened the porthole he had made in the ark and he sent out the raven. This went off, and flew back and forth until the waters dried up from the earth. Then he sent out the dove, to see whether the waters were receding from the surface of the earth. The dove, finding nowhere to perch, returned to him in the ark, for there was water over the whole surface of the earth; putting out his hand he took hold of it and brought it back into the ark with him. After waiting seven more days, again he sent out the dove from the ark. In the evening, the dove came back to him and there it was with a new olive-branch in its beak. So Noah realised that the waters were receding from the earth. After waiting seven more days he sent out the dove, and now it returned to him no more.
It was in the six hundred and first year of Noah’s life, in the first month and on the first of the month, that the water dried up from the earth. Noah lifted back the hatch of the ark and looked out. The surface of the ground was dry!
Noah built an altar for the Lord, and choosing from all the clean animals and all the clean birds he offered burnt offerings on the altar. The Lord smelt the appeasing fragrance and said to himself, ‘Never again will I curse the earth because of man, because his heart contrives evil from his infancy. Never again will I strike down every living thing as I have done.
‘As long as earth lasts,
sowing and reaping,
cold and heat,
summer and winter,
day and night
shall cease no more.’
Responsorial Psalm:
Psalm 115(116):12-15,18-19
A thanksgiving sacrifice I make to you, O Lord.
or
Alleluia!
How can I repay the Lord
for his goodness to me?
The cup of salvation I will raise;
I will call on the Lord’s name.
A thanksgiving sacrifice I make to you, O Lord.
or
Alleluia!
My vows to the Lord I will fulfil
before all his people.
O precious in the eyes of the Lord
is the death of his faithful.
A thanksgiving sacrifice I make to you, O Lord.
or
Alleluia!
My vows to the Lord I will fulfil
before all his people,
in the courts of the house of the Lord,
in your midst, O Jerusalem.
A thanksgiving sacrifice I make to you, O Lord.
or
Alleluia!
Gospel Mark 8:22-26
Jesus and his disciples came to Bethsaida, and some people brought to him a blind man whom they begged him to touch. He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. Then putting spittle on his eyes and laying his hands on him, he asked, ‘Can you see anything?’ The man, who was beginning to see, replied, ‘I can see people; they look like trees to me, but they are walking about.’ Then he laid his hands on the man’s eyes again and he saw clearly; he was cured, and he could see everything plainly and distinctly. And Jesus sent him home, saying, ‘Do not even go into the village.’
Readings and Commentary from the Navarre Bible
Wednesday of the 6th Week in Ordinary Time
From: Genesis 8:6-13, 20-22
The flood subsides
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[6] At the end of forty days Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made, [7] and sent forth a raven; and it went to and fro until the waters were dried up from the earth. [8] Then he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters had subsided from the face of the ground; [9] but the dove found no place to set her loot, and she returned to him to the ark, for the waters were still on the face of the whole earth. So he put forth his hand and took her and brought her into the ark with him. [10] He waited another seven days, and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark; [11] and the dove came back to him in the evening, and lo, in her mouth a freshly plucked olive leaf; so Noah knew that the waters had subsided from the earth. [12] Then he waited another seven days, and sent forth the dove; and she did not return to him any more.
[13] In the six hundred and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried from off the earth; and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and behold, the face of the ground was dry.
Leaving the ark
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[20] Then Noah built an altar to the Lord, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. [21] And when the Lord smelled the pleasing odour, the Lord said in his heart, "I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I ever again destroy every living creature as I have done. [22] While the earth remains, seed time and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease."
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Commentary:
8:6-12. The sending of the raven and the dove shows how anxious and how hopeful of salvation those in the Ark are; it also shows Noah's wisdom and, yet again, the harmony there should be between man and the animal world for things to go well. This episode has led to the dove and the olive-branch becoming symbols of peace and co-operation.
In Christian tradition the dove became a symbol of the Holy Spirit. On the basis of this image Rupert of Deutz offers a spiritual application of this entire passage: "The dove that Noah sent out from the ark means the Holy Spirit, and he sent it three times because every faithful soul draws from the sacraments of Christ or of the Church a triple grace of the Holy Spirit. The first grace is remission of sins; the second, distribution of the various gifts; the third, recompense in the resurrec- tion of the dead [. . .]. Therefore, the first sending of the dove means the remission of sins which Christ, the true Noah, sent immediately after his resurrection when he said: 'Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained' (Jn 20:23) [. . .]. After it was sent the second time, the dove came back in the evening hearing in its beak a small olive leaf, because the apostles were given the Holy Spirit a second time on the day of the Pentecost, who at the end of the life of each of them called them to the rest enjoyed by the heavenly Church with the eternal reward of perfect peace. After the dove was sent the third time it did not return, because after the resurrection of the dead (which will be the third outpouring of the Holy Spirit) they will not be sent out to return once more, for they will go out not to work but to reign for ever. So too as regards the elect: this same dove comes to them three times: first when they are baptized, for the remission of sins; second, to receive the imposition of hands from the bishops; third (as I have said) in the resurrection of the dead" ("Commentarium in Genesim", 4:23).
8:13. The year 'six hundred and one" in the life of Noah.
8:20-22. The sacred writer highlights this first sacrifice that mankind offered God after emerging from the flood. Here man is acknowledging God, and God is pleased to accept man's gesture. God's contentment (described in very human terms) is to be seen particularly in his decision not to punish man any further: man's very nature (which he gets from Adam) inclines him towards evil, so in view of his weakness, God undertakes never again to disturb the order of the cosmos. Rendering God due worship (both interiorly and externally) is a duty man has by his very nature. Thus, through religious cult and specifically through some form of sacrifice, man recognizes God as his Creator and Lord, to whom he owes everything that he is and everything he has, even his own life. Acknowledging God in this way is a form of prayer, for, as the Catechism of the Catholic Church says, "prayer is lived in the first place beginning with the realities of creation. The first nine chapters of Genesis describe this relationship with God as an offering of the first-born of Abel's flock, as the invocation of the divine name at the time of Enoch, and as 'walking with God' (cf. Gen 4:4, 26; 5:24). Noah's offering is pleasing to God, who blesses him and through him all creation (cf. Gen 8:20-9:l7), because his heart was upright and undivided; Noah, like Enoch before him, 'walks with God' (cf. Gen 6:9). This kind of prayer is lived by many righteous people in all religions. In his indefectible covenant with every living creature (cf. Gen 9:8-16), God has always called people to prayer. But it is above all beginning with our father Abraham that prayer is revealed in the Old Testament" (no. 2569).
Seen from a Christian perspective, the different kinds of sacrifices mentioned in the course of Old Testament salvation history point to the perfect and enduring sacrifice which Christ offered on the cross and which is perpetuated century after century in the holy sacrifice of the Mass. Commenting on the present passage, St Bede observes: "Just as Abel consecrated the start of the first age of the world by means of a sacrifice to God, so Noah began the second age"; and (after recalling the sacrifices offered by Abraham, Melchizedek, and the patriarchs, kings and priests of the Old Testament) he goes on to say that "All those sacrifices were figures of our supreme King and true priest who on the altar of the holy cross offered God the host of his body and his blood" ("Hexaemeron, 2: in Gen 8:21").
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From: Mark 8:22-26
The Curing of a Blind Man at Bethsaida
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[22] And they came to Bethsaida. And some people brought to Him (Jesus) a blind man, and begged Him to touch him. [23] And He took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the village. And when He had spit on his eyes and laid His hands upon him, He asked, "Do you see anything?" [24] And he looked up and said, "I see men, but they look like trees, walking." [25] Then again He laid His hands upon his eyes; and He looked intently and was restored, and saw everything clearly. [26] And He sent him away to his home, saying, "Do not even enter the village."
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Commentary:
22-25. Normally the cures which Jesus worked were instantaneous; not so in this case. Why? Because the blind man's faith was very weak, it would seem, to begin with. Before curing the eyes of his body, Jesus wanted the man's faith to grow; the more it grew and the more trusting the man became, the more sight Jesus gave him. In this way Jesus acted in keeping with His usual pattern: not working miracles unless there was a right predisposition, yet encouraging a good disposition in the person and giving more grace as he responds to the grace already given.
God's grace is essential even for desiring holy things: "Give us light, Lord. Behold, we need it more than the man who was blind from his birth, for he wished to see the light and could not, whereas nowadays, Lord, no one wishes to see it. Oh, what a hopeless ill is this! Here, my God, must be manifested Thy power and Thy mercy" (St. Teresa, "Exclamations of the Soul to God", 8).
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Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and by Scepter Publishers in the United States. We encourage readers to purchase The Navarre Bible for personal study. See Scepter Publishers for details.
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