Is it possible a lot of symbolic stuff is going to say a real cleansing needs to be made?

By Father Perry D. Leiker, pastor

A reflection on the daily readings, for the Memorial of Sts. Cyril, monk; and Methodius, bishop, by Father Perry.

+ Well, the story just keeps getting better and worse all of the time!

Doesn’t it?

Well, let’s see: “God [we ask], have you ever had any regrets?”

And, God answers: “Well, yeah. I have one big regret. I regret that I ever made man. He has let me down on every count. One of them even killed his own brother.”

And so, God decides to wipe them out. All of them. Destroy, destroy, destroy, even all of the animals.

But save a remnant, we would not want to break the mold because, well: “I rather like my creation. I surely made some pretty amazing and beautiful creatures,” said our God.

And, he did find one good guy — Noah.

So now the story goes wild.

God plots and plans to destroy everything and everyone except a few of each creation, and one good man.

Let us just start with this basic plot, and the fantastical just has to fill this story.

Notice the number seven popping up in several places now, but most startlingly in the seven-day building of a boat (ark) big enough to hold two of every creature and seven of some.

Animals that eat each other all on the same boat; how much food would have to be gathered, and what about the pee-pee and poo-poo necessities (and resultant diseases), and all of this in just seven days?

Is it just possible that a lot of symbolic stuff is going on here to say that a real cleansing of all needed to be made?

A seven prep for a 40-day and night cleansing?

Now 40 ain’t no tiny number; 40 is talking big time.

I am pretty sure that 40 means some bigtime healing and change will have taken place.

Surely, every creature will come to understand that you don’t tick off the man, or rather, the God of all.

And surely, this cleansing would be forever, right?

What a story! What a hope! What folly!

The story accounts for everything — except for that little itty bitty problem called “sin.”

That, too, seemed to stick around, until now.

But anyway, this story and this drama is highly visual and memorable and meaningful, and hopefully strikes a chord that will redirect some of our brokenness. It might even give us some hope that this cleansing, in some ways, is enough.

At least, maybe, it would “get the stains out.”

And this story, combined with our Gospel, asks the question of the day — and it is asked in several different ways: “Do you not yet understand or comprehend? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes and not see, ears and not hear? Do you not remember? Do you still not understand?”

We simply have to “get it.” We simply have “to see and to hear” and to discover a change of heart.

These foundational stories are our ark and our salvation, and our hope and our joy!

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Father Perry D. Leiker is the 13th pastor of St. Bernard Catholic Church. Reach him at (323) 255-6142. Email Father Perry at pleiker@stbernard-church.com. Follow Father Perry on Twitter: @MrDeano76.