The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to assess the impact of self serving action on our invitation to full life as followers of Jesus.
The reading from the Book of Genesis describes The Tower of Babel.
* [11:1–9] This story illustrates increasing human wickedness, shown here in the sinful pride that human beings take in their own achievements apart from God. Secondarily, the story explains the diversity of languages among the peoples of the earth.
* [11:2] Shinar: see note on 10:10.
* [11:4] Tower with its top in the sky: possibly a reference to the chief ziggurat of Babylon, E-sag-ila, lit., “the house that raises high its head.”
* [11:9] Babel: the Hebrew form of the name “Babylon”; the Babylonians interpreted their name for the city, Bab-ili, as “gate of god.” The Hebrew word balal, “he confused,” has a similar sound. (Genesis, CHAPTER 11 | USCCB, n.d.)
Psalm 33 praises the Greatness and Goodness of God.
* [Psalm 33] A hymn in which the just are invited (Ps 33:1–3) to praise God, who by a mere word (Ps 33:4–5) created the three-tiered universe of the heavens, the cosmic waters, and the earth (Ps 33:6–9). Human words, in contrast, effect nothing (Ps 33:10–11). The greatness of human beings consists in God’s choosing them as a special people and their faithful response (Ps 33:12–22). (Psalms, PSALM 33 | USCCB, n.d.)
In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus proclaims that the conditions of discipleship include that we take up the Cross.
* [8:34–35] This utterance of Jesus challenges all believers to authentic discipleship and total commitment to himself through self-renunciation and acceptance of the cross of suffering, even to the sacrifice of life itself. Whoever wishes to save his life will lose it…will save it: an expression of the ambivalence of life and its contrasting destiny. Life seen as mere self-centered earthly existence and lived in denial of Christ ends in destruction, but when lived in loyalty to Christ, despite earthly death, it arrives at fullness of life.
* [8:35] For my sake and that of the gospel: Mark here, as at Mk 10:29 equates Jesus with the gospel. (Mark, CHAPTER 8 | USCCB, n.d.)
* [9:1] There are some standing…come in power: understood by some to refer to the establishment by God’s power of his kingdom on earth in and through the church; more likely, as understood by others, a reference to the imminent parousia. (Mark, CHAPTER 9 | USCCB, n.d.)
Tom Lenz comments about consciously trying to shift the focus away to capture the larger reality of life where he is not the center of everything.
Maybe if I can resist the temptation to put myself at the center of everything and to not take myself quite so seriously and at the same time use my gifts and talents to be the person that I’m meant to be, I can then move closer to “The Kingdom of God” as Jesus says. For me, in 2025, this likely means that I don’t take the outcome of the Super Bowl quite so seriously (because it is not a reflection about me personally), do not get so upset about the latest political headline (because it is not purposely apposing my personal values), and not get so upset when I do not know all the information about a question at work (because it is not a reflection of who I am as a whole). If I can start to let go (i.e., lose) of these things that seem to be of great value in my life, then I can start to actually live life the way Jesus describes it – in the Kingdom of God. (And as a bonus, I can probably still enjoy my nightly bowl of ice cream.) (Lenz, 2025)
Don Schwager quotes “Would you follow Christ?”, by Caesarius of Arles, 470-542 A.D.
"When the Lord tells us in the Gospel that anyone who wants to be his follower must renounce himself, the injunction seems harsh; we think he is imposing a burden on us (Matthew 16:24; Mark 8:34; Luke 9:23). But an order is no burden when it is given by one who helps in carrying it out. To what place are we to follow Christ if not where he has already gone? We know that he has risen and ascended into heaven; there, then, we must follow him. There is no cause for despair - by ourselves we can do nothing, but we have Christ's promise...
"One who claims to abide in Christ ought to walk as he walked. Would you follow Christ? Then be humble as he was humble. Do not scorn his lowliness if you want to reach his exaltation. Human sin made the road rough. Christ's resurrection leveled it. By passing over it himself, he transformed the narrowest of tracks into a royal highway. Two feet are needed to run along this highway; they are humility and charity. Everyone wants to get to the top - well, the first step to take is humility. Why take strides that are too big for you - do you want to fall instead of going up? Begin with the first step, humility, and you will already be climbing." (excerpt from SERMONS 159, 1.4-6) (Schwager, n.d.)
The Word Among Us Meditation on Genesis: 11:1-9 comments that it is tempting to get caught up in building our own personal “cities” and “towers,” too: a successful career, the best clothes, a new car, and so on. But all this is fleeting. Our true home is in heaven, and that’s where our primary focus needs to be. That’s how we please the Lord and build a life that has lasting meaning and purpose.
Today’s Gospel presents another kind of city: “the Kingdom of God” (Mark 9:1). That kingdom was inaugurated by Jesus as he hung, helpless, on a cross. It is founded on the witness of lowly tradesmen-turned-apostles. Even to this day, it is built through humility and self-giving love, not by constructing towers of pride and self-preservation. It grows stronger as we deny ourselves and take up the cross, not as we build ourselves up at the expense of the lost and the needy. That’s because only love and mercy, not power and domination, will last.
“Jesus, help me to work with you in building the kingdom of heaven.” (Meditation on Genesis: 11:1-9, 2025)
Friar Jude Winkler comments on the motivation to be like God in the people of Babel who built a tower like a Bablonian ziggurat so high as to reach the heavens. The cure of language that was used to divide us occurs on Pentecost. Friar Jude reflects on Jesus' comment on His Resurrection or on the end time.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, considers the transformative impact of people who live within the cosmic egg. The person who lives within the total cosmic egg is the mystic, the prophet, the universal human, the saint, the whole one. These are people like Mahatma Gandhi, St. Bonaventure, Martin Luther King Jr., St. Teresa of Calcutta, St. John Henry Newman, Dag Hammarskjöld, and Julian of Norwich (my favorite mystic). These are the people who look out—with eyes wide as saucers—at the smaller pictures because they observe from the utterly big picture.
Great “seers” operate beyond mere group loyalties; beyond any simple, dualistic thinking that always puts them on the “right” side; beyond winners and losers, good and bad. They are somehow able to live by universal principles while still caring for the specific; honoring cultural norms, yet making room for the exceptions. They have seen in a contemplative way, beyond the shadow and the disguise, beyond the suffocating skin of the private self and the self-serving egotisms of group. The contemplative mind integrates and gives focus to all our calculating and controlling. Without it, there is only civil and self-serving religion. (Rohr, n.d.)
We seek the help of the Spirit to resolve the tension between the self-serving aspects of our actions and our Baptismal anointing as priest, prophet, and leader.
References
Genesis, CHAPTER 11 | USCCB. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved February 21, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/genesis/11?1
Lenz, T. (2025, February 21). Creighton U. Daily Reflection. Creighton U. Daily Reflection. Retrieved February 21, 2025, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/022125.html
Mark, CHAPTER 8 | USCCB. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved February 21, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/mark/8
Mark, CHAPTER 9 | USCCB. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved February 21, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/mark/9
Meditation on Genesis: 11:1-9. (2025, February 21). The Word Among Us. Retrieved February 21, 2025, from https://wau.org/meditations/2025/02/21/1207604/
Psalms, PSALM 33 | USCCB. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved February 21, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/33?10
Rohr, R. (n.d.). Transcending a Single Story. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved February 21, 2025, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/transcending-a-single-story/
Schwager, D. (n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved February 21, 2025, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2025&date=feb21
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