Pride and the Tower of Babel

Homily for Friday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time

We have just finished the story of Noah and the ark, a story that was brought about by God’s desire to exterminate all the life that had been created but had become evil. Noah and his family alone were saved because they were the only people who lived a right relationship with God.

Now we read a story that seems to indicate that the people have once again turned to evil through the sin of pride. Like so many of us, they seem to view life as a competition, a competition that will indicate that they are better than and have more than others. They intend to build a tower that stands as tall as they can make it. It is called the Tower of Babel, “babel” being the form of the Hebrew word for Babylon.

Then we hear the Gospel story in which Jesus continues to reveal to his disciples that they are looking at a future life that will include suffering. He tells them that they must pick up their cross and follow him. Just by mentioning the word cross, Jesus strikes a fearful reaction in his disciples. The cross is the instrument of the most cruel form of execution known at that time.

What does it mean to lose one’s life in order to save it? When we were all younger, we probably thought that Jesus was asking us to give up something that we really loved like a bowl of ice cream. However, paired as it is with the story from the Book of Genesis, another way to give up our lives would be to stop thinking of them as a competition. Giving up one’s life could be simply a matter of putting aside human pride and the idea of striving to be better than and have more than everyone else. Instead of focusing on gaining a superior situation in life, Jesus is asking that we set aside ambitions that are self-referential. Our lives are not about us. Like Noah and his family, life is about seeking to live in a right relationship with God. This means making God first in our lives. We must cease looking at ourselves as the center of everything and come to the realization that we were created by a God who desires us to love, serve, and live as if God is the center of our lives. Blessed are we if God chooses us to be his own.