{"id":5996,"date":"2011-05-23T14:27:48","date_gmt":"2011-05-23T20:27:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/2011\/05\/the-ark-for-all-nations\/"},"modified":"2023-02-13T13:00:07","modified_gmt":"2023-02-13T19:00:07","slug":"the-ark-for-all-nations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/the-ark-for-all-nations\/","title":{"rendered":"The Ark for All Nations","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"

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THE <\/strong>Ark God has provided to ride out\u00a0not only the storms of past centuries, but most especially the Storm at the end of this age, is not a barque of self-preservation, but a ship of salvation intended for\u00a0the world. That is, our mentality must not be “saving our own behinds” while the rest of the world drifts away into a sea of destruction.<\/p>\n

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We cannot calmly accept the rest of humanity falling back again into paganism. <\/strong>\u2014Cardinal Ratzinger (POPE BENEDICT XVI), The New Evangelization, Building the Civilization of Love<\/em>; Address to Catechists and Religion Teachers, December 12, 2000<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

It’s not about “me an’ Jesus,” but Jesus, me, and<\/em> my neighbour.<\/p>\n

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How could the idea have developed that Jesus\u2019 message is narrowly individualistic and aimed only at each person singly? How did we arrive at this interpretation of the \u201csalvation of the soul\u201d as a flight from responsibility for the whole, and how did we come to conceive the Christian project as a selfish search for salvation which rejects the idea of serving others?<\/span> \u2014POPE BENEDICT XVI, Spe Salvi (Saved In Hope)<\/em>, n. 16<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

So too, we have to avoid\u00a0the temptation to run and hide somewhere in the wilderness until the Storm passes\u00a0(unless the Lord is saying one should do so).\u00a0This is “the time of mercy<\/em>,” and more than ever, souls need to “taste and see” in us<\/a> the life and presence of Jesus. We need to become signs of hope<\/em> to others. In a word, each of our hearts needs to become an “ark” for our neighbour.<\/p>\n

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IT’S NOT “US” AND “THEM”<\/p>\n

Whether it’s out of\u00a0fear or our own insecurity, we often cling to others who think the same way\u00a0and turn our backs on others who differ. But love is blind. It overlooks faults and differences and sees the other the way that God created them: “in the divine image…”<\/em> [1]<\/sup><\/a>Gen 1:127<\/span><\/span>