Sunday of the Flood (Ps) September 15th

Psalm 104:16-35

¹⁶ The trees of the Lord are watered abundantly,

the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.

¹⁷ In them the birds build their nests;

the stork has her home in the fir trees.

¹⁸ The high mountains are for the wild goats;

the rocks are a refuge for the rock badgers.

¹⁹ He made the moon to mark the seasons;

the sun knows its time for setting.

²⁰ You make darkness, and it is night,

when all the beasts of the forest creep about.

²¹ The young lions roar for their prey,

seeking their food from God.

²² When the sun rises, they steal away

and lie down in their dens.

²³ Man goes out to his work

and to his labor until the evening.

²⁴ O Lord, how manifold are your works!

In wisdom have you made them all;

the earth is full of your creatures.

²⁵ Here is the sea, great and wide,

which teems with creatures innumerable,

living things both small and great.

²⁶ There go the ships,

and Leviathan, which you formed to play in it.

²⁷ These all look to you,

to give them their food in due season.

²⁸ When you give it to them, they gather it up;

when you open your hand, they are filled with good things.

²⁹ When you hide your face, they are dismayed;

when you take away their breath, they die

and return to their dust.

³⁰ When you send forth your Spirit, they are created,

and you renew the face of the ground.

³¹ May the glory of the Lord endure forever;

may the Lord rejoice in his works,

³² who looks on the earth and it trembles,

who touches the mountains and they smoke!

³³ I will sing to the Lord as long as I live;

I will sing praise to my God while I have being.

³⁴ May my meditation be pleasing to him,

for I rejoice in the Lord.

³⁵ Let sinners be consumed from the earth,

and let the wicked be no more!

Bless the Lord, O my soul!

Praise the Lord!

What then is the significance of such a baptism with water? Answer:

It signifies that the old creature in us with all sins and evil desires is to be drowned and die through daily contrition and repentance,⁸² and on the other hand that daily a new person is to come forth and rise up to live before God in righteousness and purity forever.

Where is this written? Answer:

St. Paul says in Romans 6[:4*], “We were buried with Christ through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we, too, are to walk in a new life.”

Let Us Pray

O God, the one who mercifully saved Noah and his family, as He judged the rest of the World through Water, bless Your children by bringing us through Water into Life; through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.