Dove

“As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him.” (Matthew 3:16).

Noah and the Dove (Olga Bakhtina)

I have been reflecting on the story of Noah in Genesis…

“After forty days Noah opened a window he had made in the ark and sent out a raven, and it kept flying back and forth until the water had dried up from the earth.  Then he sent out a dove to see if the water had receded from the surface of the ground.  But the dove could find nowhere to perch because there was water over all the surface of the earth; so it returned to Noah in the ark. He reached out his hand and took the dove and brought it back to himself in the ark.  He waited seven more days and again sent out the dove from the ark.  When the dove returned to him in the evening, there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf! Then Noah knew that the water had receded from the earth.  He waited seven more days and sent the dove out again, but this time it did not return to him.” (Genesis 8:6–12).

I have been focusing on the two birds that noah sent out – one black and scavenging – the raven – and the other white and gentle – the dove…  When I first encountered this story I considered the black bird the “bad” one and the white bird the “good” one.  I considered that Noah first risked the black bird because it was less important to him and then – only later – sent out his favoured bird.  But now, I am not so sure.

You see, as a scavenging bird, the raven was most likely to be able to survive in a world that was still in turmoil.  It was capable of “flying back and forth” even if the world was not restored.  If judgement had happened and God was present in the world, the raven would be able to survive eating carrion and making its way. 

In contrast, doves require dry places to rest.  They require trees for shelter and dry land.  The dove would not be able to survive in a world of chaos.  The dove required restoration to survive.  The raven did not…

When the dove returned the first time without anything it was a sign that restoration was incomplete.  The second time, the olive leaf indicated that restoration had commenced, and the final time when the dove did not return, it showed Noah that the world was restored and the dove could shelter on the earth.

This is not the only time we see a dove in the Bible…  When Christ was Baptised, which is a mystery that we commemorate in the First Luminous Mystery of the Most Holy Rosary, we are told that the Holy Spirit descended like a dove…

“As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him.” (Matthew 3:16).

The dove – both in the Old and New Testaments appears – not at a time of chaos – but on the cusp of something new, on the cusp of the restoration…  Just as Noah’s Dove did not return because restoration had begun, Christ’s dove indicates the beginning of the restoration of God’s Holy Will, which will be completed at the Second Coming of Christ…

And I have been thinking today about those doves, as I have been thinking about God’s Holy Will.

For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.