Reading of May 24, 2026 (extended vigil): Genesis 11:1-9
In this issue:
Children’s story: God confuses the language of the earth’s people
Trivia Question
Bible Accent: In the New Testament, we can read about another group of people who began speaking in different languages.
Spotlight on the Saints: St. Lutgardis
Puzzle: Fill in the blanks
After the flood, Noah’s sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth, had children. Noah’s grandchildren and their descendants branched out and created all the nations of the world.
At that time, everyone on earth spoke the same language and used the same words.
Some of Noah’s descendants migrated in the east. They came to a valley in the land of Shinar, in the land of ancient Babylonia, which is located in present-day Iraq. They decided to settle there.
One day, the people were talking with each other.
“Come,” they said, “let us mold bricks and harden them with fire.”
They used bricks for stone and bitumen for mortar.
Afterward, the people talked some more.
“Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the sky, and so make a name for ourselves; otherwise we shall be scattered all over the earth,” they said.
God noticed what the people were doing. He decided to come down to see the city and the tower that the people had built.
God saw that the people were becoming wicked and prideful, and they thought they didn’t need to rely on God for anything.
“If now, while they are one people, all speaking the same language, they have started to do this, nothing will later stop them from doing whatever they presume to do,” God said. “Let us then go down there and confuse their language, so that one will not understand what another says.”
So, God scattered the people all over the earth, and they stopped building the city.
That is why the city was called Babel, because it was there that God confused the speech of all the world’s people.
READ MORE ABOUT IT:
Genesis 11
Q&A
1. Where did some of Noah’s descendants settle?
2. What did the people build?
Trivia Question
What sign did God use to symbolize his covenant with Noah and his descendants? (Hint: Genesis 9:12-13)
Answer: A bow in the clouds.
Bible Accent
In the New Testament, we can read about another group of people who began speaking in different languages.
In Acts 2, we read that when the time for Pentecost was fulfilled, the apostles were in once place together. They suddenly heard a noise from the sky like a strong, driving wind.
Then they saw tongues of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them.
When the tongues of fire rested upon them, they were filled with the Holy Spirit and began proclaiming God’s word in languages other than their own.
Devout Jews from all over the world had come to Jerusalem for Pentecost. When they heard the noise of the Holy Spirit’s coming, a large crowd of people gathered at the house in which the apostles were staying.
Everyone spoke different languages and were shocked to be able to understand what the apostles were saying.
Peter stood up and gave a speech. He told the people about the coming of the Holy Spirit and about Jesus being the Messiah.
“Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit,” he said.
Spotlight on the Saints: St. Lutgardis
St. Lutgardis was born in Belgium in 1182. At age 12, she went to live with Benedictine nuns after her father lost her dowry.
After Christ appeared to her and showed her his wounds, she renounced the world to become a nun. She later left the Benedictines for a stricter life with Cistercians at Aywieres and lost her eyesight in 1235.
She became known as a great spiritual counselor and healer, and she is now considered among the great medieval women mystics.
Lutgardis died in 1246, and we remember her on June 16.
Puzzle
Using the hints provided, fill in the blanks about Noah and his descendants.
1. God _______ Noah and his sons. (Genesis 9:1)
2. God told Noah and his sons not to eat meat with its _______. (Genesis 9:4)
3. Noah was the first person to plant a _______. (Genesis 9:20)
4. Ham’s descendant _______ established the kingdom of Babylon in Shinar. (Genesis 10:6-10)
Answers: 1. blessed; 2. lifeblood; 3. vineyard; 4. Nimrod
