Word to the Wise
Friday, February 14, 2025 - Friday in the 5th Week in Ordinary Time
[Gen 3:1-8 and Mark 7:31-37]Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the animals that the Lord God had made. The serpent asked the woman, "Did God really tell you not to eat from any of the trees in the garden?" The woman answered the serpent: "We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; it is only about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden that God said, 'You shall not eat of it or even touch it, lest you die.'" But the serpent said to the woman: "You certainly will not die! No, God knows well that the moment you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods who know what is good and what is evil." [Genesis]
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2025 STS. CYRIL AND METHODIUS
Parents know that one of the surest ways to get a child to do something is to tell them they can't do it because "It's for grown-ups only!" The story of the "Fall" is not a quaint ancient fable like Aesop's. It is our story as well. It is not Adam and Eve's fault. It is the fault of the whole human race. We cannot blame the first humans for our failings by speaking of some mysterious force like "original sin," and give a version of the line, "If only ....." Yes, the story is designed to account for much evil in the world like war, illness and sinfulness, etc.. But it should also be acknowledged that the "tree of the knowledge of good and evil" presumes the existence of such a thing as "evil!" "Original sin" is the result of a bad choice using the gift of free will. The bad choice was about "power." The desire to "play God" can lurk in the heart. Adam and Eve forgot that they did not design the garden they lived in. How dare God deprive them of ANY fruit, especially something that would make them "be like Gods!"
We are confronted individually and collectively every day with a garden we did not design. We attempt to control that garden in all kinds of ways. It is not just the "environment" but other people as well. When the eyes of Adam and Eve were "opened" they realized just how "puny" and powerless they were, and tried to hide in a garden they did not design. The designer would have no problem finding them! They could not escape their mistake. Neither can we. Baptism just gives us a fresh start! AMEN