Word to the Wise
Saturday, February 15, 2025 - Saturday in the 5th Week in Ordinary Time
[Gen 3:9-24 and Mark 8:1-10]"Who told you that you were naked? You have eaten, then, from the tree of which I had forbidden you to eat!" The man replied, "The woman whom you put here with me - she gave me the fruit from the tree, and so I ate it." The Lord God then asked the woman, "Why did you do such a thing?" The woman answered, "The serpent tricked me into it, so I ate it." [Genesis]
There is a long-running cartoon in the Sunday funnies called FAMILY CIRCLE. Every once in a while, there is a scene when the mom confronts the four children about something that has been broken. The chorus from them all is: "NOT ME!" A little balloon shows an impish little spook called, "Not me!" The story in Genesis of God's confrontation with Adam and Eve has been badly interpreted over the centuries to make woman responsible for all the evils in the world. But the real problem is "buck passing." The man passes the buck to the woman who passes the buck to the serpent. I am always reminded of a routine by the comedian, Flip Wilson, in which a woman named Geraldine acts as if there is a good angel on one shoulder and a bad one on the other. The refrain is always, "The devil made me....."
Moral evil in this world is the result of human decision-making. Guilt comes from a healthy conscience. When someone does not feel guilt for an evil deed, that person is dangerous. Adam, Eve, the serpent, and all of us bear responsibility for what we do. Ultimately, it doesn't matter whether the offense is the "original" one or not. The lesson from the Garden of Eden is still a tough one to learn. AMEN