answer the fall
"The woman answered the serpent." —Genesis 3:2
We read today's first reading and we want to shout: "Oh, Eve! Flee from the serpent! Don't give him the time of day. Oh, Adam! Don't eat it! Throw the fruit away!"
Through the disobedience of Adam and Eve, we have inherited a world polluted with sin and death (Rm 5:12). It's so tempting to want to put all the blame on Adam and Eve: "Now look what you've done. You messed up the whole world and now we have to live in your mess. It's all your fault." But that is exactly what Adam did: he shifted the blame from himself to Eve (Gn 3:12). Eve took her cue from Adam and shifted the blame to the serpent (Gn 3:13).
We have inherited a fallen nature from our first human parents, Adam and Eve. It's in our genes, and we can't help it. We are programmed to sin, and then to blame others for the consequences. But God is rich in mercy: He sent His only Son, Jesus, into the world to conquer sin and death. Jesus came to redeem us from our sins. Through his obedience, all of us can become just (Rm 5:19). We rejoice with the words of the Easter Vigil liturgy: "O happy fault! O necessary sin of Adam that gained for us so great a Redeemer!"
Adam and Eve shifted the blame onto others. We have done the same. But God has shifted the weight of our sins onto Jesus. Give your fallen nature to Jesus, and receive His risen life.
Prayer: "I confess my faults to the Lord" (Ps 32:5). "O God, be merciful to me, a sinner" (Lk 18:13).
Promise: "Their amazement went beyond all bounds: 'He has done everything well! He makes the deaf hear and the mute speak!' " —Mk 7:37
Praise: Joan quietly asked the Lord to give her rose petals as a sign that she should marry Bill. The next day, her sister gave her a bag full of them.
Reference: (This teaching was submitted by one of our editors.)
Nihil Obstat: Reverend Robert L. Hagedorn, July 23, 1998
Imprimatur: †Most Reverend Carl K. Moeddel, Vicar General and Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, July 27, 1998