Category: Uncategorized

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Genesis: 3: 1-8

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 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.”
The woman saw that the tree was good for food,
pleasing to the eyes, and desirable for gaining wisdom.
So she took some of its fruit and ate it;
and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her,
and he ate it.
Then the eyes of both of them were opened,
and they realized that they were naked;
so they sewed fig leaves together
and made loincloths for themselves.

When they heard the sound of the LORD God moving about in the garden
at the breezy time of the day,
the man and his wife hid themselves from the LORD God
among the trees of the garden.

The Word of the Lord.

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In our first reading from the Book of Genesis, evil is introduced into the world.

Satan appears in the form of a snake and convinces Eve to disobey a command given directly by God. “It is only about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden that God said, ‘You shall not eat it or even touch it, lest you die,” Eve confesses to the serpent. 

Mysteriously, Satan convinces Eve to eat it anyway. Then she shares it with Adam. This act of disobedience ruptures humanity’s communion with God. 

Ashamed, Adam and Eve run off and hide.

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This simple story does not explain why evil exists, or how the serpent entered the garden. But it does tell us something:

That good and evil exist. 

And both sides believe we’re worth fighting for.

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In the Gospel, a man is brought before Jesus who is deaf and mute. Seeing the depths of his suffering causes Jesus to “groan.” Jesus then takes the man away by himself and heals him.

In doing so, Jesus fulfills the great prophecy of Isaiah, who proclaimed that the Lord would make the “deaf hear” and the “mute speak,” which has not only a physical but also a spiritual significance.

Jesus’ ministry stands in direct contrast to the evil caused by Satan in the Garden of Eden. Whereas Satan ruptured humanity’s ability to “see” and “hear” the Lord, Jesus has come to restore it.

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Image credits: (1) Ary Sheffer, The Temptation of Christ, Wikipedia (2) Expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise, National Gallery of Art (3) Slideshare, Mystery of Good and Evil

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Genesis: 2:4 – 17

At the time when the LORD God made the earth and the heavens —
while as yet there was no field shrub on earth
and no grass of the field had sprouted,
for the LORD God had sent no rain upon the earth
and there was no man to till the soil, 
but a stream was welling up out of the earth
and was watering all the surface of the ground —
the LORD God formed man out of the clay of the ground
and blew into his nostrils the breath of life,
and so man became a living being.

Then the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east,
and he placed there the man whom he had formed.
Out of the ground the LORD God made various trees grow
that were delightful to look at and good for food,
with the tree of life in the middle of the garden
and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

The LORD God then took the man
and settled him in the garden of Eden,
to cultivate and care for it.
The LORD God gave man this order:
“You are free to eat from any of the trees of the garden
except the tree of knowledge of good and evil. 
From that tree you shall not eat;
the moment you eat from it you are surely doomed to die.”

The Word of the Lord.

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Whenever God speaks … something happens.

The Book of Genesis, the very first book of the bible, is centered around this idea. We’ve been reading through it for the last three days. 

God says, “Let there be light,” and there is light.

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Later in Genesis, God speaks to Abraham, saying, “Walk in my presence, and your descendants will be as numberless as the stars.”

Today half of the world – some 3 billion people – call Abraham their father in faith.

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In the Gospels, Jesus speaks, and demons are cast out; stormy waters are stilled; sins are forgiven.

Then, during his final night on earth, he takes a piece of bread and a cup of wine and says, “This is my Body…this is my Blood.”

Jesus speaks…and feeds the world with his very Self.

The same is true in confession. Through a priest, Jesus says, “Ego te absolvo.” … “I absolve you. Your sins are forgiven.”

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Whenever God speaks, something happens. This was true from the foundation of the world. The same Lord who said, “Let there be light,” can speak to your heart today.

I wonder, what is God saying?

Open your heart. 

Be still and listen.

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Image credits: (1) Wisdom Hunters (2) Garden of Eden, World History Encyclopedia (3) TrueHeartSpeaks, Pinterest

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Genesis: 1.20 – 2:4.

God said,
“Let the water teem with an abundance of living creatures,
and on the earth let birds fly beneath the dome of the sky.”
and so it happened:
God created the great sea monsters
and all kinds of swimming creatures with which the water teems,
and all kinds of winged birds.
God saw how good it was, and God blessed them, saying,
“Be fertile, multiply, and fill the water of the seas;
and let the birds multiply on the earth.”
Evening came, and morning followed–the fifth day.

Then God said,
“Let the earth bring forth all kinds of living creatures:
cattle, creeping things, and wild animals of all kinds.”
and so it happened:
God made all kinds of wild animals, all kinds of cattle,
and all kinds of creeping things of the earth.
God saw how good it was.
Then God said:
“Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.
Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea,
the birds of the air, and the cattle,
and over all the wild animals
and all the creatures that crawl on the ground.”

God created man in his image;
in the divine image he created him;
male and female he created them.

God blessed them, saying:
“Be fertile and multiply;
fill the earth and subdue it.
Have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air,
and all the living things that move on the earth.”
God also said:
“See, I give you every seed-bearing plant all over the earth
and every tree that has seed-bearing fruit on it to be your food;
and to all the animals of the land, all the birds of the air,
and all the living creatures that crawl on the ground,
I give all the green plants for food.”
And so it happened.
God looked at everything he had made, and he found it very good.
Evening came, and morning followed–the sixth day.

Thus the heavens and the earth and all their array were completed.
Since on the seventh day God was finished with the work he had been doing,
he rested on the seventh day from all the work he had undertaken.
So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy,
because on it he rested from all the work he had done in creation.

Such is the story of the heavens and the earth at their creation.

The Word of the Lord.

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When starting a puzzle, the first thing I do is spread all of the pieces across a large table.

One piece turns into a cluster – and then several clusters – and finally a picture starts to emerge. 

When the puzzle is finally completed, it’s amazing to look back and consider the chaos that once was spread across my table.

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Over the last two days, our first reading from the Book of Genesis has described the creation of the world. It was a place of darkness – a formless waste, with mighty winds sweeping across the waters.

Then God ordered the chaos. Day by day, piece by piece, the LORD assembled the world into an orderly, habitable home.

That’s something only God can do: turn the darkness into light; chaos into order; a formless waste into a home; death into life.

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It’s what we often need God to do to in our own lives.

To make a crooked path, straight.

To turn grief into gratitude.

Doubt into faith.

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May the same God who created the cosmos bring peaceful order and inner stillness to the puzzle of our own hearts today.

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Image credits: (1) Jigsaw Puzzle, Wikipedia, Scouten (2) Earth Shaped Puzzle, Montessori Services (3) Serious Puzzles