Study and Meditations on this Sunday's Scripture Readings: March 13, 2011

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To help us prepare for this coming Sunday, here are the readings, studies and reflections for this coming Sunday’s Scripture readings. This Sunday is the 1st Sunday of Lent, Cycle A, and in this Sundays Gospel Reading we will hear how Jesus did battle with Satan in the wilderness.

Here are the Scripture readings from the U.S. Catholic bishops website.

My own weekly study can be found here under “Current Study.”

Here are three audio reflections on the readings by Sister Ann Shields, Dr. Scott Hahn and Fr. Robert Barron.

Here are a trio of Catholic Bible study podcasts on the Gospel Reading, each about an hour long:

–Sunday Gospel Scripture Study
–Sisters of the Sorrowful Mother
–St. Martha’s Adult Faith Formation
*
The Navarre Bible Commentary* for each reading can be viewed here.

Further study resources for the Readings: St. Charles Borromeo Bible Study can be found here, and Catholic Matters can be found here.

Please consider supporting those who provide these free resources.

Discussion, questions and charitable comments are always welcome. Have a blessed week!

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1st Sunday in Lent - A

1st Reading - Genesis 2:7-9, 3:1-7

Today, as we begin the liturgical season of Lent, a period of preparation for the sufferings and death of Christ for us, our first and second readings give us the reason why that suffering and death were necessary. God created man. “male and female he created them” (Gen. 1 :27). He gave man powers superior to all the other earthly creatures, and expected of him in return obedience and reverence. Man. because of his pride in the gift given him, refused that obedience–with disastrous results that would have everlasting effects on himself and his descendants, had not the mercy of God intervened.

The Book of Genesis (Greek for “origin”) records the creation of the world and our first parents, and the origin of sin; the history of mankind from the time of Noah; the Flood; the tower of Babel; the confusion of languages, and the division of the human race. The author then turns to the descendants of Shem, the eldest (firstborn) son of Noah, and deals with the greatest of these descendants, Abraham, the father of the chosen people. Then follows the history of Abraham’s son Isaac, of Esau’s forfeiture of his birthright blessing, and the succession of Jacob. Jacob’s fortunes are next related in detail. Lastly, the personal history of Joseph is told, and the migration of his father Jacob (Israel) and his brethren into the land of Egypt.

In our 1st reading for this Sunday, the essential goodness of creation stands in stark contrast to human disobedience.

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 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.

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.

http://thechristianwebsite.com/images/AdamEveExpelled_80.jpg

 

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From the Navarre Bible commentary with RSV-CE texts:

The Creation of Adam (Continuation)
-----------------------------------
[7] Then the Lord God formed man of dust from, the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.

**2:7. **As far as his body is concerned, man belongs to the earth. To affirm this, the sacred writer must have been always conscious of the fact that when a person dies, his/her body will turn into dust, as Genesis 3:19 will in due course tell us. Or it may be that this sort of account (a special one like the literary genre of all these chapters) is based on the similarity between the word “adam”, which means man in general, and “adamah”, which means “reddish soil”; and given that the words look alike, the sacred writer may have drawn the conclusion that there is in fact a connection between the two very things (unsophisticated etymology goes in for this sort of thing). But the fact that man belongs to the earth is not his most characteristic feature: as the author sees it, animals too are made up of the stuff of the earth. What makes man different is the fact that he receives his life from God. Life is depicted here in terms of breathing, because only living animals: breathe. The fact that God infuses life into man in this way means that although man on account of his corporeal nature is material, his existence as a living being comes directly from God, that is, it is animated by a vital principle–the soul or the spirit–which does not derive from the earth. This principle of life received from God also endows man’s body with its own dignity and puts it on a higher level than that of animals.

God is portrayed as a potter who models man’s body in clay; this means that man is supposed to live in accordance with a source of life that is higher than that deriving from matter The image of God as a potter shows that man (all of him) is in God’s hands just like clay in a potter’s hands; he should not resist or oppose God’s will (cf Is 29:16; Jer 18:6; Rom 9:20-21).

**
Man in Paradise
---------------**
*[8] And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east; and there he put the man whom he had formed. [9] And out of the ground the Lord God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. *
**
2:8-15. **Here we have a scenario in which God and man are friends; there is no such thing as evil or death. The garden is described as being a leafy oasis, with the special feature of having two trees in the center, the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil–symbolizing the power to give life, and the ultimate reference-point for man’s moral behavior. Out of the garden flow the four rivers the author is most familiar with; these water the entire earth and make it fertile. What the Bible is teaching here is that man was created to be happy, to enjoy the life and goodness which flow from God. “The Church interpreting the symbolism of biblical language in an authentic way, in the light of the New Testament and Tradition teaches that our first parents, Adam Eve, were constituted in an original ‘state of holiness and justice’ (Council of Trent, “De Peccato Originali”). This grace of original holiness was ‘to share in…divine life’ (“Lumen Gentium”, 2)” (“Catechism the Catholic Church”, 375).

From the outset, man is charged with cultivating the garden–working it, protecting it and making it bear fruit. Here again we can see that work is a commission that God gives man from the start. “From the beginning of creation man has had to work,” St. J. Escriva said. 'This not something that I have invented. It is enough to turn to the opening pages the Bible. There you can read that, before sin entered the world, and in its wake death, punishment and misery (cf. Rom 5:12). God made Adam from the clay the earth, and created for him and descendants this beautiful world we live in, “ut operaretur et custodiret illum” (Gen 2:15), so that we might cultivate it and look after it" (“Friends of God”, 57). But man needs to recognize God’s mastery over creation and over himself by obeying the commandment God gives him as a kind of covenant, telling him not to eat the forbidden fruit. If man lost the original happiness he was created to enjoy (the writer will later explain), it was because he broke that covenant.

Continued on the next post…

 

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**3:1-24. **“The account of the fall in Genesis 3 uses figurative language, but affirms a primeval event, a deed that took place “at the beginning of the history of man”. Revelation gives us the certainty of faith that the whole of human history is marked by the original fault freely committed by our first parents” (“Catechism of the Catholic Church”, 390). The Bible is teaching us here about the origin of evil–of all the evils mankind experiences, and particularly the evil of death. Evil does not come from God (he created man to live a happy life and to be his friend); it comes from sin, that is, from the fact that man broke the divine commandment, thereby destroying the happiness he was created for, and his harmony with God, with himself, and with creation in general. “Man, tempted by the devil, let his trust in his Creator die in his heart and, abusing his freedom, disobeyed God’s command. This is what man’s first sin consisted of. All subsequent sin would be disobedience toward God and lack of trust in his goodness” (“Catechism of the Catholic Church”, 397).

In his description of that original sin and its consequences, the sacred writer uses symbolic language (garden, tree, serpent) in order to convey an important historical and religious truth–that no sooner did he walk the earth than man disobeyed God, and therein lies the cause of evil. We can also see here how every sin happens and what results from it: “The eyes of our soul grow dull. Reason proclaims itself sufficient to understand everything, without the aid of God. This is a subtle temptation, which hides behind the power of our intellect, given by our Father God to man so that he might know and love him freely. Seduced by this temptation, the human mind appoints itself the center of the universe, being thrilled with the prospect that ‘you shall be like gods’ (Gen 3:15). So filled with love for itself, it turns its back on the love of God” ([St] J. Escriva, “Christ Is Passing By”, 6).

Temptation and the First Sins
-----------------------------
[1] The serpent was more subtle than any other wild creature that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree of the garden’?”

**3:1. **The serpent symbolizes the devil, a personal being who tries to frustrate God’s plans and draw man to perdition. “Behind the disobedient choice of our first parents lurks a seductive voice, opposed to God, which makes them fall into death out of envy (Wis 2:24). Scripture and the Church’s Tradition see in this being a fallen angel, called ‘Satan’ or the ‘devil’. The Church teaches what Satan was at first a good angel, made by God: ‘The devil and the other demons were indeed created naturally good by God, but they became evil by their own doing’ (Fourth Vatican Council)” (“Catechism of the Catholic Church”, 391.).

*[2] And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden; [3] but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” [4] But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not die. [5] For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” *

**3:2-5. **The devil’s temptation strategy is very realistically described here: he falsifies what God has said, raises suspicions about God’s plans and intentions, and, finally, portrays God as man’s enemy. “The analysis of sin in its original dimension indicates that, through the influence of the ‘father of lies’, “throughout the history of humanity there will be a constant pressure on man to reject God”, even to the point of hating him: ‘Love of self to the point of contempt for God,’ as St Augustine puts it (cf. “De Civitate Dei”, 14, 28). Man will be inclined to see in God primarily a limitation of himself, and not the source of his own freedom and the fullness of good. We see this confirmed in the modern age, when the atheistic ideologies seek “to root out religion” on the grounds that religion causes the radical “‘alienation’ of man”, as if man were dispossessed of his own humanity when, accepting the idea of God, he attributes to God what belongs to man, and exclusively to man! Hence a process of thought and historico-sociological practice in which the rejection of God has reached the point of declaring his ‘death’. An absurdity, both in concept and expression!” (John Paul II, “Dominum Et Vivificantem”, 38).

Concluded on the next post…

 

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*[6] So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, and he ate. *

3:6 And so both of them, the man and the woman, disobeyed God’s commandment. Genesis refers not to an apple but to a mysterious fruit: eating it symbolizes Adam and Eve’s sin–one of disobedience.

The sacred writer leads us to the denouement by giving a masterly psychological description of temptation, dialogue with the tempter, doubt about God’s truthfulness, and then yielding to one’s sensual appetites. This sin, Pope John Paul II also commented, “constitutes “the principle and root of all the others”. We find ourselves faced with the original reality of sin in human history and at the same time in the whole of the economy of salvation. …] This original disobedience presupposes “a rejection”, or at least “a turning away from the truth contained in the Word of God”, who creates the world. …] ‘Disobedience’ means precisely going beyond that limit, which remains impassable to the will and the freedom of man as a created being. For God the Creator is the one definitive source of the moral order in the world created by him. Man cannot decide by himself what is good and what is evil–cannot ‘know good and evil, like God’. In the created world “God” indeed remains the first and sovereign source “for deciding about good and evil”, through the intimate truth of being, which is the reflection “of the Word”, the eternal son, consubstantial with the Father. To man, created to the image of God, the Holy Spirit gives the gift of “conscience”, so that in this conscience the image may faithfully reflect its model, which is both Wisdom and eternal Law, the source of the moral order in man and in the world. ‘Disobedience’, as the original dimension of sin, means the “rejection of this source”, through man’s claim to become an independent and exclusive source for deciding about good and evil” (“Dominum Et Vivificantem”, 33-36).

[7] Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons.

**3:7-13. **This passage begins the description of the effects of the original sin. Man and woman have come to know evil, and it shows, initially, in a most direct way–in their own bodies. The inner harmony described in Genesis 2:25 is broken, and concupiscence rears its head. Their friendship with God is also broken, and they flee from his presence, to avoid their nakedness being seen. As if his Creator could not see them! The harmony between man and woman is also fractured: he puts the blame on her, and she puts it on the serpent. But all three share in the responsibility, and therefore all three are going to pay the penalty.

“The harmony in which they found themselves, thanks to original justice, is now destroyed: the control of the soul’s spiritual faculties over the body is shattered; the union of man and woman becomes subject to tensions (cf. Gen 3:7-16), their relations henceforth marked by lust and domination. Harmony with creation is broken: visible creation has become alien and hostile to man (cf. Gen 3:17, 19). Because of man, creation is now subject ‘to its bondage to decay’ (Rom 8:21). Finally, the consequence explicitly foretold for this disobedience will come true: man will ‘return to the ground’ (Gen 3:19), for out of it he was taken. “Death makes its entrance into human history” (cf. Rom 5:12)” (“Catechism of the Catholic Church”, 400).

 

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From the 1859 Haydock commentary with DRV text:

The earthly paradise, in which God placeth man. He commandeth him not to eat of the tree of knowledge.

7 And the Lord God formed man of the slime of the earth: and breathed into his face the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

**Ver. 7. ***Breath of life *or a soul, created out of nothing, and infused into the body to give it life. (Haydock)

8 And the Lord God had planted a paradise of pleasure from the beginning: wherein he placed man whom he had formed.
*
Ver. 8. Of pleasure, Hebrew Eden, which may be either the name of a country, as chap. iv. 16, or it may signify pleasure, in which sense Symmachus and St. Jerome have taken it. — From the beginning, or on the 3d day, when all plants were created, Hebrew mikedem, may also mean towards the east,* as the Septuagint have understood it, though the other ancient interpreters agree with St. Jerome. Paradise lay probably to the east of Palestine, or of that country where Moses wrote. The precise situation cannot be ascertained. Calmet places it in Armenia, others near Babylon, &c. Some assert that this beautiful garden is still in being, the residence of Henoch and Elias. But God will not permit the curiosity of man to be gratified by the discovery of it, chap. iii. 24. How great might be its extent we do not know. If the sources of the Ganges, Nile, Tigris, and Euphrates, be not now changed, and if these be the rivers which sprung from the fountains of Paradise, (both which are points undecided) the garden must have comprised a great part of the world, (Haydock), as the Ganges rises in Judea [India?], and the Nile about the middle of Africa. (Tirinus)

9 And the Lord God brought forth of the ground all manner of trees, fair to behold, and pleasant to eat of: the tree of life also in the midst of paradise: and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
**
Ver. 9. **The tree of life. So called, because it had that quality, that by eating of the fruit of it, man would have been preserved in a constant state of health, vigour, and strength, and would not have died at all. The tree of knowledge. To which the deceitful serpent falsely attributed the power of imparting a superior kind of knowledge beyond that which God was pleased to give. (Challoner) — Of what species these two wonderful trees were, the learned are not agreed. The tree of knowledge, could not communicate any wisdom to man; but, by eating of its forbidden fruit, Adam dearly purchased the knowledge of evil, to which he was before a stranger. Some say it was the fig-tree, others an apple-tree, Canticle of Canticles viii. 5. But it probably agreed with no species of trees with which we are acquainted, nor was there perhaps any of the same kind in paradise. (Tirinus)

**The serpent’s craft. The fall of our first parents. **

3:1 Now the serpent was more subtle than any of the beasts of the earth which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman: Why hath God commanded you, that you should not eat of every tree of paradise?

**Ver. 1. **Why hath God? Hebrew, “Indeed hath God, &c.” as if the serpent had overheard Eve arguing with herself, about God’s prohibition, with a sort of displeasure and presumption. St. Augustine thinks, she had given some entrance to these passions, and the love of her own power, and hence gave credit to the words of the serpent, de Gen. ad lit. xi. 30. She might not know or reflect that the serpent could not reason thus, naturally; and she had as yet, no idea or dread of the devil. (Lombard, 2 Dist. 21.) This old serpent entered into the most subtle of creatures, and either by very expressive signs, or by the motion of the serpent’s tongue, held this delusive dialogue with Eve. Moses relates what happened exteriorily; but from many expressions, and from the curse, ver. 15, he sufficiently indicates, that an evil spirit was the latent actor. (Haydock) — Of every tree. Satan perverts the word of God, giving it an ambiguous turn: in doing which, he has set heretics a pattern, which they follow. (Menochius)

Continued on the next post…

 

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*2 And the woman answered him, saying: Of the fruit of the trees that are in paradise we do eat:

3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of paradise, God hath commanded us that we should not eat: and that we should not touch it, lest perhaps we die.*

**Ver. 3. **Not touch it. She exaggerates, through dislike of restraint, St. Ambrose. Or through reverence, she thought it unlawful to touch what she must not eat, lest perhaps, as if there could be any doubt. “God asserts, the woman doubts, Satan denies.” (St. Bernard) Thus placed, like Eve, between God and the devil, to whom shall we yield our assent? (Haydock) — Perhaps we die, Hebrew, “lest ye die.”
*
4 And the serpent said to the woman: *No, you shall not die the death.

5 For God doth know that in what day soever you shall eat thereof, your eyes shall be opened: and you shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.*

Ver. 5. *God. *The old serpent’s aim is, to make us think God envies our happiness. (Haydock) — Or he would have Eve to suppose, she had not rightly understood her maker, who would surely never deprive her of a fruit which would give her such an increase of knowledge, as to make her conclude she was before comparatively blind. (Menochius) — As gods, Hebrew Elohim, which means also princes, angels, or judges. It appears, that our first parents had flattered themselves with the hopes of attaining a divine knowledge of all things. (Calmet)

*6 And the woman saw that the tree was good to eat, and fair to the eyes, and delightful to behold: and she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave to her husband, who did eat.

**Ver. 6. *Woman saw, or gazed on with desire and fond dalliance. (Menochius) — Consulting only her senses, which represented the fruit to her as very desirable, and caused her to give credit to the devil’s insinuations, rather than to the express word of God. Do not unbelievers the like, when they refuse to admit the real presence and transubstantiation, though they cannot be ignorant, that this way of proceeding always leads to ruin. — Her husband, who, instead of reproving her for her rashness, did eat, through excessive fondness, not being able to plead ignorance, or that he was deceived. “Earth trembled from her entrails, sky loured, and muttering thunder, some sad drops wept at completing of the mortal sin.” — (Original [Origen?], &c.; [Milton,] Paradise Lost, ix. 1000.) (Haydock) — (Genesis ii. 14.) In what light soever we consider the fault of this unhappy pair, it is truly enormous: the precept was so easy and just, the attempt to be like God in knowledge so extravagant, that nothing but pride could have suggested such woeful disobedience. By the disobedience of one man, many were made sinners, Romans v. 19. This ruin of himself, and of all his posterity, Adam could not hide from his own eyes, chap. ii. 17. (Calmet)
*
7 And the eyes of them both were opened: and when they perceived themselves to be naked, they sewed together fig-leaves, and made themselves aprons.

Ver. 7. And the eyes, &c. Not that they were blind before, (for the woman saw that the tree was fair to the eyes, ver. 6.) nor yet that *their eyes were opened *to any more perfect knowledge of good; but only to the unhappy experience of having lost the good of original grace and innocence, and incurred the dreadful evil of sin. From whence followed a shame of their being naked; which they minded not before; because being now stript of original grace, they quickly began to be subject to the shameful rebellions of the flesh. (Challoner) — Behold the noble acquisition of experimental knowledge! This is supposed to have taken place about a week after they had enjoyed the sweets of innocence and of Paradise, that they might afterwards be moved to repentance, when they contrasted their subsequent misery with those few golden days. They saw that they had received a dreadful wound, even in their natural perfections, and that their soul was despoiled of grace, which, of themselves, they could never regain. O! what confusion must now have seized upon them! “Confounded long they say, as stricken mute.” (Milton) — (Haydock)

Aprons, or they interwove tender branches covered with leaves round their middle; a practice, which even the wild Indians and Americans observed, when they were discovered by Columbus. They will rise up in condemnation of those pretended civilized nations, who, like the Greeks, could wrestle or bathe quite naked, without any sense of shame. (Haydock) — Adam’s fig-tree, in Egypt, has leaves above a yard long, and two feet broad. (Calmet)

 

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Other thoughts and commentary on the 1st Reading:

**7 the LORD God formed man out of the clay of the ground: **The Hebrew word for “man” is *adam *and the Hebrew word for “clay of the ground” is adama.

**and blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and so man became a living being: **The Hebrew word *ruah *means “spirit” or “wind” or “breath”. Man has a special kind of life which distinguishes him from all other animals; a life that comes from God.

**8 Then the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and he placed there the man whom he had formed.

9 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 bad: **The tree of the knowledge of good and bad is the only tree in the garden from which Adam cannot eat as we are told in verse 17. Woman is then made in verse 22.

**
1 Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the animals that the LORD God had made: **Some commentators hold that the word “subtle” in Hebrew shares the same root as “naked.” The play on words alluded to is erumin (naked) and arum (subtle). This play on words, if intended, is secondary to the story itself. The serpent is a creature made by God. Tradition has it that Satan was a fallen angel, probably a seraph (seraphim), the highest choir of angels. Seraphs are described in Isaiah 6:2 as winged. They are described as fiery serpents in Numbers 21:6. Satan is described in Revelation 12 as a dragon, a serpent with wings. One who has his wings folded, or has lost them, looks like a snake.
**
The serpent asked the woman, “Did God really tell you not to eat from any of the trees in the garden?”: **The serpent’s question is a distortion of the divine command—it makes it sound like an unwarranted restriction that deserves a reply if conversation is to be maintained.

**2 The woman answered the serpent: "We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden;

3 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.’": **The woman corrects the serpent’s distortion, but adds a distortion of her own. The command given the man by God was simply “not to eat of the tree” (Genesis 2:17). Hebrew legend has it that the man had forbidden the woman to touch the tree because of his zeal to guard her against the transgressing of the Divine command. This original sin begins with some distortion of the truth on the part of both Satan and mankind.

**4 But the serpent said to the woman: “You certainly will not die!: **Satan refers to a physical death rather than a spiritual one.
**
5 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 bad.”: **You will have a knowledge of both good and evil. Up until this point only good has been experienced. This was the bait offered: “You need not be subject to God, you need not obey or reverence him, you shall be his equals.” Independence, equality, freedom to do as they wished, in other words, the sin of pride.

**6 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: **She didn’t have to hunt him down, he was right alongside her. Genesis 2:15 tells us that God commanded the man to “till and keep” the garden. The Hebrew word shammar translated as “keep” can also be translated as “guard” (keep safe). If the man is to guard, there must be something to guard against. The man is standing alongside the woman and fails to keep her safe. It was not the woman who committed the first sin, but the man who failed in his duty to guard her. What should the man have done? He should have taken the serpent to task, done battle with it to defend his family; a battle which may well have cost the man his physical life. How do we know this? Because this is exactly what Jesus, the second Adam, did. “Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13).

7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened: No sooner had they given their consent their eyes were opened to this act of pride and they realized their terrible mistake. The loss of their state of grace, of friendship with God, brought with it numerous disorders of body and mind which resulted in the sins of the world, which are still with us.

**and they realized that they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves: **Their nakedness becomes an occasion for shame; something which was impossible before the sin. Since they were at the tree of knowledge of good and evil, this tree must have been a fig—a tree which is used later in the Old and New Testaments as a symbol of Israel and Jerusalem. Hebrew legend also tells us that the fig was the forbidden fruit itself.

 

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Catechism of the Catholic Church paragraphs referencing Genesis 2:7-9, 3:1-7

314 We firmly believe that God is master of the world and of its history. But the ways of his providence are often unknown to us. Only at the end, when our partial knowledge ceases, when we see God “face to face”,184 will we fully know the ways by which - even through the dramas of evil and sin - God has guided his creation to that definitive sabbath rest185 for which he created heaven and earth.

184. 1 Cor 13:12.

185. Cf. Gen 2:2.

**THE VISIBLE WORLD

337** God himself created the visible world in all its richness, diversity and order. Scripture presents the work of the Creator symbolically as a succession of six days of divine “work”, concluded by the “rest” of the seventh day.204 On the subject of creation, the sacred text teaches the truths revealed by God for our salvation,205 permitting us to "recognize the inner nature, the value and the ordering of the whole of creation to the praise of God."206

204. Gen 1:1-2:4.

205. Cf. DV 11.

206. LG 36 § 2.

**345 **The sabbath - the end of the work of the six days. The sacred text says that “on the seventh day God finished his work which he had done”, that the “heavens and the earth were finished”, and that God “rested” on this day and sanctified and blessed it.213 These inspired words are rich in profitable instruction:

213. Gen 2:1-3.

**“BODY AND SOUL BUT TRULY ONE”

362** The human person, created in the image of God, is a being at once corporeal and spiritual. The biblical account expresses this reality in symbolic language when it affirms that "then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being."229 Man, whole and entire, is therefore willed by God.

229. Gen 2:7.

**“MALE AND FEMALE HE CREATED THEM”

Equality and difference willed by God

369** Man and woman have been created, which is to say, willed by God: on the one hand, in perfect equality as human persons; on the other, in their respective beings as man and woman. “Being man” or “being woman” is a reality which is good and willed by God: man and woman possess an inalienable dignity which comes to them immediately from God their Creator.240 Man and woman are both with one and the same dignity “in the image of God”. In their “being-man” and “being-woman”, they reflect the Creator’s wisdom and goodness.

240. Cf. Gen 2:7,22.

378 The sign of man’s familiarity with God is that God places him in the garden.255 There he lives “to till it and keep it”. Work is not yet a burden,256 but rather the collaboration of man and woman with God in perfecting the visible creation.

255. Cf. Gen 2:8.

256. Gen 2:15; cf. 3:17-19

**In creation

703** The Word of God and his Breath are at the origin of the being and life of every creature:63

    *It belongs to the Holy Spirit to rule, sanctify, and animate creation, for he is God, consubstantial with the Father and the Son. . . . Power over life pertains to the Spirit, for being God he preserves creation in the Father through the Son.*64

63. Cf. Pss 33:6; 104:30; Gen 1:2; 2:7; Eccl 3:20-21; Ezek 37:10.

64. Byzantine liturgy, Sundays of the second mode, Troparion of Morning Prayer.

**A day of grace and rest from work

2184 **Just as God "rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done,"121 human life has a rhythm of work and rest. The institution of the Lord’s Day helps everyone enjoy adequate rest and leisure to cultivate their familial, cultural, social, and religious lives.122

121. Gen 2:2.

122. Cf. GS 67 § 3.

 

[Fidelis]

A meditation on the 1st Reading from Catholic Matters:

**APPLICATION: **In recent years theologians have been discussing and arguing about the nature of what is called “Original sin,” and how it is transmitted from generation to generation. The patent fact is that sin abounds, and has abounded in our world from the earliest days of man on earth. The reason why the Church recalls to our minds today the basic facts that God, out of sheer goodness, created man and gave him marvelous gifts, and man in his meanness and foolish pride refused obedience and loyalty to his divine benefactor, is simply to remind us that we are all sinners and descendants of sinners.

While theologians may, and should, try to discover the real nature of original sin and its mode of transmission, the fact that we men of to day, centuries and millennia later, are still sinners, still proud, still so often disloyal and ungrateful to the good God, who made us what we are, is and should be our chief preoccupation during this season of Lent.

While we have every reason to regret that our first parents acted so foolishly and so ungratefully, the fact that we ourselves, with far more knowledge of God’s goodness to mankind can and do act even more foolishly and more ungratefully every time we disobey God, should be a greater cause for shame and regret to each one of us.

We know that God, sent his Son on earth in human nature, in order to earn for us a share in God’s own divine happiness. And God did this, even though the human race had proved itself so unworthy of this divine favor. His divine Son had to suffer, not only the humiliation of taking on himself the nature of a mere creature–our human nature but he had to suffer insults and injuries in that human nature, which reached their climax in his crucifixion on Calvary.

That God would deign to share his heaven with the saintly and the good who had never offended him, even though they were mere creatures would be an act of divine love indeed, but that he should want to grant eternal happiness to sinners, at the cost of the torments and sufferings of his beloved Son, is surely a mystery of love beyond our human comprehension. Yet, this is one of the basic truths of our Christian faith. What sinner–and we are all sinners could dare to hope that God would forgive his sins, what right could he have, after his own mean behavior toward the God who gave him everything he has, to expect any pardon? But one sincere look at a crucifix should be enough to dispel any thought of despair or despondency.

Christ took on himself the sins of the world. He nailed them to the cross, in order to open the door to heaven for all men. Through his Incarnation he raised us up to the status of adopted sons of God; through his sufferings and crucifixion he made atonement to his Father for the sins of all men, thus removing the impediment that could prevent us from reaching the reward of sonship, membership in the eternal kingdom of God.

But even God cannot remove our sins unless we do our part; Christ’s sufferings and death for us will be in vain, unless we cooperate. This is just what Lent means for us. It is a period of penance and repentance. We regret the many disobediences and disloyalties we have shown to God up to now, and we try to make some personal atonement for them, by some special acts of mortification and devotion during this holy season.

We want to go to heaven when our life here ends. God wants us in heaven and has proved this beyond a shadow of doubt. Satan–the serpent mentioned in today’s reading–does not want us to go there. He deceived our first parents; could we possibly be so foolish as to let him deceive us too?

 

[Fidelis]

2nd Reading - Romans 5:12-19

Written by Paul from Corinth around the year 58, this is the most morally instructive of all his letters and also the most doctrinally profound. It is also very beautifully written, from a stylistic point of view. It contains a summary (naturally, an incomplete one) of Christian teaching, starting with the Old Covenant and an outline of God’s plans for man’s salvation after the fall of our first parents.

The letter is explicitly addressed to the Christians at Rome, whom Paul plans to visit on his way to Spain (a trip he never completed as once he got to Rome, he never left). He writes to preach the Gospel of God, for that is the mission to which God has called him; in particular he writes to the Christians at Rome “whose faith is proclaimed in all the world”; most of whom are Gentile converts. They are being told by Jews resident in Rome that salvation comes through the Law of Moses; whereas they had been taught that it was based on faith in Jesus the Christ, and that it was not necessary to keep the Mosaic Law. Paul feels that they need a more theological induction into that Christian teaching which they have already accepted and this is what he now gives them, at the same time announcing his forthcoming visit.

In our reading today, Saint Paul explains how the new Christian life brings about freedom from sin and death. Paul does this by comparing Adam, the first parent, with Christ, the head of the new humanity (the new Adam). He reflects on the sin of Adam (our 1st reading) in the light of the redemptive mystery of Christ. Sin, as addressed here by Saint Paul, refers to the dreadful power which has gripped humanity and is even now in revolt against the Creator and engaged in the exaltation of its own desires and interests.

Here is the 2nd Reading as we will hear it this Sunday:

Brothers and sisters:
Through one man sin entered the world,
and through sin, death,
and thus death came to all men, inasmuch as all sinned—
for up to the time of the law, sin was in the world,
though sin is not accounted when there is no law.
But death reigned from Adam to Moses,
even over those who did not sin
after the pattern of the trespass of Adam,
who is the type of the one who was to come.
But the gift is not like the transgression.
For if by the transgression of the one, the many died,
how much more did the grace of God
and the gracious gift of the one man Jesus Christ
overflow for the many.
And the gift is not like the result of the one who sinned.
For after one sin there was the judgment that brought condemnation;
but the gift, after many transgressions, brought acquittal.
For if, by the transgression of the one,
death came to reign through that one,
how much more will those who receive the abundance of grace
and of the gift of justification
come to reign in life through the one Jesus Christ.
In conclusion, just as through one transgression
condemnation came upon all,
so, through one righteous act,
acquittal and life came to all.
For just as through the disobedience of the one man
the many were made sinners,
so, through the obedience of the one,
the many will be made righteous.

 

[Fidelis]

From the Navarre Bible commentary with RSV-CE text:

12-21. Four important teachings are discernible in this passage: 1) Adam’s sin and its consequences, which include, particular death (verses 12-14); 2) the contrast between the effects of Original Sin and those of the Redemption wrought by Christ (verses 15-19); 3) the role of the Law of Moses in relation to sin (especially verses 13, 20), anticipating what is explained more elaborately in Chapter 7; 4) the final victory of the reign of grace (verses 20-21). These teachings are closely connected by one single idea: only Jesus Christ can justify us and bring us to salvation. The Apostle refers to Adam as a “type of the One who was to come”, that is, Jesus, the Messiah, who is the true head of the human race; and he also stresses that Christ, by His obedience and submission to the Father’s will, counters the disobedience and rebellion of Adam, restoring to us-- superabundantly-- the happiness and eternal life which we lost through the sin of our First Parents.

Here we can see the clash of the two kingdoms–the kingdom of sin and death and the kingdom of righteousness and grace. These two kingdoms were established, the first by Adam and the second by Christ, and spread to all mankind.

Because the superabundance of Christ’s grace is the more important factor, Adam’s sin is referred to in no great detail. St. Paul takes it as something everyone is familiar with. All Christians have read about or been told about the account of the Fall in Genesis (Genesis 3) and they are familiar with many passages in Sacred Scripture which confirm and explain something which is self-evident–that all men are mortal and that the human race is subject to a whole series of afflictions (cf. Sirach 25:33; Wisdom 2:23-24; Psalm 51:7; Job 14:4; Genesis 8:21; etc.)

Adam’s Original Sin
-------------------
*[12] Therefore as sin came into the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all men sinned-- *

12-14. This passage can be elaborated on as follows: just as sin entered the world through the action of a single individual man, so righteousness is attained for us by one man–Jesus Christ. Adam, the first man, is a type of the “new Adam”: Adam contained within himself all mankind, his offspring; the “new Adam” is “the first-born of all creation” and “the head of the body, the Church” (Colossians 1:15, 18) because He is the redeeming Word Incarnate. To Adam we are linked by flesh and blood, to Christ by faith and the Sacraments.

When, in His infinite goodness, He raised Adam to share in the divine life, God also decreed that our First Parent would pass on to us his human nature and with it all the various gifts that perfected it and the grace that sanctified it. But Adam committed a sin by breaking God’s commandment and as a result he immediately lost the holiness and righteousness in which he had been installed, and because of this disloyalty he incurred God’s wrath and indignation and, as consequence, death–as God had warned him. By becoming mortal and falling under the power of the devil, Adam “was changed for the worse”, in both body and soul (cf. Council of Trent, “De Peccato Originali”, Canon 1). From then on Adam and his descendants pass on a human nature deprived of supernatural gifts, and men are in a state of enmity with God, which means that they cannot attain eternal beatitude.

The fact of Original Sin is a truth of faith. This has been stated once again solemnly by [Pope] Paul VI: “We believe that in Adam all have sinned. From this it follows that, on account of the original offense committed by him, human nature, which is common to all men, is reduced to that condition in which it must suffer the consequences of that Fall …]. Consequently, fallen human nature is deprived of the economy of grace which it formerly enjoyed. It is wounded in its natural powers and subjected to the dominion of death which is transmitted to all men. It is in this sense that every man is born in sin. We hold, therefore, in accordance with the Council of Trent, that Original Sin is transmitted along with human nature, “not by imitation but by propagation”, and is, therefore, incurred by each person individually” (“Creed of the People of God”, 16).

Our own experience bears out what divine Revelation tells us: when we examine our conscience we realize that we have this inclination towards evil and we are conscious of being enmeshed in evils which cannot have their source in our holy Creator (cf. Vatican II, “Gaudium Et Spes”, 13). The obvious presence of evil in the world and in ourselves convince us of the profound truth contained in Revelation and moves us to fight against sin.

"So much wretchedness! So many offenses! Mine, yours, those of all mankind…

“Et in peccatis concepit me mater mea!” In sin did my mother conceive me! (Psalm 51:5). I, like all men, came into the world stained with the guilt of our First Parents. And then…my own sins: rebellions, thought about, desired, committed…

"To purify us of this rottenness, Jesus chose to humble Himself and take on the form of a slave (cf. Philippians 2:7), becoming incarnate in the spotless womb of our Lady, His Mother, who is also your Mother and mine. He spent thirty years in obscurity, working like everyone else, at Joseph’s side. He preached. He worked miracles… And we repaid Him with a cross.

“Do you need more motives for contrition?” ([St] J. Escriva, “The Way of the Cross”, IV, 2).

Concluded on the next post…

 

[Fidelis]

[13] --sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. [14] Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sins were not like the transgressions of Adam, who was a type of the One who was to come.

**13-14. **Both the commandment imposed by God on Adam, and the Mosaic Law, threatened the transgressor with death; but the same cannot be said of the period between Adam and Moses. In that period also people did sin against the natural law written on every person’s heart (cf. 2:12ff). However, their sins “were not like the transgression of Adam”, because the natural law did not explicitly bind under pain of death. If, nevertheless, they in fact had to die, this proves, the Apostle concludes, that death is due not to personal sins but to Original Sin. It is also proved, the Father of the Church usually add, by the fact that some people die before reaching the use of reason, that is, before they are capable of sinning.

Death is a consequence of Original Sin, because that sin brought with it the loss of the “preternatural” gift of immortality (cf. Genesis 2:17; 3:19). Adam incurred this loss when, through a personal act of his, he broke an explicit, specific command of God. Later, under the Mosaic Law, there were also certain precepts which involved the death penalty if broken (cf., for example, Exodus 21:12ff; Leviticus 24:16). In the period from Adam to Moses there was no law which stated: If you sin, you shall die. However, people in that period were all subject to death, even those who committed no sin “like the transgression of Adam” that is, what is termed “actual sin”.

Therefore, death is due to a sin–Original Sin–which attaches to each man, woman and child, yet which is not an “actual sin”. This Original Sin is the cause of death, and the fact that everyone dies is the proof that everyone is affected by Original Sin. The Second Vatican Council sums up this teaching as follows: “The Church, taught by divine Revelation, declares that God has created man in view of a blessed destiny that lies beyond the limits of his sad state on earth. Moreover, the Christian faith teaches that bodily death, from which man would have been immune had he not sinned (cf. Wisdom 1:13; 2:23-24; Romans 5:21; 6:23; James 1:15), will be overcome when that wholeness which he lost through his own fault will be given once again to him by the almighty and merciful Savior. For God has called man, and still calls him, to cleave with all his being to Him in sharing forever a life that is divine and free from all decay” (“Gaudium Et Spes”, 18).

*[15] But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift in the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. [16] And the free gift is not like the effect of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brings justification. [17] If, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.

[18] Then as one man’s trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one man’s act of righteousness leads to acquittal and life for all men. [19] For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by One Man’s obedience many will be made righteous. *

 

[Fidelis]

From the 1859 Haydock Commentary with DRV text:

Sin and death came by Adam: grace and life by Christ.

12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into this world, and by sin death, and so death passed upon all men, in whom all have sinned.

**Ver. 12. **As by one man…in whom all have sinned. That is, in which man all sinned, (not in which death all sinned) as it must be the construction by the Greek text: so that these words are a clear proof of original sin against the Pelagian heretics, as St. Augustine often brings them. Nor does St. Chrysostom deny original sin, though in this place he expounds it that all by Adam’s sin were made guilty of death and punishments. But how could they deserve these, had they not sinned in Adam? (Witham)

*13 For until the law, sin was in the world: but sin was not imputed, when the law was not.

14 But death reigned from Adam unto Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of the transgression of Adam, who is a figure of him that was to come.*

Ver. 13-14. Until the law, sin was in the world. That is, from Adam’s fall, both *original *sin and *actual sins truly infected all mankind. (Witham) — Not imputed. That is, men knew not, or made no account of sin; neither was it imputed *to them, in the manner it was afterwards, when they transgressed the known written law of God. (Challoner) — All were conceived and born in sin, in what we call original sin, and liable to death, even infants, who were not come to the use of reason, and consequently could not sin after the similitude of the transgression of Adam, or by imitating his sin, but were born in sin: and besides this, all manner of actual sins, which men committed by their own perverse will, reigned every where in the world. But before the law these sins were not imputed, that is, were not declared sins, that deserved such punishments as were ordained by the law. — Adam, who is a figure of him that was to come. That is, of Christ, whom the apostle calls the last Adam, 1 Corinthians xv. 45. But he was a figure by contraries. By the first Adam, sin and death entered into the world; by Christ, justice and life. (Witham)

*15 But not as the offence, so also the gift: for if by the offence of one, many have died: much more the grace of God, and the gift in the grace of one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.

16 And not as it was by one sin, so also is the gift: for judgment indeed was by one unto condemnation: but the grace is of many offences, unto justification.

17 For if by one man’s offence, death reigned through one: much more they who receive abundance of grace, and of the gift, and of justice, shall reign in life, through one, Jesus Christ.

18 Therefore, as by the offence of one, unto all men to condemnation: so also by the justice of one, unto all men unto justification of life.

19 For as by the disobedience of one man, many were made sinners: so also by the obedience of one, many shall be made just.*

Ver. 15. &c. But not as the offence, so also is the gift, or the benefits which mankind receive by their Redeemer, Jesus Christ. For St. Paul here shews that the graces which Christ came to bestow upon men, and offers to all, are much greater than the evils which the sin of one man, Adam, caused. 1. Because, *if by the offence *of that one man, Adam, many, i.e. *all died *by original sin that descended from Adam, (the blessed Virgin mother by a special privilege being always excepted) much more the grace of one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many, the comparison does not imply that more in number receive the grace of Christ, than were infected with sin; but that they who receive the graces which are offered to all, receive greater benefits than were the damages caused by the sin of Adam. For the judgment indeed was by one unto condemnation, or so as to make all guilty of one sin, that is, of original sin; and for other actual sins, men committed them by their own proper will; whereas the *grace of Christ *justifies men from many sins; that is, also from all sins which they have committed by their own malice. 2. Because by it, that is, *by the offence of one man, death reigned *in the world, and made all men liable to damnation; yet now by the incarnation of Christ, (which would not have been, had not Adam sinned) all they who are justified by the grace of their Redeemer, have Christ God and man for their head: he is become the head of that same mystical body which is his Church: they are exalted to the dignity of being the brothers of Christ, the Son of God; they are made joint heirs with him of the kingdom of heaven, and so by the grace of Christ have a greater dignity in this world, and shall be exalted to a greater and more eminent degree of glory in the kingdom of his glory for all eternity; which hath given occasion to the Church, in her liturgy, to cry out, as it were with a transport of joy, O happy fault, which hath procured us such and so great a Redeemer! See St. Chrysostom, hom. x. (Witham)

 

[Fidelis]

Other thoughts and comments on the 2nd Reading:

**12 Therefore, just as through one person sin entered the world: **The emphasis on the “one man” continues throughout this reading, occurring eight times. The contrast between one man and all brings out the universality of what is involved here. Paul affirms the existence of hereditary sin. Paul is referring to the pride and folly of our first parents, as described in chapters 2 and 3 of Genesis (see first reading for today). As he is contrasting Christ, the founder of the new redeemed and exalted human race, with the founder of the sinful, fallen human race, he speaks of Adam as the one individual who brought sin into this world.

The Council of Carthage (A.D. 418) gave a definitive interpretation to this text in the sense that Paul’s words teach a form of the dogma of Original Sin. It is one of only seven scripture texts that enjoys a dogmatic interpretation.

**and through sin, death, and thus death came to all, inasmuch as all sinned: **That is, spiritual death or sin, because sin alienated man from God and made it impossible for man to reach the goal which God had planned for him–eternal life with God.

That “all” includes infants is a precision which was born of later controversy. The Council of Trent included infants and thus the necessity of infant baptism, which had been practiced for sixteen centuries before it was seriously questioned.

“Everyone, even little children, have broken God’s covenant, not indeed in virtue of any personal action but in virtue of mankind’s common origin in that single ancestor in whom all have sinned.” [Saint Augustine of Hippo (A.D. 413-426), The City of God 16,27]
*
“When a man is born, he is already born with death, because he contracts sin from Adam.” *[Saint Augustine of Hippo (A.D. 416), Homilies on the Gospel of John 49,12,2]

**13 for up to the time of the law, sin was in the world, though sin is not accounted when there is no law: **From Adam to Moses, the source of death was Adam’s sin: men did, of course, commit evil deeds, but they were not charged with them because the Law had not yet been given them. The Law is the first five books of the Bible, which according to Hebrew and Christian tradition were written by Moses. This law given to Moses contained all the precepts and commands God wished his Chosen People to keep. To break one of these precepts was to sin. And such a sin was like that of Adam, as literally described in Genesis, for Adam had been given an explicit command. But St. Paul says that in the long period between Adam and Moses, when men had no explicit commands from God, sin still abounded because man’s reason could and did inform men of the sinfulness of certain acts. By violating what we call the natural law, all men sinned.

Concluded on the next post:

 

[Fidelis]

**14 But death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who did not sin after the pattern of the trespass of Adam, who is the type of the one who was to come: **Note he refers to Adam’s sin, not Eve’s. As we learned in our first reading, the first sin was the failure to guard: disobedience.

“Sin was in the world before the Law of Moses came, and it was counted, though not according to that Law. Rather, it was counted according to the law of nature, by which we have learned to distinguish good and evil. This was the law of which Paul spoke above (Romans 2:14).” [Diodore of Tarsus (ca. A.D. 373), Pauline Commentary From the Greek Church]

**15 But the gift is not like the transgression. For if by that one person’s transgression the many died, how much more did the grace of God and the gracious gift of the one person Jesus Christ overflow for the many: **This is the point St. Paul wants to stress: the grace, the favor of God, brought to men through the Incarnation, exceeds beyond measure the evil that sin brought into the world. For, by the Incarnation Christ not only took away the sins of men but made all men who accepted God’s grace adopted sons of God and heirs to eternal life. The gift of Jesus Christ was made to all mankind.
**
16 And the gift is not like the result of the one person’s sinning. For after one sin there was the judgment that brought condemnation; but the gift, after many transgressions, brought acquittal: **This second mode contrasts the verdict of condemnation for one sin, which fell on all men, with the verdict of acquittal for men condemned not only through Adam’s transgression, but also through their own offenses. The condemnation which sin brought on man was estrangement from God in this life, to be followed by eternal separation from him in the next. The justification brought to us by Christ, not only means the renewal of our friendship with God, but it gives us the new status of adopted sonship.

**17 For if, by the transgression of one person, death came to reign through that one, how much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of justification come to reign in life through the one person Jesus Christ: **Death came through one man, Adam, and the gift of being reconciled to God is obtained through one man, Jesus the Christ.

*“There is an obvious difference between the fact that those who have sinned in imitation of Adam’s transgression have been condemned and the fact that the grace of God in Christ has justified men not from one trespass but from many sins, giving them forgiveness of sins.” *[The Ambrosiaster (A.D. 366-384), Commentaries on Thirteen Pauline Epistles]

**18 In conclusion, just as through one transgression condemnation came upon all, so through one righteous act acquittal and life came to all.

19 For just as through the disobedience of one person the many were made sinners, so through the obedience of one the many will be made righteous: **The formal effect of Adam’s disobedience was to make mankind not only liable to punishment, but actually made us sinners. Adam’s disobedience placed the mass of mankind in a condition of estrangement from God. ‘many will be made righteous’ most likely refers to the final judgment, when the final phase of the process of justification will be achieved in glory. From Adam we get a sinful nature, but from Christ we get a righteous nature.

 

[Fidelis]

*Catechism *paragraphs referencing Romans 5:12-19 (some may be the same as for the 1st Reading, since the two readings are closely related):

**Original sin - an essential truth of the faith

388 **With the progress of Revelation, the reality of sin is also illuminated. Although to some extent the People of God in the Old Testament had tried to understand the pathos of the human condition in the light of the history of the fall narrated in Genesis, they could not grasp this story’s ultimate meaning, which is revealed only in the light of the death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.261 We must know Christ as the source of grace in order to know Adam as the source of sin. The Spirit-Paraclete, sent by the risen Christ, came to “convict the world concerning sin”,262 by revealing him who is its Redeemer.

261. Cf. Rom 5:12-21.

262. Jn 16:8.

**Man’s first sin

397 **Man, tempted by the devil, let his trust in his Creator die in his heart and, abusing his freedom, disobeyed God’s command. This is what man’s first sin consisted of.278 All subsequent sin would be disobedience toward God and lack of trust in his goodness.

278. Cf. Gen 3:1-11; Rom 5:19.

**400 **The harmony in which they had found themselves, thanks to original justice, is now destroyed: the control of the soul’s spiritual faculties over the body is shattered; the union of man and woman becomes subject to tensions, their relations henceforth marked by lust and domination.282 Harmony with creation is broken: visible creation has become alien and hostile to man.283 Because of man, creation is now subject “to its bondage to decay”.284 Finally, the consequence explicitly foretold for this disobedience will come true: man will “return to the ground”,285 for out of it he was taken. Death makes its entrance into human history.286

282. Cf. Gen 3:7-16.

283. Cf. Gen 3:17,19.

284. Rom 8:21.

285. Gen 3:19; cf. 2:17.

286. Cf. Rom 5:12.

**The consequences of Adam’s sin for humanity

402** All men are implicated in Adam’s sin, as St. Paul affirms: “By one man’s disobedience many (that is, all men) were made sinners”: "sin came into the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all men sinned."289 The Apostle contrasts the universality of sin and death with the universality of salvation in Christ. "Then as one man’s trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one man’s act of righteousness leads to acquittal and life for all men."290

289. Rom 5:12,19.

290. Rom 5:18.

411 The Christian tradition sees in this passage an announcement of the “New Adam” who, because he “became obedient unto death, even death on a cross”, makes amends superabundantly for the disobedience, of Adam.305 Furthermore many Fathers and Doctors of the Church have seen the woman announced in the Protoevangelium as Mary, the mother of Christ, the “new Eve”. Mary benefited first of all and uniquely from Christ’s victory over sin: she was preserved from all stain of original sin and by a special grace of God committed no sin of any kind during her whole earthly life.306

305. Cf. 1 Cor 15:21-22,45; Phil 2:8; Rom 5:19-20.

306. Cf. Pius IX, Ineffabilis Deus: DS 2803; Council of Trent: DS 1573.

532 Jesus’ obedience to his mother and legal father fulfills the fourth commandment perfectly and was the temporal image of his filial obedience to his Father in heaven. The everyday obedience of Jesus to Joseph and Mary both announced and anticipated the obedience of Holy Thursday: "Not my will. . ."223 The obedience of Christ in the daily routine of his hidden life was already inaugurating his work of restoring what the disobedience of Adam had destroyed.224

223. Lk 22:42.

224. Cf. Rom 5:19.

Continued on the next post…

 

[Fidelis]

**“For our sake God made him to be sin”

602 **Consequently, St. Peter can formulate the apostolic faith in the divine plan of salvation in this way: "You were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your fathers. . . with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. He was destined before the foundation of the world but was made manifest at the end of the times for your sake."402 Man’s sins, following on original sin, are punishable by death.403 By sending his own Son in the form of a slave, in the form of a fallen humanity, on account of sin, God "made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."404

402. 1 Pet 1:18-20.

403. Cf. Rom 5:12; 1 Cor 15:56.

404. 2 Cor 5:21; cf. Phil 2:7; Rom 8:3.

605 At the end of the parable of the lost sheep Jesus recalled that God’s love excludes no one: "So it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish."410 He affirms that he came “to give his life as a ransom for many”; this last term is not restrictive, but contrasts the whole of humanity with the unique person of the redeemer who hands himself over to save us.411 The Church, following the apostles, teaches that Christ died for all men without exception: "There is not, never has been, and never will be a single human being for whom Christ did not suffer."412

410. Mt 18:14.

411. Mt 20:28; cf. Rom 5:18-19.

412. Council of Quiercy (853): DS 624; cf. 2 Cor 5:15; 1 Jn 2:2.

**The agony at Gethsemani

612 **The cup of the New Covenant, which Jesus anticipated when he offered himself at the Last Supper, is afterwards accepted by him from his Father’s hands in his agony in the garden at Gethsemani,434 making himself “obedient unto death”. Jesus prays: "My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. . ."435 Thus he expresses the horror that death represented for his human nature. Like ours, his human nature is destined for eternal life; but unlike ours, it is perfectly exempt from sin, the cause of death.436 Above all, his human nature has been assumed by the divine person of the “Author of life”, the “Living One”.437 By accepting in his human will that the Father’s will be done, he accepts his death as redemptive, for "he himself bore our sins in his body on the tree."438

434. Cf. Mt 26:42; Lk 22:20.

435. Phil 2:8; Mt 26:39; cf. Heb 5:7-8.

436. Cf. Rom 5:12; Heb 4:15.

437. Cf. Acts 3:15; Rev 1:17; Jn 1:4; 5:26.

438. 1 Pet 224; cf. Mt 26:42.

**Jesus substitutes his obedience for our disobedience

615 **"For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by one man’s obedience many will be made righteous."443 By his obedience unto death, Jesus accomplished the substitution of the suffering Servant, who “makes himself an offering for sin”, when “he bore the sin of many”, and who “shall make many to be accounted righteous”, for “he shall bear their iniquities”.444 Jesus atoned for our faults and made satisfaction for our sins to the Father.445

443. Rom 5:19.

444. Isa 53:10-12.

445. Cf. Council of Trent (1547): DS 1529.

1008 Death is a consequence of sin. The Church’s Magisterium, as authentic interpreter of the affirmations of Scripture and Tradition, teaches that death entered the world on account of man’s sin.571 Even though man’s nature is mortal God had destined him not to die. Death was therefore contrary to the plans of God the Creator and entered the world as a consequence of sin.572 “Bodily death, from which man would have been immune had he not sinned” is thus “the last enemy” of man left to be conquered.573

571. Cf. Gen 2:17; 3:3; 3:19; Wis 1:13; Rom 5:12; 6:23; DS 1511.

572. Cf. Wis 2:23-24.

573. GS 18 § 2; cf. 1 Cor 15:26.

**1009 **Death is transformed by Christ. Jesus, the Son of God, also himself suffered the death that is part of the human condition. Yet, despite his anguish as he faced death, he accepted it in an act of complete and free submission to his Father’s will.574 The obedience of Jesus has transformed the curse of death into a blessing.575

574. Cf. Mk 14:33-34; Heb 5:7-8.

575. Cf. Rom 5:19-21.

 

[Fidelis]

A meditation on the 2nd Reading for practical application from Catholic Matters:

**APPLICATION: **The message that should come over "loud and clear, to each one of us today, from these words of St. Paul, is that we Are dealing with a God of infinite mercy, and infinite love. He created man and gave him gifts which raised him above all other earthly creatures. Through these gifts, man was able to recognize that he was a mere creature, that he owed all he was and had to a generous Creator, and that therefore he was in duty bound to respect and reverence his benefactor (see Rom. 1: 19-23). But man, moved by pride in the higher gifts he possessed, which were not his own, turned his back on God and refused to revere and obey him. Man sinned and thereby excluded himself from the eternal reward God had planned for him.

What human benefactor would stand for such ingratitude, and would not turn his back on such an ungrateful creature for evermore? But God is infinite in mercy and in love; he is not a human, limited being. He would still carry out his plan to make men his adopted sons, and thus give them a share in his eternal inheritance. The Incarnation as planned from the beginning would still take place. The Son of God would take our human nature, would come down to our level, so that we could share in his divine nature, and be raised up to son ship with God. The Incarnation–this almost incredible act of God’s infinite love for us–was not a “second thought” on God’s part when man sinned, but was willed by God from all eternity as a means of uniting all men with himself and with each other.

The sins of the generations that preceded Christ’s coming were therefore, in comparison, but tiny shadows which brought out all the more strongly the brilliance of divine love as seen in the Incarnation. The effects of the Incarnation were retroactive–sinners who repented before the Incarnation took place, became heirs of heaven, as will also all repentant sinners who have lived and died since Christ came on earth. Learning the lesson Paul teaches us today, let us thank God for his infinite mercy and love, as proved by his making us brothers of Christ and co-heirs with Christ to heaven. Let us also beg pardon with heartfelt contrition for the many, times we have forgotten his goodness to us, and in our pride have followed our own will rather than his. He will forgive and forget our sins if we sincerely seek his pardon. He has prepared heaven for us and wants us there; let us all use this holy season of Lent to help us to get there.

 

[Fidelis]

Gospel - Matthew 4:1-11

After his baptism and before the start of his public ministry, Jesus was tempted by Satan in the desert. Today we hear of this temptation. Obedience to the Father is a characteristic of true sonship. The individual temptations related here are not as bizarre as they appear at first glance, they are all based on temptations to which the Israelites had succumbed during their forty years in the desert. In each case, Jesus goes to the section of Deuteronomy where Moses recounts these temptations and the correct response.

It was God’s purpose that the devil should tempt Christ and be conquered in the contest. As the Fathers of the Church aptly remark, there was nothing unbecoming in the fact that Christ allowed the devil to tempt him and to touch him in his human nature. He had assumed that human nature in order to suffer in it, through Satan and his agents, and thus redeem and elevate all human nature.

Here is the Gospel Reading as we will hear it this Sunday:

At that time Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert
to be tempted by the devil.
He fasted for forty days and forty nights,
and afterwards he was hungry.
The tempter approached and said to him,
“If you are the Son of God,
command that these stones become loaves of bread.”
He said in reply,
“It is written:
One does not live on bread alone,
but on every word that comes forth
from the mouth of God.”

Then the devil took him to the holy city,
and made him stand on the parapet of the temple,
and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down.
For it is written:
He will command his angels concerning you
and with their hands they will support you,
lest you dash your foot against a stone.”
Jesus answered him,
“Again it is written,
You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.”
Then the devil took him up to a very high mountain,
and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in their magnificence,
and he said to him, "All these I shall give to you,
if you will prostrate yourself and worship me.”
At this, Jesus said to him,
“Get away, Satan!
It is written:
The Lord, your God, shall you worship
and him alone shall you serve.”

Then the devil left him and, behold,
angels came and ministered to him.

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