31 JANUARY – WEDNESDAY OF SEPTUAGESIMA WEEK

Lesson – Genesis iii. 1‒20

Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman: “Why has God said you must not eat of every tree of the garden?” And the woman said to the serpent: “We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden, but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said: You must not eat of it, neither may you touch it, lest you die.” And the serpent said to the woman: “you will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it, then your eyes will be opened, and you will be as gods, knowing good and evil.” And the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired: and she took of its fruit and ate, and gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. And the eyes of them both were opened. And when they knew that they were naked, they sewed fig-leaves together, and made themselves aprons. And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amidst the trees of the garden. And the Lord God called to Adam, and said to him: “Where are you?” And he said: “I heard your voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” And He said: “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree whereof I commanded you that you should not eat?” And Adam said: “The woman whom you gave me to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.” And the Lord God said to the Woman: “Why have you done this?” And she said: “The serpent beguiled me, and I ate.” And the Lord God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, you are cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field. Upon your belly you will go, and dust you will eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. She will bruise your head, and you will bruise her heel.” And to the woman He said: “I will greatly multiply your sorrows and your conception: in sorrow you will bring forth children, and you will be in the power of your husband, and he will rule over you.” And to Adam He said: “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded thee, saying: You must halt not eat of it — cursed is the ground on which you will labour. In sorrow you will eat of it all the days of your life. Thorns also and thistles will it bring forth to you, and you will the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face you will eat bread, till you return to the ground; for out of it were you taken; for dust you are, and to dust you will return.” And Adam called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.

Thanks be to God.

Dom Prosper Guéranger:

The guilty pair appear before the great God whom they have offended, and instead of acknowledging their guilt they would palliate and excuse it. But Divine Justice pronounces their condemnation, and the sentence will be felt by their posterity, even to the last generation. The two beings that had committed the heinous crime had been enriched with every gift of nature and grace. It was not with them, as it is with us. Concupiscence which gives us an inclination for what is wrong. Ignorance and forgetfulness which cloud the intellect of fallen man — these miseries had nothing whatever to do with the fall of our First Parents. They sinned through sheer ingratitude. They began by weighing the proposal of revolt when they ought to have spurned it with indignation and conquered by flight. Then, by degrees, the proposed crime seemed no great harm because, though God would lose their obedience, they would gain by the disobedience! And at length, the love of God was made to give place to the love of self and they declared their independence!

Yet, God had mercy on them because of their posterity. The Angels were all created at one and the same instant, and each of them was subjected to the trial which was to decide his eternal future. Each Angel depended on his own act — on his own choice between fidelity to his Creator or rebellion against Him, so that they who rebelled drew on themselves the eternity of God’s chastisement. The human race, on the contrary, existed not save as represented in its two First Parents, and was plunged by and with them into the abyss of God’s reprobation. Therefore God who spared not the Angels, mercifully spared the human race.

But, let us listen to the three sentences pronounced by God after the fall of Man. The first is against the serpent, and is the severest. The curse which is already upon him is deepened, and the pardon which is about to be promised to the human race, is to be given in the form of an anathema against that wicked spirit that has dared to war with God in the work of his hands. “I will put enmities between you and the woman: she will crush your head” (Genesis iii. 15). Thus does God avenge Himself of His enemy. The victory won over the woman is made to turn against the proud conqueror and become his humiliation and his defeat. In his fiendish craft, he had directed his first attack not against the man, but against the woman. She, by nature, was weaker and more credulous. And if he conquered her, he hoped — too well, alas! — that Adam would be led to turn against his Creator in order not to displease the creature. All happened as he willed it: but now, see how God uses the woman to foil and punish him. He kindles in her heart an implacable hatred against his and our enemy. This cruel serpent may raise his proud head and, here and there, find men that will adore him: the day will come when a woman’s foot will crush this head which refused to bend before God. This daughter of Eve whom all generations are to call Blessed (Luke i. 48) will be prefigured by other women: by Deborah, Judith, Esther and others, all celebrated for their victories over the Serpent. She will be followed, until the end of time, by an uninterrupted succession of Christian Virgins and Matrons who, with all their weakness, will be powerful in co-operating with God’s designs and, as the Apostle says, “the unbelieving husband will be sanctified by the believing wife” (1 Corinthians vii. 14).

Thus will God punish the serpent’s pride. Before pronouncing upon our First Parents the sentence they have deserved, He promises to bless their posterity and pours into their own hearts a ray of hope.