The Rebuke of Adam and Eve, Domenichino, 1626, National Gallery of Art (Washington)
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FIRST READING
Genesis 2:7–9; 3:1–7
March 1, 2020
Our first reading today is from the book of Genesis. It is often called the story of the creation of Adam but is more accurately depicts the formation and then dissolution of the perfect community.
This creation story is one of two in Genesis and, although placed second, was written earlier. The narrative we read first was written by priests and is concerned with how the Jewish people were to connect to the Cosmos. (Ge. 1) Today’s passage however describes the relationship that God wishes to establish with us and assures us that it was forged at the very beginning of time. The first version of this text was most likely written at the beginning of the Davidic Dynasty. (c. 1,000 BC) and is a call to the king to restore the God-given order. It then became part of the expectation of the Messiah.
This section begins with a desolate world while “as yet there was no field shrub on earth and no grass of the field had sprouted.” (Ge. 2:5a) To be fruitful, it needed rain and someone to care for the land. First came the water “but a stream was welling up out of the earth and was watering all the surface of the ground” (Ge. 5:6) then, the point where we begin today: Continue reading “First Sunday of Lent – What Follows from Obedience to the Will of God”