TAKE RESPONSIBILITY

X SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Genesis 3:9-15 

In this Sunday’s liturgy, we read from the book of Genesis about humanity deciding for themselves on good and evil. Those stories about Adam and Eve are stories about ourselves as human beings reflecting on their identity. 

In the middle of the garden of Eden, there were two special trees: the “tree of life” and “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” (Gn 2:9). While allowed to eat from the tree of life, they were forbidden to enjoy the fruits of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. This means that, although allowed wisdom, they were warned about a special kind of knowledge - the one that decides what is good and evil. In spite of that, enticed by the serpent, they were moved by a big desire to make the experience of that knowledge. They preferred their own judgment to God’s wisdom and so they ignored the prohibition and went ahead eating from the tree. We may ask ourselves why they did not bother about the tree of life and preferred, instead, to have knowledge. Maybe they gathered that with the knowledge they would get a hold on life. Being able to establish the parameters of good and evil, they will satisfy their great desire for power, and they will be equal to God, deciding on good and evil. 

Today’s reading presents the aftermath of acquiring that so special and divine knowledge. They discovered their nakedness and, embarrassed, went into hiding. They became self-conscious and discovered their fragility, their limitations and also their capacity for evil. They were confronted with themselves and felt ashamed. Indeed, how many times, we try to hide ourselves from God, from others, even from ourselves? Aware of what we are and what we do, we judge ourselves and feel judged by the others and we hide, even though we know well the impossibility o hiding. Before sin, Adam and Eve lived in a situation of innocence and harmony; afterwards, with the knowledge of good and evil, their relationship became ambivalent. From comrades in the adventure, always anxious to share new experiences, they became companions of misfortune, full of suspicion, ready to accuse each other. They did not accept responsibility for their deeds; they did not acknowledge their sin; and they did not ask for forgiveness. Adam accused God of bringing that woman to him; she is the seducer who should be blamed. Eve laid the blame on the serpent who deceived her. When anything goes wrong, it's always the fault of somebody else. Instead of apologising, we present ourselves as victims. We are not guilty, we are the ones who suffer the consequences of the evil done by others. There are always excuses and others are always the guilty ones. Instead of punishment, we deserve compassion! However, justifying ourselves by accusing others, we are building our life on a lie, beginning a vicious circle that gradually degrades us, little by little slipping always deeper into evil. The only way to break the vicious circle is to take responsibility for what we do, to recognise our sin and to ask for forgiveness. Otherwise, the game of hide-and-seek will end with us being found naked and that feeling of shame may lead us to acts of violence against others since they are the ones we blame for our shame.