Friday of the
Fifth Week in Ordinary Time
(Genesis 3: 1-8; Mark 7:31-37)
It is a classic axiom that humans do not choose evil
because it is bad. Rather they choose it
under the aspect of some good that it brings.
In today’s first reading the serpent tempts the woman by mentioning apparent
advantages of eating the forbidden fruit.
First, her “eyes would be opened”; that is, she will have gained insight
or knowledge. Then it adds that she and
her mate “will be like gods.” They will
not only know more but will decide for themselves right and wrong. Once the woman’s reason has been stirred by
the serpent’s ideas, she imagines other benefits. The fruit becomes “pleasing to the eye” and apparently
to the palate.
The story is reflected in every sin. The thief prizes another person’s treasure
more than the person’s right to keep what she has legitimately obtained. The fornicator thinks little of the harm he creates
by satisfying his lust but mostly of the pleasure it gives. Even people who know well of the evil that
sin incurs may commit it anyway for the sense of autonomy it brings.
In today’s gospel as everyday Jesus is proclaimed as
doing the Father’s gracious will. He restores
hearing and clear speech to the man as a sign of God’s love. Such love is manifested in every judgment of
conscience that some act would be evil. In
refusing to sin, we acknowledge that God forbids evil acts because He loves us.
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