My Dear People,

Congratulations to all the graduates. May God bless you and guide you in your future undertakings. 

Congratulations to Msgr. Mark on his fiftieth anniversary in the priesthood. We thank him for his dedication and commitment. It has been a blessing to have him be part of our community at St. James. Many blessings, Ad Multos Annos. 

Today’s passage from Genesis deals with the effects of Original Sin. Man and woman come to know evil, and it shows, initially, in a most direct way—in their own bodies. The inner harmony description in Genesis 2:25 is broken, and concupiscence rears its head. Their friendship with God is broken, and they flee from His presence to avoid their nakedness being seen. As if their 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; therefore, all three are going to pay the penalty. The harmony in which they found themselves, thanks to original justice, is now restored. The control of the soul’s spiritual faculties over the body is shattered. The union of man and woman becomes subject to tension. Their relations henceforth are marked by lust and domination. Harmony with creation is broken. Visible creation becomes alien and hostile to man.

      Because of man, creation is now subject to decay. Finally, the consequence explicitly foretold for this disobedience, will come true. Man will ‘return to the ground,’ for out of it, he was taken. And Death makes its entrance into human history. 

The punishment God imposes on the serpent includes confrontation between woman and the serpent--between mankind and evil, with the promise man will come out on top. That is why this passage is called “Proto-gospel”.  It is the first announcement to mankind of the good news of Redeemer-Messiah.  Clearly, a bruise to the head is deadly, whereas a bruise to the heel is curable. 

This opens the way to heavenly salvation by promising redemption; and He has never ceased to take care of the human race. “For He wishes to give eternal life to all those who seek salvation by patience in well-doing.” (Dei Verbum, 3)

Victory over the devil will be brought about by a descendant of a woman, the Messiah.  The church has always read these verses as being messianic, referring to Jesus Christ; and, it was seen in the woman, the mother of the promised Savior, the Virgin Mary is the new Eve. 

The earliest documents, as they are read in the Church and are understood in the light of a further and full revelation, bring the figure of a woman, Mother of the redeemer, into a gradually clearer light. Considered in this light, she is already prophetically foreshadowed in the promise of victory over the serpent which was given to our first parents after their fall into sin. Irenaeus said “the knot of Eve’s disobedience was untied by Mary’s obedience.” What the virgin, Eve, bound through her disbelief, Mary loosened by her faith (St. Irenaeus). 

So, woman is going to have a key role in the victory over the devil. 

In Jesus' name,
Fr. Vincent Clemente