Sunday of Year B, 9th Jun

God always wants to forgive us, thus it is necessary to seek Jesus and his forgiveness not by remaining outside, but by entering with him into his own way of listening to the word of the Father, of loving his will, of recognizing it as a desire for salvation and good for us and for everyone. Happy Sunday!

DOCTRINE AND FAITH
(Gen 3, 9-15; Psalm 129 (130); 2 Cor 4,13-5,1; Mark 3, 20-35; 10th Sunday of Year B, 9th June, 2024)

“The serpent deceived me and I ate” (Gen 3,13). This is how Eve responds to God who asks her to account for her and Adam's behavior. The behavior of the serpent is a double deception. The first consists in the suspicion he casts on God and the prohibition against eating "from the tree that is in the middle of the garden" (Gen 3,3). In God's intention, this prohibition safeguards life, as it allows it to breathe in the logic of gift. A single "no" is imposed so that Adam and Eve can understand that everything else is a "yes" said to their happiness. Only one fruit is forbidden to allow them to recognize that all the other fruits are given, and given twice: once because they were created, a second time because they are not forbidden. Adam and Eve, however, do not understand what Paul writes to the Corinthians: "everything is for you" (2 Cor 4,15). If there wasn't that one "no", men and women could delude themselves that everything is their property and their right.  That single "no" reveals that, on the contrary, everything is a gift, and that life matures to its fullness when it is not based on the dynamics of possession, but on that of the gift. Life expands and comes true when we anchor it not to the need to voraciously appropriate what we need, but to the trust (which is a name of faith) with which we wait to receive it freely from him who gives it. The serpent's deception consists precisely in subverting this logic by casting suspicion on God: he does not wish to generously give you life, on the contrary, he wants to jealously retain it for himself, suffocating it under his dominion and control. Obedience to his Word will make you slaves rather than free; if you want to be free as God is, you must disobey his command. And so the man and the woman find themselves naked and feel ashamed, because they have interrupted that relationship with the Giver which allowed them to exist in peace and joy. They have shed off the relationship of trust to put on the shameful robe of suspicion, which always throws us into loneliness. And now the second great deception of the serpent, more dangerous than the first, creeps into their story. “I heard your voice in the garden; I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself" (Gen 3,10). Adam hides because he misunderstands God's approach, imagining that he is coming to punish him, rather than to show him mercy. The serpent continues to cast suspicion on God, preventing Adam from recognizing the truth of his face and from understanding that "with the Lord there is mercy / and great with him is redemption" (Ps 129,7). The psalmist hopes in the Lord and waits for his coming more than the sentinels for the dawn; instead, Adam and Eve despair and flee from his presence. This is the serpent's most serious deception: to induce us not so much to disobey the word of God, but to bear the consequences of our sin with desperation, rather than with hope. Having the fear of the Lord, truly knowing him and preserving the authentic meaning of the relationship with him, means instead experiencing his forgiveness: "with you is forgiveness: / so we will have fear of you" (Ps 129,4).

There are many ways in which the ancient serpent continues to deceive our lives with his lies or half-truths. We encounter another example in the episode narrated by Mark. Jesus heals and frees from evil, yet there are still those who continue to cast suspicion and instill doubt: "This man is possessed by Beelzebul and drives out demons through the chief of demons" (Mark 3,22). Jesus unmasks the absurdity of such an accusation, since Satan cannot rebel against himself, yet there are those who continue to consider Jesus as someone who is "out of his mind" (Mark 3,21), a demoniac, rather than recognizing him as the manifestation of the finger of God. It seems unlikely, yet this is often our experience: we are so blind that we are not able to discern the gifts of God that make us live. We demand signs without recognizing those given to us. This is blasphemy against the Spirit: believing the serpent who is a liar instead of the Spirit who is the fulfilment of all God's gifts for our lives. This sin, Jesus adds, "will not be forgiven forever" (Mk 3,29). The problem is not with God, as if he did not want to forgive us, or decided not to. The problem is ours: if we do not recognize his forgiveness where it is offered to us, we will not be able to find it elsewhere. God always wants to forgive us, but if we do not know how to welcome his gift where it is given to us, where can we find it?
It is necessary to seek Jesus and his forgiveness not by remaining outside, as his mother and brothers initially did, but by entering with him into his own way of listening to the word of the Father, of loving his will, of recognizing it as a desire for salvation and good for us and for everyone.
Then, remaining within this space of the intimate relationship with Jesus, we will be able to answer God's question: "Where are you?" (Gen 3,9). We will be able to stand naked before God, in the truth of our life, but without shame, because we will know we are loved, forgiven, saved. Then, and only then, will the serpent's venom no longer harm us and we will be able to live in the hope and joy of the Spirit. + John I. Okoye.