Category: Bible Study

“By the sweat of your face shall you get bread to eat.” –Genesis 3:19 When God created the human race, He gave us dominion over all creation (Gn 1:28). Created things did not resist us but were in perfect harmony with us. Working the land was a pleasure, not a burden. We didn’t have to struggle to provide food for ourselves. After we sinned, we changed and the world changed. We and the rest of creation were no longer in harmony. For the first time there was such a thing as bad weather, sick people, and dangerous wild animals. Work...

“The woman answered the serpent.” –Genesis 3:2 We read today’s first reading and we want to shout: “Oh, Eve! Flee from the serpent! Don’t give him the time of day. Oh, Adam! Don’t eat it! Throw the fruit away!” Through the disobedience of Adam and Eve, we have inherited a world polluted with sin and death (Rm 5:12). It’s so tempting to want to put all the blame on Adam and Eve: “Now look what you’ve done. You messed up the whole world and now we have to live in your mess. It’s all your fault.” Yet that is exactly...

“The Lord God said: ‘It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a suitable partner for him.’ ” –Genesis 2:18 God created a suitable partner for Adam, the first man. This partner was so perfect a match for Adam that he could call her “bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh” (Gn 2:23). Eve literally completed Adam’s flesh; she was created out of the missing piece of Adam’s body, his rib. In becoming one with Eve, Adam’s missing piece (Gn 2:21) was restored and they were both made whole. A young person who...

“The Lord God planted a garden in Eden…and He placed there the man whom He had formed.” –Genesis 2:8 People frequently blame God for the cruelty and tragedies that occur in this world. This attitude of blaming God stems from the assumption that He created and orchestrated every situation and circumstance in the present, visible world. Today’s first reading debunks this attitude and proclaims that what God created was “delightful” and “good” (Gn 2:9). God freely and lovingly created man and gave him the breath of life. God not only provided man with an abundance of good food, but He...

“God created.” –Genesis 1:27 On the threshold of Lent, we pray for a new springtime in the Spirit resulting in new creations. The Lord continues to create through His Spirit, Word, and light. In God’s light, we see the “formless wasteland” (see Gn 1:2) of our lives. We see the need to establish God’s order, harmony, shalom. Accordingly, we begin to separate things in our life, just as God separated the light from the darkness (Gn 1:4), the waters above from the waters below (Gn 1:7), and the land from the sea (Gn 1:9). A re-ordering is necessary for re-creations...