Saturday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

Saint Maximillian
Kolbe
who was martyred
by Nazis in 1941

The woman whom you put here with me --

she gave me fruit from the tree, and so I ate it.

Sadly, our religious literary tradition has a long history of agreeing with Adam, “It was her fault.” In Paradise Lost Milton makes Adam sound romantically heroic as he refuses to be separated from his wayward wife, though he himself is innocent. God asks:

… hast thou eaten of the Tree 
Whereof I gave thee charge thou shouldst not eat? 

To whom thus Adam sore beset repli'd. 
O Heav'n! in evil strait this day I stand 
Before my Judge, either to undergoe 
My self the total Crime, or to accuse 
My other self, the partner of my life; 
Whose failing, while her Faith to me remaines, 
I should conceal, and not expose to blame 
By my complaint; but strict necessitie 
Subdues me, and calamitous constraint, 
Least on my head both sin and punishment, 
However insupportable, be all 
Devolv'd; though should I hold my peace, yet thou 
Wouldst easily detect what I conceale. 
This Woman whom thou mad'st to be my help, 
And gav'st me as thy perfet gift, so good, 
So fit, so acceptable, so Divine, 
That from her hand I could suspect no ill, 
And what she did, whatever in itself, 
Her doing seem'd to justifie the deed;

Shee gave me of the Tree, and I did eate.

Milton and his generation held the opinion that men are more noble than women, because of their supposed resemblance to God. Therefore Adam may be excused his crime because he at least made some effort to shield his foolish, faithful wife.

The author of Genesis would hold no truck with such nonsense. As soon as Adam is found out he blames both God and the woman, and assumes none of his own responsibility. If simple disobedience was bad, Adam’s denial of guilt is unconscionable. He has made matters infinitely worse by this reply.

The Fall, as this story has been called, describes the four-fold divorce that ensues from the Original Sin:

1. Adam (or “Man”) is estranged from God. Instead of replying simply, “I ate of the tree and I am sorry.” he blames God for creating the woman.
2. He will suffer estrangement from Earth and all nature as God pronounces his doom:
   Cursed be the ground because of you!
   In toil shall you eat its yield all the days of your life.
   Thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to you,
   as you eat of the plants of the field,
3. Blaming Eve (or “Woman”) he tears from himself the very flesh he had claimed as his own.
   That alienation from the woman will also infect all human relations with the struggle for rank and power. Yet your urge shall be for your husband,
   and he shall be your master.”
4. Finally, having denied any responsibility for his disobedience, Adam will be a stranger to himself. He would not know the truth if it bit him on the leg. That estrangement from self is reflected also in God’s word to Eve:
   I will intensify the pangs of your childbearing;
   in pain shall you bring forth children.
   Giving birth, which for most animals is relatively easy, is painful labor for the human woman -- and sometimes fatal.  

The story, however, does not end in total sadness. God shows kindness to his beloved Adam and Eve as he gives them clothing and settles them east of Eden.

This story may be read as a most regrettable historical event. But we do better to recognize our own part in it. How often do we fail to do penance for our sins, offering excuses instead of atonement? How often do we blame others, or society, or “the way things are” when a little reflection will show we could have acted differently?

But God is good and the story does not end there. In time we will learn not only to accept the guilt of our sins, we will be grateful for Jesus who stands guilty with us.