Genesis 2:18-25; Psalm 128 Blessed are those who fear the Lord; Mark 7:24-30
We have been pondering the creation account these past few days; we have been walking in the garden as creation unfolds.
Today we encounter Adam searching for a partner, a help mate. He busies himself with naming all the animals. He is exhausted from searching.
But in all the work, he is unable to find what he longs for.
Only with God's help does he finally have that moment of awakening; aroused from his slumber he sees across the garden the one he had hoped for, dreamed of, longed to be with, "This one, at last, is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; this one shall be called 'woman,' for our of 'her man' this one has been taken."
Adam is awaken to the true meaning of gift. He realizes that on his own he could not find what he longed for but with God's help he is able to receives such a gift. The two then become one.
The Genesis account helps us understand that we are created for love, we are created for communion. In communion with one another, do we begin to fulfill what we are made for.
We are told that they remain in the garden, the man and his wife, and they were "both naked and without shame."
John Paul II, comments on this last passage by saying that in this experience of original nakedness man and woman not only look at each another but they see each other, they experience true and whole intimacy. They are able to see and know each other with all the peace of the interior gaze, which creates precisely the fullness of intimacy of persons.
John Paul II continues and says that original nakedness demonstrates that "holiness has entered the visible world," thus in holiness man is able to express himself deeply in his own body by sincere gift of himself.
The fact there was no shame means that the women nor the man was an 'object' for the other but rather each perceived the other as a sacred gift.
The grace of redemption is meant to help us see and experience again true intimacy.
No comments:
Post a Comment