Memory of Jesus crucified

Memorial of Saint Scholastica (+547ca), sister of Saint Benedict. With her we remember all women hermits and nuns together with all the women who follow the Lord.

Reading of the Word of God

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

This is the Gospel of the poor,
liberation for the imprisoned,
sight for the blind,
freedom for the oppressed.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Genesis 3,1-8

Now, the snake was the most subtle of all the wild animals that Yahweh God had made. It asked the woman, 'Did God really say you were not to eat from any of the trees in the garden?' The woman answered the snake, 'We may eat the fruit of the trees in the garden. But of the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden God said, "You must not eat it, nor touch it, under pain of death." ' Then the snake said to the woman, 'No! You will not die! God knows in fact that the day you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods, knowing good from evil.' The woman saw that the tree was good to eat and pleasing to the eye, and that it was enticing for the wisdom that it could give. So she took some of its fruit and ate it. She also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened and they realised that they were naked. So they sewed fig-leaves together to make themselves loin-cloths. The man and his wife heard the sound of Yahweh God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from Yahweh God among the trees of the garden.

 

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

The Son of Man came to serve,
whoever wants to be great
should become servant of all.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

When God placed the man and woman in the garden, he told them that they could eat the fruit of any tree they saw except for the one in the centre of the garden. However, they did not listen to God's Word; rather they let themselves be seduced by a foreign voice, that of the serpent, that is the voice of the idol, the voice of evil. This voice smoothly insinuates itself in our everyday lives. It may come out of our hearts when for example it touches upon our pride or caresses self-congratulation or deludes us that anything is within our reach. In any event, it lures us into focusing solely on ourselves. We could say that it is the voice that wats to exalt the "I" to the excess. It is also the voice of false prophets who propose riches, well-being, healing and success as the ideal of life. Truly, these words and suggestions are deceptive, and they distance us from the Lord. Original sin, or the origin of every sin, lies in our lack of trust in God's Word and our refusal to listen to it, most of all by trusting ourselves, and exalting our own "I" and our own pride. Listening to the tempter makes human beings lose their friendship with God and mutual solidarity. Adam and Eve who presumed to know everything and be able to all by themselves, in the end are naked, fearful and accuse each other. Pride leads us to be deprived of the friendship with God and to be distanced from one another. Without the Lord, each one of us sadly discovers our misery and fragility and finds oneself in loneliness and conflict. Adam and Eve hid themselves before God who nonetheless continued to love and take care of them