This Sunday, we are invited to reflect on Genesis 2 and 3, part of Saint Paul’s letter to the Romans in this regard, and Jesus being tested in the wilderness.  These bible readings shed light on questions surrounding temptation, sin and grace.

When I was a young woman, I was uncomfortable with the second creation narrative because of the criticism in our society that it had historically been used to blame women for original sin.  As a nature lover, I much preferred Genesis 1 because it affirms the intrinsic goodness of all of creation.  What’s more, Saint Augustine’s discussion of the first creation narrative in The City of God made me aware of its great depth. 

I was therefore taken aback the first time I was assigned to read Genesis 3 at Mass.  So, I reached out to a fellow lector for advice.  She assured me that it was not scapegoating women.  Although I can’t remember how she explained it, I do remember being reassured and thus delivering the reading serenely at Mass.

Since then, thanks to my faith that all the bible readings contain something good for me, as well as my attention to homilies, my private readings and my participation in bible studies, I have grown to appreciate the depth of Genesis 3, which poetically explains how human beings became self-conscious creatures.  For it was only after eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil that Adam and Eve suddenly saw they were naked.  Such self-awareness has historically tended to make us also see ourselves as separated from nature, to alienate us from nature.  In The Defendant, G.K. Chesterton states: “Most probably we are in Eden still. It is only our eyes that have changed.”  Banishment from Eden may thus be seen as human alienation from nature.  Perhaps seeing ourselves as part of an ecological whole can help us retrieve the lost Garden of Eden.

In the last few years, I’ve developed a new habit of saying my morning prayer as I’m walking to work or wherever else I’m going.  I say the words to myself while paying attention to nature, be it birds chirping, snow falling, the sunny sky or billowy clouds.  Saying a prayer outside in a calm moment of my day, when I have nothing to do but walk, has given me more spiritual awareness.

This Lent, you may wish to change the way you pray.  Why not go or look outside as you reflect not only on how temptation, sin and grace have touched your life, but also on the beauty of creation?  Seeing nature in this way may help you deepen your relationship with God.

A faithful Catholic from the diocese of Montreal