Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (To the Greater Glory of God)
First Reading:
From: Genesis 3:9-15
Temptation and the First Sin (Continuation)
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[9] But the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, "Where are you?" [10] And he said, "I heard the sound of thee in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself." [11] He said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree which I commanded you not to eat?" [12] The man said, "The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate." [13] Then the Lord God said to the woman, "What is this that you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent beguiled me, and I ate." [14] The Lord said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, cursed are you above all cattle, and above all wild animals; upon your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. [15] I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel."
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Commentary:
3:7-13. This passage begins the description of the effects of the original sin. Man and woman have come to know evil, and it shows, initially, in a most direct way--in their own bodies. The inner harmony described in Genesis 2:25 is broken, and concupiscence rears its head. Their friendship with God is also broken, and they flee from his presence, to avoid their nakedness being seen. As if his Creator could not see them! The harmony between man and woman is also fractured: he puts the blame on her, and she puts it on the serpent. But all three share in the responsibility, and therefore all three are going to pay the penalty.
"The harmony in which they found themselves, thanks to original justice, is now destroyed: the control of the soul's spiritual faculties over the body is shattered: the union of man and woman becomes subject to tensions (cf. Gen 3:7-16), their relations henceforth marked by lust and domination. Harmony with creation is broken: visible creation has become alien and hostile to man (cf. Gen 3:17, 19). Because of man, creation is now subject 'to its bondage to decay' (Rom 8:21). Finally, the consequence explicitly foretold for this disobedience will come true: man will 'return to the ground' (Gen 3:19), for out of it he was taken. 'Death makes its entrance into human history' (cf. Roman 5:12)" ("Catechism of the Catholic Church", 400).
3:14-15. The punishment God imposes on the serpent includes confrontation between woman and the serpent, between mankind and evil, with the promise that man will come out on top. That is why this passage is called the "Proto-gospel": it is the first announcement to mankind of the good news of the Redeemer-Messiah. Clearly, a bruise to the head is deadly, whereas a bruise to the heel is curable.
As the Second Vatican Council teaches, "God, who creates and conserves all things by his Word, (cf. In 1:3), provides men with constant evidence of himself in created realities (cf. Rom 1:19-20). And furthermore, wishing to open up the way to heavenly salvation, by promising redemption (cf. Gen 3:15); and he has never ceased to take care of the human race. For he wishes to give eternal life to all those who seek salvation by patience in well-doing (cf. Rom 2:6-7)" ("Dei Verbum", 3).
Victory over the devil will be brought about by a descendant of the woman, the Messiah. The Church has always read these verses as being messianic, referring to Jesus Christ; and it was seen in the woman the mother of the promised Savior; the Virgin Mary is the new Eve. "The earliest documents, as they are read in the Church and are understood in the light of a further and full revelation, bring the figure of a woman, Mother of the Redeemer, into a gradually clearer light. Considered in this light, she is already prophetically foreshadowed in the promise of victory over the serpent which was given to our first parents after their fall into sin (cf. Gen 3:15) [...]. Hence not a few of the early Fathers gladly assert with Irenaeus in their preaching: 'the knot of Eve's disobedience was untied by Mary's obedience: what the virgin Eve bound through her disbelief, Mary loosened by her faith' (St Irenaeus, "Adv. haer." 3, 22, 4) Comparing Mary with Eve, they call her 'Mother of the living' (St Epiphanius, "Adv. haer. Panarium" 78, 18) and frequently claim: 'death through Eve, life through Mary' (St Jerome, "Epistula" 22, 21; etc.)" (Vatican II, "Lumen Gentium", 55-56).
So, woman is going to have a key role in that victory over the devil. In his Latin translation of the Bible, the "Vulgate", St Jerome in fact reads the relevant passage as "she [the woman] shall bruise your head". That woman is the Blessed Virgin, the new Eve and the mother of the Redeemer, who shares (by anticipation and pre-eminently) in the victory of her Son. Sin never left its mark on her, and the Church proclaims her as the Immaculate Conception.
St Thomas explains that the reason why God did not prevent the first man from sinning was because 'God allows evils to be done in order to draw forth some greater good. Thus St Paul says, 'Where sin increased, grace abounded all the more' (Rom 5:20); and the "Exultet" sings, '0 happy fault,...which gained for us so great a Redeemer'" ("Summa Theologiae", 3, 1, 3 and 3; cf. "Catechism of the Catholic Church", 412).
From: 2 Corinthians 4:13—5:1
He Is Sustained by Hope in Heaven
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[13] Since we have the same spirit of faith as he had who wrote, "I believed, and so I spoke," we too believe, and so we speak, [14] knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. [15] For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God. [16] So we do not lose heart. Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed every day. [17] For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, [18] because we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen; for the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
[5:1] For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
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Commentary:
13-18. The Apostle explains where he gets the strength to bear all the tribulations of life--from his hope in the resurrection and his expectation of being in heaven with those to whom he is writing (v. 14). There is nothing selfish about this desire for heaven: it helps us to stay true to the faith and it enables us to see all the sufferings of this life as something transitory and slight (v. 17), a necessary step to heaven and a way to obtain incomparably greater happiness. "If we wish to enjoy the pleasures of eternity," St. Alphonsus reminds us, "we must deprive ourselves of the pleasures of time. 'Whoever would save his life will lose it' (Mt 16:25) [...]. If we wish to be saved, we must all be martyrs, either by the tyrant's sword or through our own mortification. Let us have this conviction--that everything we suffer is nothing compared with the eternal glory that awaits us. 'I consider the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us' (Rom 8:18). These momentary afflictions will bring us eternal happiness (cf. 2 Cor 4:17)" ("Treasury of Preaching Material", II, 9).
13. The Apostle's faith leads him to keep on preaching, despite all the difficulties this may involve. There is nothing else he can do: he is convinced that his faith is what can save the world and he cannot but strive to spread it. If he acted otherwise it would mean his faith was asleep and he did not truly love others. "When you find that something has done you good," St. Gregory the Great explains, "try to bring it to the attention of others. You should, therefore, desire others to join you on the ways of the Lord. If you are going to the forum or the baths, and you meet someone who is not doing anything, you invite him to go along with you. Apply this earthly custom to the spiritual sphere, and as you make your way to God, do not do so alone" ("In Evangelia Homiliae", 6, 6).
14. What inspires St. Paul's apostolic activity and enables him to bear all the difficulties it involves, is his firm belief in resurrection in glory, the basis and cause of which is Christ's resurrection. He also has the hope of sharing this happiness in heaven, in the presence of God, with all the faithful for whose salvation he is working on earth.
15. After reminding the Corinthians that all the sufferings he has been speaking about he has borne for their sake (cf. 4:5), St. Paul tells them what motivates him most--the greater glory of God, to whom the faithful should turn in deep gratitude (cf. 1:11; 9:12). This should be man's primary attitude to God--one of profound adoration and thanksgiving for all his benefits, as we are daily reminded in the Preface of the Mass.
"If life's purpose were not to give glory to God, how contemptible, how hateful it would be" (St. Josemaria Escriva, "The Way", 783).
16. These words sum up one of the paradoxes of the Christian life. Whereas the outer man—his perishable body—is wasting away due to tribulation and affliction, the inner man—the life of the soul—is growing and being renewed day by day, until the point comes when it reaches its full growth in heaven. This is something which can clearly be seen in the lives of the saints: in the midst of sufferings of every kind, and despite the fact that their life is wasting away, their soul is being rejuvenated, their joy ever on the increase.