I recently saw a painting by the famous artist Fra Angelico which\nshowed the Annunciation scene taking place on a portico, one which overlooked a\nbeautiful garden. It would have been\nmuch like the Garden of Eden scene from our first reading! <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Picture these two women- the first Eve and the second Eve, each\none sitting alone in the midst of a beautiful Garden. Both women were approached and entered into a\ndialogue. Let\u2019s ponder their stories for\na moment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The first Eve must have been deep in thought, maybe even\nprayerful thought; considering all that God had told her and Adam about the\nGarden of Eden. And there it was too,\nright in front of her, the object of her musing- the Tree of Knowledge of Good\nand Evil. God had told her not to eat\nits fruit lest she die. Her visitor could\nread her mind and he cleverly lied to her; \nAnd he did so in the way most evil is presented in this world- under the\nguise of something good: \u201cOh, that fruit\nlooks good to eat; surely you will not die\u201d; and \u201cGod knows that if you eat\nthat fruit you will be like him\u201d! <\/p>\n\n\n\n
So clever- because in fact his answers were half-truths. The fruit was good to taste and eat; she did\nnot die physically immediately; and lastly, she did acquire knowledge that only\nGod had before that- the knowledge of good and evil. But what price did she pay for this act of\ndisobedience? Well, God the Father\nbanishes Eve and her husband from Paradise. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And all of us, generation after generation of Adam and Eve\u2019s\nancestors, are born into this world with the stain of that original sin- the\nsin of pride, of seeking self-sufficiency. \nBecause that\u2019s what it was at the roots, wasn\u2019t it? The serpent, the devil, appealed to Eve\u2019s\nsense of self- \u201cyou can be like God\u201d. Or\nanother way of saying it would be \u201cYou won\u2019t need God any more\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I suppose that it has been the same way throughout time. Mankind would like to think that they have\nall the answers. There are folks who\nbelieve we know how everything evolved and how everything works. They say we can even clone ourselves,\ngenetically alter our race; and decide who lives and dies and when. It\u2019s scary; but it is the logical extension\nof Eve\u2019s sin. And it is happening all\naround us in today\u2019s world. Our culture\nteaches us that we can control our own destiny, we don\u2019t need God. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The truth is, we are better off with God in control. God made everything and He seeks our\ncooperation in implementing his plan for how everything evolves. That\u2019s what he had hoped for in the first\nAdam and Eve: partners who would help him with His plan. But instead, sin entered the world through the\nfirst Adam and Eve. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then came along the second Eve- Mary. We find her sitting outside overlooking a\nbeautiful garden as well. Mary was also\nprobably in prayerful thought. A young,\nvibrant teenager with the world an open door for her. But along comes a visitor, the angel Gabriel. His message is absolutely astounding. Mary is told she has found favor with God! Yes, Mary was born without the stain of\nOriginal sin- she was and is the Immaculate Conception. Mary had not sinned to that point and was sinless\nthereafter. And so Mary found favor with\nGod. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But even more than that, Mary was told she would conceive\nand bear a son; and that her son would be the Son of God. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Imagine what any teenage girl\u2019s response likely would be! \u201cWhat, me! \nI want to become a doctor; or I want to get married and have a family; or\nwait a while, I want to go off and see the world first.\u201d But Mary agrees to do the will of God as she\nsays: \u201cBehold, I am the handmaid of the\nLord. May it be done unto me according\nto your word.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
And there you have it, the very strong contrast between the\nfirst Eve and the second Eve- the difference between putting ones self first,\nand putting God first. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Each of us is challenged with the same choice daily in our\nlives. In fact, every time we pray, God\nis there first ready to talk to us about his plan going forward for us- never\nmind the past. But are we ready to\nlisten? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Advent is that special time of the year when we are given\ntime to pause and listen to God so that we will be ready for Jesus\u2019 coming. This morning, St. Paul summarizes our\nsituation very well when he says: \u201c\u2026We were chosen, destined, in accord with\nthe purpose of the one who accomplishes all things according to his will so\nthat we might exist for the praise of his glory, We who first hoped in Christ.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Remember that always when you pray.\u00a0 You were chosen to do God\u2019s will so that you might exist for the praise of God\u2019s glory.\u00a0 That\u2019s what life is all about.\u00a0 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Immaculate Conception Gen 3: 9-15, 20; Eph 1: 3-6, 11-12; Luke 1: 26-38 Deacon Larry Brockman I recently saw a painting by the famous artist Fra Angelico which showed the Annunciation scene taking place on a portico, one which overlooked a beautiful garden. It would have been much like the Garden of Eden scene from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[555,554],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1080"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1080"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1080\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1081,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1080\/revisions\/1081"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1080"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1080"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1080"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}