In today's readings of Genesis 3-4 and Psalm 104, Fr. Mike draws the connection between love and sacrifice in the story of Adam and Eve and explains the story of Cain and Abel. For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/bibleinayear. Please note: The Bible contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.
Chapter 1: What is the focus of today's readings?
This is day two, so let's get started. Today, we'll be reading Genesis chapter 3 and Genesis chapter 4. So, after the great news of creation, or the good news of creation, what happened then? How did things get so terribly messed up? We'll also be reading from the book of Psalms, Psalm 104.
The Bible that I'm reading from today and all this year is the RSVCE, the Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition. and I'm using the Great Adventure Bible from Ascension. If you are interested in following along, not just listening along, but reading along, you can download your Bible in a Year reading plan by visiting ascensionpress.com slash Bible in a Year.
Again, ascensionpress.com slash Bible in a Year to get the reading plan and to get these daily updates. Just subscribe in your podcast app, and we will keep popping up every single day for the next 365 days so you do not miss a day. You can also sign up for our email list by texting the word catholicbible Let's get started. Genesis 3 and 4.
Now, the serpent was more subtle than any other wild creature that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, Did God say you shall not eat of any tree in the garden? And the woman said to the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden, but God said you shall not eat of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it lest you die.
But the serpent said to the woman, You will not die, for God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. And she also gave some to her husband, and he ate.
Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked, and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons. He said, He said, He said, The man said, The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me the fruit of the tree, and I ate. 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.
The Lord God 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. 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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Chapter 2: What is the significance of the Fall in Genesis 3?
To the woman he said, I will greatly multiply your pain and childbearing. In pain you shall bring forth children, yet your desire shall be for your husband and he shall rule over you. And to Adam he said, because you have listened to the voice of your wife and eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, you shall not eat of it. Cursed is the ground because of you.
In toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Thorns and thistles it shall bring forth to you. And you shall eat the plants of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground for out of it you were taken. You are dust and to dust you shall return. The man called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all the living.
Chapter 3: How did Cain and Abel's story unfold?
And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them. And the Lord God said, Behold, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil. And now lest he put forth his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat and live forever. Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. He drove out the man.
And at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim, and a flaming sword which turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life. Now Adam knew his wife Eve, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord. And again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of the sheep and Cain a tiller of the ground.
In the course of time, Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground and Abel brought some of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering, he had no regard. So Cain was very angry and his countenance fell. The Lord said to Cain, why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen?
If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is lurking at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must master it. Cain said to Abel his brother, Let us go out to the field. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. Then the Lord said to Cain, Where is Abel your brother? He said, I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper?
And the Lord said, what have you done the voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground and now you are cursed from the ground which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand when you till the ground it shall no longer yield to you its strength you shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth
Cain said to the Lord, My punishment is greater than I can bear. Behold, you have driven me this day away from the ground, and from your face I shall be hidden. I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will slay me. Then the Lord said to him, Not so. If anyone slays Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.
And the Lord put a mark on Cain, lest anyone who came upon him should kill him. Then Cain went away from the presence of the Lord and dwelt in the land of Nod, east of Eden. Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. And he built a city and called the name of the city after the name of his son, Enoch. To Enoch was born Irad, and Irad was the father of Mehujael.
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Chapter 4: What lessons can we learn from Adam and Eve's actions?
and Mehujael the father of Methushael and Methushael the father of Lamech and Lamech took two wives the name of one was Adah and the name of the other Zillah Adah bore Jabal he was the father of those who dwell in tents and have cattle His brother's name was Jubal, and he was the father of all who play the lyre in pipe. Zillah bore Tubal-Cain.
He was the forger of all instruments of bronze and iron. Sister of Tubal-Cain was Naama. Lamech said to his wives, Adah and Zillah, hear my voice. You wives of Lamech, hearken to what I say. I have slain a man for wounding me, a young man for striking me. If Cain is avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy-sevenfold. And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and called his name Seth.
For she said, God has appointed for me another child instead of Abel, for Cain slew him. To Seth also a son was born, and he called his name Enosh.
At that time men began to call upon the name of the Lord. Psalm 104 God the Creator and Provider
Bless the Lord, O my soul. O Lord, my God, you are very great. You are clothed with honor and majesty, who cover yourself with light as with a garment, who have stretched out the heavens like a tent, who have laid the beams of your chambers on the waters, who make the clouds your chariot, who ride on the wings of the wind, who make the winds your messengers, fire and flame your ministers.
You set the earth on its foundations, so that it should never be shaken. You covered it with the deep as with a garment. The waters stood above the mountains. At your rebuke they fled. At the sound of your thunder they took to flight. The mountains rose. The valleys sank down to the place which you appointed for them.
You set a bound which they should not pass, so that they might not again cover the earth. You make springs gush forth in the valleys. They flow between the hills. They give drink to every beast of the field. The wild donkeys quench their thirst. By them the birds of the air have their habitation. They sing among the branches. From your lofty abode you water the mountains.
The earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work. You cause the grass to grow for the cattle and plants for man to cultivate, that he may bring forth fruit from the earth and wine to gladden the heart of men, oil to make his face shine, and bread to strengthen man's heart. The trees of the Lord are watered abundantly, the cedars of Lebanon which he planted. In them the birds build their nests.
The stork has her home in the fir trees. The high mountains are for the wild goats. The rocks are a refuge for the badgers. You have made the moon to mark the seasons. The sun knows it's time for setting. You make darkness and it is night when all the beasts of the forest creep forth. The young lions roar for their prey, seeking their food from God.
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Chapter 5: What themes are present in Psalm 104?
We look at sin and we think, well, that's silly. That's ridiculous that the church says that's not allowed or that the Bible says that we ought not to do this or that kind of thing. Because look, it actually works. It seems like it would be a good idea. And yet when any decision, any option, any choice goes against God's will, we know that that is, we're making the decision.
Like I don't belong to him anymore. So as scripture says, their eyes, both of them were open and they were naked and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons. Another translation said, made loincloths for themselves. And then what happens is then God comes along. Remember, this is the God who is so intimate with them.
In the cool of the evening, they used to walk with him and he calls out, where are you? And Adam responds, I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid myself. Now, the very next line, I've heard it said, and I'll say it again, the way in which we hear the very next line tells us everything that we need to know about our vision of God. The very next line, God's next line, how we hear it.
The words are simple. The words are, who told you that you are naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat? If we hear that, sometimes we can hear that as God's anger. We hear God's anger, his wrath in a voice that's like, who told you that you were naked? You know, kind of a thing. He's just so mad.
Or we could hear the true heart of the father who would say, who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I've commanded you not to eat? What we hear is the heartbreak of the father in his voice because he knows the plan he had for his children.
And that plan for his children was that he would belong to them and they would belong to him and they would be able to actually live their lives in peace and in joy and in the love of his presence. And in this moment, the story reveals that they don't get to, they have a different path they have to follow. And that different path is then spelled out where we hear the curses.
Now, actually, it's singular. These are not curses. This is one curse. Only the serpent gets cursed, right? The next two things, what God says to Adam and what God says to Eve are not, strictly speaking, curses. They're more remedies. Yeah, they're painful, absolutely painful curses. Here is a pain in childbearing and broken relationships.
Here is Adam who basically has to go to work at his horrible job every day and commute back and forth, living by the sweat of his brow. But that is not meant to be a curse. In fact, the scripture does not call it a curse. It's the remedy. Because why? Because Adam and Eve failed to choose love. They're made for love. Remember, they're made for labor, leisure, and love. They failed to choose love.
And love always involves sacrifice. And so now, for Eve to love, for the woman to love, she will bring forth life in pain and learn that love involves sacrifice. And for Adam to care for his wife and to care for his family, he will have to bring forth fruit of the earth in toil and sweat and And amongst thorns and thistles. And he will have to learn that to love requires sacrifice.
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Chapter 6: How does God show mercy despite sin?
And humanity has sinned and turned against you. We've not trusted you. We might believe in you, but so often we don't belong to you. But you continue to care for us. And so now, as an act of love, love always involves sacrifice. And so I will now, in order to love you, I have to sacrifice something.
And each day, what that means is I have to sacrifice some of my time to spend with you, to be in prayer. And I want to let that time that I sacrificed to you be not whatever's left, but I want that time to be the best, my first fruits. Anyways, it's so good to be starting this journey with you. It's so good to be underway and cracking open the Bible.
I cannot wait to be with you again tomorrow as we continue moving forward in this early world period of Genesis and just kind of continue to follow this incredible story that is part of your story and my story. My name is Father Mike. God bless.