I have fallen to the temptation of the evil spirit in ways that have hurt others. I fall with knowledge that I am going against His will, but don’t catch myself for a number of reasons: pride, anger, and guilt. With this, I find myself sympathetic to Eve in the first reading; to know something I am doing is wrong but committing to the action regardless is a conflict I understand.
When I would hear this story growing up there was always a tone of judgment towards Adam and Eve. I was taught to strive to be like Jesus in the Gospel who is able to deny the devil despite the circumstances He is under. I think there is good in striving to be Christ-like, but the story of Adam and Eve helps me understand my humanity so that I may not fall into a spiral of shame.
The second reading offers a reminder in my struggle to find peace with my failures to be Christ-like: “For if, by the transgression of the one, death came to reign through that one, how much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of justification come to reign in life through the one Jesus Christ.”
Lily Valdrez