Redwood Journal

10th Sunday of Ordinary Time ~ 9 June 2024 ~ Scripture Readings for Mass: I: Genesis 3: 9 – 15; Responsorial: Psalm 130; II: II Corinthians 4: 13 – 5:1; Gospel: Mark 3: 20 – 35

This 10th Sunday of Ordinary Time it may seem our readings from the Word of God are “all over the map” as the saying goes. From the Garden of Eden in Genesis, through a God promise-filled Psalm, onto a vibrant path through a brief excerpt from a letter of St. Paul to our Gospel reading where we encounter an atmosphere of tension, conflict, warning, and hope; we are brought to a place where we would do well to heed the question God asked Adam in our first reading: “Where are you?”

It is in the Holy Spirit-infused reading of God’s Word we can see the immense realm of the geography of the spirit. We may be more aware of our physical surroundings and conditions. But that will only hide the spiritual places where we tread and stay. We are first and eternally creations of soul and spirit. Our body is but a temporary and temporal vessel for our spirit and soul. It is also an amazing gift to remember that it is in us, spirit, soul, and body, that God seeks to dwell. But that is a choice we must make with our free will. It also brings us back to the question from God: “Where are you?”

Many question and debate the truth of Genesis regarding creation and the Garden of Eden. The answers to those ponderings will only be found in a humble quest for the truth willing to explore and ask hard questions from our hearts and minds. But our humility must free us to ask not just academia and scholars but always, God. In the quest for allowing all and any evidence, we must ask, not just in the context of critical thinking or physical witness but also, and especially in faith. We must allow God to answer.

With that freedom, we can start to learn that Eden would be more than just that place where Adam and Eve were created and lived, free from sin. It is still the place of holy joy and sinless innocence without the scars and taints of guilt and free. It is the eternal place of God’s environment of love without fear, a life free from guilt. And preeminently the place of living in holy communion with God, with creation, and with each other. Of course, the place, and the “time” of this garden, what Scriptre describes as the “new heaven and earth”, are known only to God and His angels. But it is from the place of glorious innocence we learn of another garden, another garden where Jesus asks, “Where are you?”

The Garden of Gethsemane is in so many ways the heart-rending opposite of Eden. Instead of innocence and freedom, we come to, with God, utter anguish and surrender. It was there that Jesus had hoped for, asked that at least a few of his followers, his friends would accompany him, and stay with him. They did. Kind of. But they all fell asleep. As Jesus struggled to accept the burden of sin we brought him and that would separate him from his Father, from the very Spirit who was the infinite essence of all that is Holy. It was in this garden that Jesus, in the fullness of Love that he is, prayed, “Father, your will be done”. It was in this garden that our Savior would conquer in, holy love and obedience, the selfishness and disobedience of our first parents. It is from this sacred garden we are called to walk with Jesus to a tree of life. It would be from that tree Jesus would again seek to know: “Where are you”.

The tree to which we are brought is, paradoxically two dead pieces of wood. But in the glorious paradoxes of Heaven, it is the Tree of Life. It is there, at the Cross we most deeply hear the poignant call of God, “Where are you?” Most of the disciples have fled. It is only a few women, with the Apostle John and the Blessed Virgin that we would dare come to kneel at God’s Presence. While we are mindful of the darkness and evil that seemingly triumphs we are yet more deeply aware that this is our place. It is as we say our humble yes to God, as we would kiss his nail-pierced feet we confess we often do not understand. But we love. We believe.

It is at the Cross we see our wanderings, the leading of the Holy Spirit in the love and forgiveness that is God. It is with His most holy Body and Blood we receive the mercy, forgiveness, and healing we need. It is also at the Cross that, with Jesus we best learn His designs and will for our life. It is where we discover that in doing God’s will we grow to be His brothers and sisters. It is with Jesus we joyfully pray, “Here I am”.