Friday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time
I was raised to not be afraid of snakes, to appreciate and respect them as one of God’s amazing creatures. My mother taught me how to hold one safely so that it can’t bite you (with your thumb on the back of its head and the other hand holding the lower part of its body). Of course some snakes are deadly and deserve a healthy fear, and I wouldn’t welcome a surprise visit from a large snake while gardening, like my friend had! And I would certainly be taken aback if one spoke to me as in today’s reading from the book of Genesis.
The snake/serpent in today’s first reading is said to be “the most cunning of all the animals that the Lord God had made.” This creature becomes the symbol for deceit and trickery, leading to the downfall of humankind through Eve and Adam’s choosing to eat the fruit from the one tree in all of the garden that God forbade them to even touch (trying to protect them from death, sin and suffering).
We all know the story well. I recall it from early childhood. But what spoke to me today was the deception by the serpent with a simple question that begins to sow the seed of doubt, “Did God really tell you not to eat from any of the trees in the garden?” I hear the emphasis on “really”. It’s a set-up. No, not ALL of the trees, just this ONE. The seed of doubt has been planted and then, “You certainly will not die!” The deception continues.
How often do we entertain such questions and doubts, thoughts of deception to hear and believe what we want? To justify our choices and actions that lead us down a path of separation from God, causing us to hide from our Creator out of shame once our eyes are opened to the truth of what we’ve done or whom we’ve become? Am I deceiving myself or letting myself be deceived?
Today’s gospel passage from Mark (7:31-37) reminds us that Jesus offers hope and healing. He cries out to the deaf man, “Ephphatha!” (“Be opened!”), and his ears are opened. Let us pray for our ears to be opened to the Spirit’s voice of truth and wisdom, a voice more pure and powerful than the cunning serpent of deceit.
~Eileen Miller