Reflections - Who told you?

Who told you?

The lie of the devil

After the serpent had beguiled Eve with his prosecutorial questioning (Gen 3), “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.”

“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

We know what happened after: Eve ate and gave to Adam and he too ate off the fruit.

Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

When God visited the garden, He could not find Adam or Eve, and so God called out, “Where are you?”

Adam answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”

And God said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”

This reflection is on:

·         ‘Who instructs us?’

·         ‘Who puts thoughts in our head that makes us anxious or make us do wrong?’

·         ‘Who do we listen to?’

In the Biblical episode we just read, God had instructed Adam not to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil; the Serpent craftily put thoughts in Eve’s head (she had not heard directly from God, it was hearsay from Adam); Eve listened to the serpent, ignoring God’s instructions and ate the fruit and so did Adam.

Of the three, the SERPENT, ADAM AND EVE, who got the harshest punishment from God for the transgression?

Eve was let off with child birth pangs (not to downplay that it is severely painful when undergoing one), and that she will desire and be submissive to her husband. But, to be desirable, Adam the husband, would have to toil and earn a living by the sweat of his brow for all his life.

There’s a lovely passage from ‘The Brief Remarker on the Ways of Man’ by Ezra Sampson, about man’s discomfort when circumstances force him to depend on his wife’s earnings. Today, it is perhaps different and welcome. Not so, two millennia back.

The story of Tobit and his wife Anna from the Book of Tobit, “About a silly quarrel between a venerable old couple and a goat.

Tobit of old, and his wife Anna, unluckily fell into a tough quarrel upon the question, how she came by the kid that he heard bleating in his house. He, very uncourteously, accused her of stealing it; while she, in return, broadly hinted that, notwithstanding his pretensions, he was no better than he should be. Behold, thou and all their works are known. The tongue can no man tame.

And, besides it is agreeable to the laws of pneumatics, that the lightest bodies should rise the highest, especially in a tempest. Wherefore, in spite of the degrading subjection in which the wife was held, under the husband in that age and country, Anna had the last word; and a cutting word it was.

Poor Tobit, it seems, had more than his match; for the retort that his rib made upon him, was so keenly sarcastic, and touched him so deep, that he fell a weeping. Indeed, he was not much to be pitied as he manifestly was the aggressor. Had he patiently enquired into the matter, instead of blurting out his provoking suspicions, the bitter fray between them had never have been.”

I am sure many women would like to share this passage with their husbands when the husband is unjustifiably rude or provocative in his statements about the woman.

On that light note, let’s switch back to the question, who got the harshest punishment, the ‘short end of the stick’ from God?

The SERPENT did.

¹⁴ So the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this,

“Cursed are you above all livestock
    and all wild animals!
You will crawl on your belly
    and you will eat dust
    all the days of your life.
¹⁵ And I will put enmity
    between you and the woman,
    and between your offspring and hers;
he will crush your head,
    and you will strike his heel.”

The serpent was not Satan. The ‘energizer’ directing the serpent’s action was Satan. This is so important for us to understand.

The Word says, God has given Satan some (but limited) power, “and you will strike his heel”. Whose heel? Jesus’ heel – and yours and mine.

But, God by giving us Jesus, His only begotten Son who suffered, died and was resurrected; Jesus’ “will crush Satan’s head”.

The battle between Mother Mary and Satan would rage on. “And I will put 

enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers”.

Remember, Mother Mary always, always wins. To be victorious, we need to ‘Hail’ our Mother in the Rosary. 

At the foot of cross, when taking his last few breaths, Jesus commended Mother Mary to John, the disciple Jesus loved. John is us.

We are Jesus’ loved disciples. We need to bring Mother Mary into our home and seek her favour and intercession to ward off all evil spirits. The evil spirit cannot withstand her presence in our life, as they could not withstand the presence of Jesus when He approached them.

“When Jesus arrived on the other side in the region of the Gadarenes, He was met by two demon-possessed men coming from the tombs. They were so violent that no one could pass that way.

“What do You want with us, Son of God?” they shouted. “Have You come here to torture us before the appointed time?” (Mt 8:28-29)

People who do wrong are not Satan.  It is the one who lives within them and makes them do the ‘wrong’ is Satan. That’s who we must admonish.

“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Ep 6:12

Mary Magdalene was violent and threatening when a demon was within her. When Jesus cast out the demon from her and from so many others during his three-year ministry, they became sober, lovable, and wanted to follow Jesus.

Only Mary Magdalene was given the privilege to follow Jesus. Rest were told to go and be reunited with their families. The family is the smallest ecosystem of a larger church. Jesus tells us, “For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” Mt 18:20

How much we should cherish to be part of that gathering of ‘two or three’ – the minimum size for a family?

‘Who told you?’ is a question worth asking every time there is an occasion for concern in our life.

This reflection was inspired by red spots on my hand. I was diagnosed with small vessel vasculitis a year back which tormented the lower part of my legs (that too when I was on a pilgrimage with my wife to Central Europe visiting some of the most blessed Christian sites including the Divine Mercy Shrine in Krakow, Poland, on the Feast of the Divine Mercy, April 28, 2019).

I looked at the spots and was anxious that the ailment was reappearing. Then I asked myself, who is telling me that the ailment is reappearing and making me anxious?

It cannot be God. God would not want me to be anxious. Anxiety comes from the evil one. I told myself I am going to depend on the LORD and he will make the spots dry up.

I thought of Padre Pio, who had carried the stigmata of Christ crucified to guide me.

“If certain thoughts bother you, it is devil who causes you to worry, and not God, Who, being the spirit of peace, grants you tranquillity.”

I commend these words to you as I commend them to myself.

I promised myself that I would not look at the spots again. It gave me strange relief to entrust it to my LORD and let Him handle it – for He knows best.

Then this morning when I was having bath, I scrupulously avoided looking at the spots which are on the inside part of my arm. Unless I make an effort, I cannot see it, in any case.

I was quietly pleased with myself and my resolve. Then, when I was dabbing the inside part of my hand with the towel, I could not help but look. I could not hold back the temptation. The spots were still there and next I knew; a wave of fear enveloped me.

“Do not let temptations frighten you; they are the trials of the soul whom God wants to test when He knows that he is strong enough to sustain the battle and weave his garland of glory with his own hands.” Padre Pio

The episode only made me resolve with greater determination not to look at the underside of my hand again. It is evening and I haven’t and I am most pleased with the sense of peace that rests on me.

"'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11

In these words, I take refuge.

When you are anxious or tormented, ask who is telling you, that the situation is hopeless? It is the evil one. Reject him. Double down in your praise of God. Whatever the issue is, He knows best.

God bless!

Tuesday, 28 April 2020