Passage
Now the snake was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the LORD God had made. He asked the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You shall not eat from any of the trees in the garden’?”
The woman answered the snake: “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; it is only about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden that God said, ‘You shall not eat it or even touch it, or else you will die.’”
But the snake said to the woman: “You certainly will not die! God knows well that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods, who know good and evil.”
The woman saw that the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eyes, and the tree was desirable for gaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.
Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves.
GENESIS 3: 1-7
Today's Meditation
The Snake
Who is this snake? This Bible verse describes Satan as the most cunning snake. Satan is a fallen angel, and he is the leader of all fallen angels. His name was Lucifer before the fall, which means “light bearer." Once he was sent to earth because he rebelled against God, his name was Satan, which means in Hebrew "adversary" or "accuser." Now let that sink in. His name reveals who he is now. Jesus even gets to clarify who Satan is on an occasion when he is speaking to some Jews who don't want to believe in him: “You belong to your father the devil, and you willingly carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand by the truth because there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he speaks in character, because he is a liar and the father of lies.” John 8:44. He is an accuser, the adversary to our soul's salvation, and the father of lies. He lied to Eve, the woman, as we read in today’s passage in Genesis. He convinced her to do the opposite of what God told them not to do. God had told them that they would die if they ate from the tree in the middle of the garden, “the knowledge of good and evil,” and he lied to the women, saying, “You will not die.” As you know, Eve fell for the lie and saw the tree pleasing to the eyes, but then, after eating from the fruit, they saw themselves naked and felt ashamed. He lied to Eve so that they would die. What kind of death is this? A death that will be carried out for all his descendants, us. This is the effect of original sin, which brought spiritual and bodily death to us.
Sin divides; sin originates in Lucifer by his rebellion due to his pride in being the light bearer and one of the most beautiful and knowledgeable angels there was. He was part of the ninth choir of angels. When God created all angels from the beginning, He infused them with knowledge about His plans to take on human flesh, meaning that Jesus, the second person of the Holy Trinity, would incarnate as a human. Lucifer found this idea ridiculous because he considered himself superior to humans, full of pride and arrogance. That is why all sin originates in pride: pride focuses inward on oneself, losing focus on God, who is the supreme good. God, who is love himself. Love never looks inward, but outward. He will not serve God because God (Jesus) will incarnate, and he thought to himself, “How would I serve a God who will also be a human?” Lucifer said, “Non serviam." I will not serve. According to St. Thomas Aquinas, God sent Archangel Michael to cast Satan down to earth. This event is significant because Archangel Michael belonged to a lower choir of angels, indicating he had less power and knowledge. God sent Archangel Michael to humiliate Satan for his pride. Michael said, "Mi-Ka-El," which means "Who is like God?" and is the origin of his name. From that moment on, God sent Satan and all the demons that followed his path to earth. From that instant on, Satan's main purpose is to make us lose sight of God, so we end up where he ended up: in hell forever, outside of God's presence. How does he accomplish this? Satan lures us into sin, and once we fall into sin, he then accuses us, leading us to feel shameful, just like Adam and Eve.
Slavery to Sin
Jesus answered them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. When we commit a sin, we become slaves to it. Due to concupiscence, which is the inclination to sin in our flesh, we are tempted to sin by either the devil, the flesh, or the world. In our Catholic teaching, there are two kinds of sins: mortal sin and venial sin. Today we will focus on mortal sin. What is a mortal sin? A mortal sin is one that “destroys in us the charity without which eternal beatitude is impossible. Unrepented, it brings eternal death” (CCC 1874). That is what makes it “mortal,” or deadly—it cuts us off from God forever, unless it is “redeemed by repentance and God's forgiveness” (CCC 1861).
For you to commit a mortal sin, you must have these three conditions: 1. grave matter, 2. full knowledge, and 3. deliberate consent. Once we commit a mortal sin, we are separated from God's grace; we divide ourselves spiritually from God. Edwin likes to say that "sin makes you stupid," because sin clouds our judgment. After we sin, we tend not to make the best decision based on love; we are then thinking more inward; we tend to seek more after our own rather than thinking more outward, seeking out for others, which simulates what love is.
Sin is Contrary to Love
Every sin is an act of selfishness, which is the opposite of love. With every act of selfishness, we lower our capacity to love. Satan is the cunning serpent; he seeks ways for our marriages to fail and fall into the pitfall of sin. One of his ways to disrupt is to bring about a change of perception in our conversations as a couple. For example, Sara would say to Edwin, “Babe, can you please help me cook tonight?" For some strange reason, Edwin heard, “Babe, can you help me cook once!?”. This is a trap—a path to disaster. That is why one of our protections against his cunning in this case is to always listen to our spouse with charity, and if we thought we heard something mean or harsh, we should ask for clarification, such as “babe, what was that you said? I couldn't hear well." There, the spouse is bridging an opportunity for clarification, and when that has happened to us, 99% of the time, it was never a bad comment or intention.
Eradicating Sin in Marriage
As we had said days prior, the man ought to be a sample of holiness, to inspire holiness to his wife and both towards their children. As much as we eradicate sin from our lives, as much love there will be among your marriage. The key to this success is simple, but it requires a daily effort from us. 1. Stay closer to God in prayer. 2. Live out the sacraments, especially confession and the Holy Eucharist. 3. Become a closer child to Mother Mary. 4. Identify your vices and cultivate virtues that oppose them. 5. Serve your Lord through your spouse, children, and community.
Lies and selfishness end in death. Truth and love lead to life.
Today's Questions
How have you fallen under spiritual attack in your marriage?
What are you using to combat sin?
Today's Challenge
Do this examination of conscience. Also, make sure you attend confession soon.
Don't Forget
Pray together the HOLY ROSARY every day (sorrowful mysteries only)
Pray OVER EACH other every day
Let's Pray
St. Michael the Archangel,
defend us in battle.
Be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the Devil.
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray,
and do thou,
O Prince of the heavenly hosts,
by the power of God,
thrust into hell Satan,
and all the evil spirits,
who prowl about the world
seeking the ruin of souls. Amen. .
O glorious prince St. Michael,
chief and commander of the heavenly hosts,
guardian of souls, vanquisher of rebel spirits,
servant in the house of the Divine King
and our admirable conductor,
you who shine with excellence
and superhuman virtue deliver us from all evil,
who turn to you with confidence
and enable us by your gracious protection
to serve God more and more faithfully every day.
Dedicate to Jesus one HOLY HOUR of Adoration per week
