Trust, Surrender and Love
(Gn 3:9-24; Ps 90; Mk 8:1-10)
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Why is it possible to not starve in a desert? We can always eat the “sand which is under our feet!”
Today’s readings invite us to trust in God’s love, to surrender to God’s will, and to love as God has loved us.
In the first reading, we see just the opposite. Our first parents, Adam and Eve, did not trust God’s love for them even though God had gifted them with the perfect gift of Eden. They did not obey God’s will but rather sinned through their own stubborn self-will. They also failed to love God and even each other, Adam blaming Eve and Eve blaming the snake. The consequence of their sin was guilt and fear, shame and blame, hiding behind masks. Sin and mortality had entered the world.
What is surprising is that God does not do what we would think natural – punish them. Rather, even in the face of their infidelity, God is gentle and compassionate. He ascertains what happened, but clothes their shame, gives them guidance, and promises them an offspring. The snake or evil will nip at the offspring’s heel, but that offspring will crush the head of the snake. As Richard Rohr would say, “God punishes us by loving us even more.”
True, they are banished from Eden, but that is because they have removed themselves from that intimate relationship with God. And a cherubim with a flaming and turning sword, guards the tree of life and closes the door to Eden.
In the Gospel, we see Jesus, the opposite of Adam and Eve, the New Adam, in full swing – manifesting the love of God, teaching for three days, feeling the hunger of the crowd, and meeting their need by the miraculous multiplication of the loaves.
The disciples’ question to Jesus “How can we feed so many people in the desert?” is interesting and significant. It is a question they would not ask had they more faith, for they are in the presence of the Bread of Life. At least, unlike Adam and Eve, the disciples did have enough faith to obey and to what Jesus asked them to do, and the miracle happened. When we are in the presence of Jesus, all will be well, and the multitudes will get their needs met. Jesus is the only one who can satisfy our deepest human yearnings fully, symbolized by the seven baskets full.
We also know that through his passion, death and resurrection, Jesus opened up that gate to Eden, and the tree of eternal life. That is why the curtain of the temple was torn from top to bottom when he died on the cross. Through his unconditional love and sacrificial death on the cross, Jesus showed us the very heart of God – humility, mercy, vulnerability, compassion, forgiveness, total non-violence and unconditional love.
There is a pattern here for our lives – faith leading to love. Our response is to trust in God’s love for us, to surrender to God’s will for us, and to love one another as God has loved us.
Step three of the AA program expresses this kind of faith well: “Made a decision to turn my life and my will over to the care of God as we understood God.”
Dorothy Day, founder of the Catholic Worker Movement, is an example of that kind of trusting faith in God, and a practical expression of love reaching out to the poor and downtrodden.
The question God asks Adam and Eve, “Where are you?” is a good one for us as we approach Lent. Where are we in our relationship with the Lord, and with others in our lives? The question was an invitation to Adam to begin the journey back to God. That same invitation is extended to us – to admit our need for forgiveness and healing and come back to the Lord with more sincere hearts.
The Eucharist is an act of faith in God’s love. It is an act of obedience to Jesus’ will for us, and it empowers us to go out to love others as he has loved us.
So, let us pray for the faith to trust God’s love for us, the obedience to do God’s will, and the ability to love others as we have been loved.
