Man, woman eat the forbidden fruit
Bible Accent: Sainthood cause
Saint for Today: St. Catherine dei Ricci
Man, woman eat the forbidden fruit
After God created the heavens and the earth, everything was in darkness, so he commanded, “Let there be light.” And light appeared. He created the land and the seas, the fish and the birds, the animals and the plants. Then, out of the clay of the earth, he molded a man to live in the world he had created.
Then God planted a garden in a place called Eden. He put the man into the garden so he would take care of it, and eat the fruits and vegetables in it. But God gave the man one command to follow. “You are free to eat from any of the trees in the garden except the tree of knowledge of good and bad. From that tree you shall not eat; the moment you eat from it you are surely doomed to die.”
God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a suitable partner for him.” God put the man into a deep sleep, then he removed one of the man’s ribs and created a new person from it. When the man woke up, God told him what he had done and gave the woman to him as his partner. The man said to the Lord, “This one, at last, is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; This one shall be called ‘woman,’ for out of ‘her man’ this one has been taken.”
However, in the garden that God had made there lived a serpent, a cunning and devious creature. When God was not around the serpent said to the woman, “Did God really tell you not to eat from any of the trees in the garden?”
“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, lest you die.’”
Then serpent said, “You certainly will not die! No, God knows well that the moment you eat of it your eyes will be opened.” So the woman ate of the fruit of the tree. It was delicious. She talked the man into eating it as well. After they had both eaten from the tree, they heard the Lord walking in the garden and they hid themselves from him.
READ MORE ABOUT IT:
Genesis 1 -3
Q&A
1. What did God use to make the man?
2. What did the serpent say about the fruit of the tree?
Bible Accent: Sainthood Cause
Pope Benedict XVI recently gave his approval to continue considering Antonietta Meo for sainthood. Nicknamed “Nennolina,” Antonietta lived in Italy in the early 1930s. She was stricken with bone cancer at the age of 5. In spite of her suffering, she demonstrated a deep love for God, and she considered her pain part of her Christian devotion.
She would dictate letters to Jesus. In one of them she wrote, “Dear Jesus Eucharist, I love you so much. … I always want to be your lamp which burns night and day before you and near you in the sacrament of the altar.” Antonietta died before her 7th birthday, but not before she had touched the lives of many people.
Let us remember her as an example of how even young Christians can show God’s love to the world.
Saint for Today: St. Catherine Dei Ricci
Catherine Dei Ricci (1522-1590) was born into a very prominent Italian family. Her birth name was Alexandrina, but she changed it to Catherine when she donned her religious clothing upon entering the convent of St. Vincent at Prato when she was 13 years old. Her uncle, Father Timothy dei Ricci, was the director of the convent.
She became ill and was always in great pain, but she endured it by spending many hours every day meditating on the passion of Christ. Over the years, she became known for being a very holy person, and many people came to visit her, including three men who later became popes. When Catherine was 20, she began to have a series of holy visions about the events leading up to the crucifixion of Jesus. She eventually was name prioress of the convent. We honor her on Feb. 13.
