"The Lord God gave the man this order: You are free to eat from any of the trees of the garden except the tree of knowledge of good and evil. From that tree you shall not eat; when you eat from it you shall die."  (Genesis 2: 16 - 17).

After the Lord God settled Adam in the luscious Garden of Eden, He gave Adam one simple order:  Enjoy everything you like in the Garden.  Don't touch that tree in the middle. Don't eat of its fruit.
But Adam was unable to keep this simple command.

Where does evil and disobedience come from? Let us head to today's Gospel to look for answer:

"From within people, from their hearts, come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder,  adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly.  All these evils come from within and they defile.”  Jesus teaches. (Mark 7: 21 - 23).

Still on the subject of evil and sin, Paul says:
"But if you are guided by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are obvious: immorality, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, rivalry, jealousy, outbursts of fury, acts of selfishness, dissension, factions, occasions of envy, drinking bouts, orgies, and the like."  (Galatians 5: 18 - 21).

There is no remedy for evil and sin except in the provisions of the second creation: You must be born again in Spirit and fire. Have you undergone this baptism?  Do you want it?

SeekFirstcommunity.com

"Then God said: Let us make human beings in our image, after our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the tame animals, all the wild animals, and all the creatures that crawl on the earth."  (Genesis 1: 26).

What can we learn from the story of creation from Genesis to nourish our souls?

#1. Human beings are the only thing God created in His image and likeness.  This truth lays the foundation for the rest of the story of man in the Scriptures. God gave man free will and never curtailed or interfered with man's liberty.

#2. God gave humans dominion over the works of His hands.  This is an incredibly important fact. If man wants to destroy his natural environment, he is free to do so but the consequences will be dire.

#3. "God created mankind in his image; in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them." 
(Genesis 1: 27).
It is a silly falsehood to imply that God did not purposely make man and woman equal ontologically but different physiologically and psychologically. Each being attuned to its grand purpose in the logic of creation.

#4.  "God blessed them and God said to them: Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it." (Genesis 1: 28).

We are richly blessed by our Creator. But this is the first creation. The second creation gets better.  Man will receive the Holy Spirit living inside him.  I like the way St Augustine puts it:  "God became man so that man will become god."

Do you know the Holy Spirit?

SeekFirstcommunity.com

"Whatever villages or towns or countryside he [Jesus] entered, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and begged him that they might touch only the tassel on his cloak; and as many as touched it were healed."  (Mark 6: 56).

This Gospel is so appropriate for the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes which we celebrate today. February  11 is also the World Day of the Sick, an observation introduced by Pope St John Paul II as a way for Christians to pray for those with all types of health issues.  Lourdes in France is the premier pilgrimage shrine in the whole world for the sick.  Lourdes hosts millions of pilgrims every year from all over the world.  People seeking healing from every kind of disease and disorder.  Evidence of instant and miraculous healings in their thousands are on display: wheelchairs, crouches, canes, etc."

Let us ask Our Lady of Lourdes to intercede for the sick of the world.
Our Lady, Health of Christians, pray for us.

SeekFirstcommunity.com