Phase One, Week Four, Exercise One: Sin And Disorder

This Exercise is to be experienced between November 27 and November 30:

Having meditated upon the purpose of our lives, we now consider why we fall short of reaching our goal of loving God in all situations. The human story is not just about the successes of the heroes of our various traditions. It also details our failings. In this week, Ignatius encourages us to contemplate the history of human sinfulness as well as our personal sinfulness. We contemplate sin and disorder so that we may undergo conversion and become free.

There are certain classic texts in the Jewish and Christian traditions that deal with sin and disorder. Probably the best known story that helps us contemplate sin is the story of the sin of Adam and Eve. The value of this story is not its historical value. Rather, the value of the story is its rich symbolism. All of the ancient creation stories of the ancient traditions use symbolism to convey their message. What makes this story so insightful is that its symbolism gives us insight into the graces and disorder of human relationships.


As we engage in this exercise, there are specific graces we should ask for. Fr. Skehan suggests that we should ask God for the following:

"Conscious of the high adventure, sublime destiny, and freedom for which I was created and of the vocation to which God invites me, I beg Him for a deep-felt understanding of my sin and of the disordered tendencies in my life that hobble me in my pursuit; that I may feel a need for a change, and so turn to him for healing and forgiveness. I seek to rid myself of every form of greed and lust, of anger and resentment, and of delusion that I may rid myself of all that fetters me" (31).

Now, read through Genesis 2:4b-3:24. I have provided the text below:

Genesis Chapter 2

When the LORD God made the earth and the heavens—
5
there was no field shrub on earth and no grass of the field had sprouted, for the LORD God had sent no rain upon the earth and there was no man* to till the ground,
6
but a stream* was welling up out of the earth and watering all the surface of the ground—
7
then the LORD God formed the man* out of the dust of the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.d
8
The LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east,* and placed there the man whom he had formed.e
9
* Out of the ground the LORD God made grow every tree that was delightful to look at and good for food, with the tree of life in the middle of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.f
10
A river rises in Eden* to water the garden; beyond there it divides and becomes four branches.
11
The name of the first is the Pishon; it is the one that winds through the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold.
12
The gold of that land is good; bdellium and lapis lazuli are also there.
13
The name of the second river is the Gihon; it is the one that winds all through the land of Cush.g
14
The name of the third river is the Tigris; it is the one that flows east of Asshur. The fourth river is the Euphrates.
15
The LORD God then took the man and settled him in the garden of Eden, to cultivate and care for it.h
16
The LORD God gave the man this order: You are free to eat from any of the trees of the gardeni
17
except the tree of knowledge of good and evil. From that tree you shall not eat; when you eat from it you shall die.* j
18
The LORD God said: It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suited to him.* k
19
So the LORD God formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds of the air, and he brought them to the man to see what he would call them; whatever the man called each living creature was then its name.
20
The man gave names to all the tame animals, all the birds of the air, and all the wild animals; but none proved to be a helper suited to the man.
21
So the LORD God cast a deep sleep on the man, and while he was asleep, he took out one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh.l
22
The LORD God then built the rib that he had taken from the man into a woman. When he brought her to the man,
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the man said:
“This one, at last, is bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
This one shall be called ‘woman,’
for out of man this one has been taken.”*
24
m That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one body.*
25
The man and his wife were both naked, yet they felt no shame.*

Genesis Chapter 3: Expulsion from Eden.
1
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’?”
2
The woman answered the snake: “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden;
3
a 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.’”
4
But the snake said to the woman: “You certainly will not die!b
5
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.”
6
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.c
7
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.

8
When they heard the sound of the LORD God walking about in the garden at the breezy time of the day,* the man and his wife hid themselves from the LORD God among the trees of the garden.d
9
The LORD God then called to the man and asked him: Where are you?
10
He answered, “I heard you in the garden; but I was afraid, because I was naked, so I hid.”
11
Then God asked: Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I had forbidden you to eat?
12
The man replied, “The woman whom you put here with me—she gave me fruit from the tree, so I ate it.”
13
The LORD God then asked the woman: What is this you have done? The woman answered, “The snake tricked me, so I ate it.”e
14
Then the LORD God said to the snake:
Because you have done this,
cursed are you
among all the animals, tame or wild;
On your belly you shall crawl,
and dust you shall eat
all the days of your life.* f
15
I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and hers;
They will strike at your head,
while you strike at their heel.* g
16
To the woman he said:
I will intensify your toil in childbearing;
in pain* you shall bring forth children.
Yet your urge shall be for your husband,
and he shall rule over you.
17
To the man he said: Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, You shall not eat from it,
Cursed is the ground* because of you!
In toil you shall eat its yield
all the days of your life.h
18
Thorns and thistles it shall bear for you,
and you shall eat the grass of the field.
19
By the sweat of your brow
you shall eat bread,
Until you return to the ground,
from which you were taken;
For you are dust,
and to dust you shall return.i
20
The man gave his wife the name “Eve,” because she was the mother of all the living.*
21
The LORD God made for the man and his wife garments of skin, with which he clothed them.
22
Then the LORD God said: See! The man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil! Now, what if he also reaches out his hand to take fruit from the tree of life, and eats of it and lives forever?j
23
The LORD God therefore banished him from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he had been taken.
24
He expelled the man, stationing the cherubim and the fiery revolving sword east of the garden of Eden, to guard the way to the tree of life.


Notice the following about the text before you pray with it:

1) The meaning of the first story, the story of the Garden of Eden, is that human beings are made for relationships of equality and intimacy. Note the following symbols:
a. In 2:7, God makes the man out of clay and then breathes life into man. He does not create him from a distance. God is very close to his creation.
b. In 2:18, God states that it is not good for the man to be alone. The man is made for relationship.
c. In 2:19, God gives man the power to name the animals. In the Hebrew tradition, the ability to name something gives you power over it. This is why the Jewish community does not say YHWH, the name of God. No one can have power over God. God's giving the man the ability to name the creatures symbolizes that God is sharing God's dominion with humanity.
d. In 2:21-23, God creates the woman from the rib of the man. This does not justify male dominance over the woman. Rather, it symbolizes that the relationship between man and woman is to be a relationship of equality and intimacy. The rib is close to the heart, and, for the Hebrew people, the heart is the center of the human person. It is also the seat of wisdom. The mind resides in the heart and is informed by the heart. God did not create the woman from a bone far from the heart. Rather, he created the woman from a bone close to the heart. Man and woman are to live heart to heart, in love and equality. How does male domination enter into the world? We shall see in Genesis 3.
2. The meaning of the second story, the story of the expulsion from Eden, is that sin does not originate from the heart of man. It comes about from the tempter distorting humanity's good heart. Also, sin disrupts human relationships: relationships between the human person and him/herself, between the human person and other persons, between the human person and God, and between the human person and the ecology.
3. In 3:1-7, the serpent, representing the enemy of human nature, sows the seeds of envy in the hearts of the woman and the man (the fact that the woman is portrayed as the one who misleads the man is clearly an example of sexism. The text is not historical. Nevertheless, the text does give us important insight into sin.).

In chapter 2, God engages in the incredibly generous act of sharing his power and authority with the man and the woman, but they end up wanting more. The enemy encourages them to desire what is not theirs--"to be like gods." He sows the seeds of envy into their hearts. This disordering of desire ripples throughout all their relationships. Whereas in chapter 2, the man and the woman enjoy perfect, unencumbered intimacy (they are naked but feel no shame), after they eat of the fruit, they become aware of their nakedness and make fig leaves and loin cloths for themselves. There is now an obstacle between them. They also begin to hide from the God who had been a source of life for them.

4. In 3:16, God tells the woman:

I will intensify your toil in childbearing;
in pain* you shall bring forth children.
Yet your urge shall be for your husband,
and he shall rule over you.

In a lecture at the Catholic University of America, Fr. Alex DiLella, OFM offered the following accurate interpretation: the development of male dominance over women occurs after the sin of Adam and Eve. It is thus not part of God's plan. It is a consequence of the human rejection of God. Our task then is to cooperate with God in the building up of a society that values all human beings--male and female.

Now ask God for the grace to obtain "a deep-felt understanding of my sin and of the disordered tendencies in my life that hobble me in my pursuit; that I may feel a need for a change, and so turn to him for healing and forgiveness. I seek to rid myself of every form of greed and lust, of anger and resentment, and of delusion that I may rid myself of all that fetters me."

Using your imagination, enter into the scenes of Genesis 2 and 3. Are you the man or the woman? Are you a third person observer of the scene?

What is the expression on the face of the man when he explains "this one is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh"? How do you feel his joy? What is the expression on the face of the woman?

What is the expression on the face of the man and the woman when the serpent tempts them to want the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil? What do they feel in their hearts? Do they value themselves as they envy what is God's?

How does this scene remind you of your own life? Has sin or disorder disrupted any of your relationships?

Have I degraded a member of the opposite sex? What led me to do so? What kind of healing will lead me to value the opposite sex? Have I allowed myself to be devalued? What kind of healing will lead me to value myself?

How else has sin or disorder affected you?

Do the stories give you any other insights?

At this point in the retreat it is appropriate to participate in the healing and reconciliation rituals of your tradition. If you are Catholic, it would be appropriate to participate in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

If the source of your own personal disorder is not sin, but rather a psychological illness, it would be appropriate for you to find a gifted healer. If the source of your own personal disorder is a neuro-chemical mental illness, it would be appropriate for you to find a gifted psychiatrist.