Texts taken from the “On Your Word” Missal May-June 2024

10th Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)
2nd week of the Psalter

FIRST READING

From the Book of Genesis (Gen 3:9-15)
[After the man had eaten the fruit of the tree,] the Lord God called to him and said: «Where are you?». He answered: «I heard you in the garden; but I was afraid, because I was naked, so I hid». Then he asked: «Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I had forbidden you to eat?». The man replied: «The woman whom you placed beside me gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate it». Then the Lord God said to the woman: «What have you done?». The woman replied: «The serpent deceived me, and I ate». Then the Lord God said to the serpent: «Because you have done this, cursed are you among all livestock and among all wild animals! On your belly you shall crawl, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers: he will strike at your head, while you strike at his heel». – The word of the Lord. 

Commentary on the First Reading

In the account of Genesis, Satan, described as cunning, that is, capable of causing confusion, tries to convince Adam and Eve that God is not good. He appears good, but he is not. Once he has convinced human beings of this, it will be easy for him to lead them into rebellion. The serpent presents a God who hides something, who keeps a secret for himself, a God who cannot bear someone becoming like him, and so he urges them to eat the fruit of the tree, to transgress, so that they may know God's secrets. But they were already like him. Were we not created in his image and likeness? But then, after the sin, Adam and Eve realize that they are naked and fall into insecurity. With communion with God broken, human beings no longer know where they belong. When God asks, «Where are you?», Adam does not know how to answer. This is one of the most tragic passages in the whole Bible. In Christ, this “voice” of the Father searching for lost Adam becomes flesh; in him the definitive question resounds: «Adam, where are you?», before which human beings may allow themselves to be found or continue to hide. Jesus, the light of the world, offers humanity the possibility of coming into the light.  

SECOND READING

From the Second Letter of Saint Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians (2 Cor 4:13 – 5:1)
Brothers and sisters, animated by that same spirit of faith of which it is written: «I believed, therefore I spoke», we too believe and therefore speak, convinced that the one who raised the Lord Jesus will also raise us with Jesus and place us with you in his presence. Indeed, everything is for you, so that grace, increased through the work of many, may make thanksgiving abound, for the glory of God. Therefore we do not lose heart; though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure: we look not to what is seen but to what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. For we know that when our earthly dwelling, which is like a tent, is destroyed, we will receive from God a dwelling, an eternal home not made by human hands, in the heavens. – The word of the Lord.

Commentary on the Second Reading

Although fragile like «clay jars», we are nevertheless rooted in that strength that comes to us from faith and makes us «convinced that the one who raised the Lord Jesus will also raise us with Jesus and place us with you in his presence». On the one hand, Paul experiences physical weakness; on the other, he feels increasingly strengthened and renewed in his inner self. Although he faces the horizon of visible realities and therefore passing things, he manages to go beyond them and fix his gaze on invisible and eternal things: the awareness that his body is like a dwelling he will have to leave does not make him sad, because he lives with the certainty that he is about to receive an eternal dwelling with God, not built by human hands. Many today boast of believing only in what they see and touch. But are we sure they are capable of seeing the whole of reality? There are so many things we do not see and do not notice that, in the end, are also the truest. With Paul, we too “know” that Jesus Christ has risen from the dead and that, in him, we will share in his victory over sin and death.

GOSPEL OF THE DAY

From the Gospel according to Mark (Mk 3:20-35)
At that time, Jesus entered a house, and once again a crowd gathered, so that they could not even eat. When his relatives heard this, they set out to take charge of him, for they said: «He is out of his mind». The scribes who had come down from Jerusalem said: «He is possessed by Beelzebul» and «By the ruler of demons he casts out demons». So he called them and spoke to them in parables: «How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand; and if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. So if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand; that is the end of him. No one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods unless he first ties up the strong man. Only then can he plunder his house. Truly I tell you, people will be forgiven all their sins and all the blasphemies they utter; but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never have forgiveness: he is guilty of an eternal sin». For they had said: «He has an unclean spirit». Then his mother and his brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent word to him and called him. A crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him: «Your mother and your brothers and sisters are outside asking for you». But he replied: «Who are my mother and my brothers?». And looking at those seated around him, he said: «Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother». – The Gospel of the Lord.

Commentary on the Gospel of the Day

«People will be forgiven all their sins and all the blasphemies they utter; but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never have forgiveness: he is guilty of an eternal sin». This is one of the Gospel expressions to which we return from time to time in order to understand its meaning properly. What exactly is this blasphemy against the Holy Spirit? It is not a swear word, but a way of life. As the Catechism reminds us, «God's mercy has no limits, but whoever deliberately refuses to accept it through repentance rejects the forgiveness of his sins and the salvation offered by the Holy Spirit. Such hardness of heart can lead to final impenitence and eternal ruin» (CCC 1864). Human beings cannot live without the Spirit. In the Bible, the word Spirit is based on the image of breath, of breathing: whoever has the Spirit of God lives. Jesus wants to give him to us because he possesses the fullness of the Spirit. It is clear, then, why blasphemy against the Spirit cannot be forgiven: it would mean rejecting Jesus as the bearer of the Spirit. Whoever rejects Jesus to the end rejects the Spirit, and this cannot be forgiven because there is no other.