Jesuit Journeys
fall 2004
Seasonal Reflection: Adam and Eve in the fall
The woods at our Retreat Center in southwest Iowa
is a holy place, truly a paradise and walking about
in this paradise is helpful for people on retreat who
savor the graces of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius.
We think of the Garden of Eden
as a place gushing with leaves of
green and a bounty of fruit. In that
blessed garden, in their state of
grace, Adam and Eve knew none of
the unforgiving realities we face in
our earthly garden.
For those of us who relish our
time in the garden, we greet
autumn with a melancholic air.
Cooler temperatures are welcome,
but fall is the harbinger of winter.
We are cast out of the garden
with an ice-cold sword to ensure
our banishment.
Did Adam and Eve experience autumn in their paradise?
Autumn isn’t mentioned in scripture, but there is The Fall.
We are reminded of our part in fallen humanity as we walk
in our earthly garden. The deer run from us, the flies bite,
and we weary walking up the hill. How different life would
be had we never sinned.
When Adam and Eve ate the fruit of the Tree of Knowing
Good and Evil, we gained, says St. Augustine, “a knowledge
where ignorance would have been a greater bliss.” St. Ignatius
directs us to reflect on all the evils we
know as a result of our
disobedience. While reflecting on his own sins, St. Ignatius
was surprised that God did not open the earth to swallow
him up, creating a new hell just for him. He knew how
capable he was of sinning against his Creator.
Happily, sin and death do not have the final word. Eating
the forbidden fruit also brought grace: knowledge of the
Good. This verse sung in the Exultet at the Easter Vigil is
full of cheer, “O happy fault, O
necessary sin of Adam, which
gained for us so great a Redeemer.”
Christ obediently endured the
death we deserved for our disobedience.
We profess in the Apostles
Creed: “[Christ] descended into
Hell,” rousing Adam and Eve from
their sleep.
As Adam awoke, he saw One in
the form of a Son of Man, carrying
a cross. Adam saluted the
cross as the wood of the Tree of
Life. According to the “Liturgy of
the Hours” in an ancient homily
for Holy Saturday, Christ said, “You once reached out your
hand in disobedience to take the fruit of the tree. I stretched
out my hand in obedience, and they nailed it to a tree.” The
tree of our defeat has now become the tree of victory.
Contemplating the fall gives us a bounty of nourishment.
Recalling the grain of wheat which dies to bear fruit, we
don’t lament the fall as a time of dying. We anticipate the
rising, the Paschal Mystery. The seasons give witness to the
Divine plan of our salvation.
Fr. Smith is the director of the Creighton
University Retreat Center in Griswold, IA.
Situated on 157 wooded acres on rolling hills, the
center offers retreats to individuals and groups,
and is also available for meetings and lodging:
www.creighton.edu/CURC/curc.html
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