Mary, the New Eve: May 10, 2009 Fifth Sunday of Easter (B)

Some people are born with gifts to clean. That's not one of mine. At my parent's home, I'll be laying down on the couch watching TV, and there she is, my mom mopping the floor and putting all the things back in order (especially things I took out but did not return to their proper places). I'm sure this is not so unlike your own homes. Usually, there is one person in the house who loves to clean, whether that love for cleaning is out of necessity or because there is genuine free flowing desire to clean. That person is usually our mother. She's the one who keeps refrigerator stocked up and kitchen cabinets neatly organized. Since this is the weekend of Mother's Day, our thanks goes out to all the mothers. Thank you, mothers!

Some mothers' secret wish is that like genetics, some traits, like being neat and clean, will be passed on to our children. We hope someone would say to us looking at our children, "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree," meaning the kids are like their parents. But that's the mystery of having children, isn't it? You never know what you get out of a box of chocolates. Somethings, you definitely know what to expect. A Korean mom and a Korean dad will result in a child with blue eyes and blond hair, right? That would be a freak of nature. Nor do we expect a puppy resulting from human parents. Therefore, human nature begets or results in human nature. Even though I have black hair, black eyes, and darker complexion, I share something in common with many of you who are Italians. (I can tell you one big difference between Italians and Koreans; we Koreans don't kiss and hug like Italians!) We are all human, gifted with a unique human body. All human bodies are composed of 23 chromosomes despite differences in appearances. This human body does not last forever--it dies. We are also gifted with a human soul that is in unity with the body. This human soul, is unique, because it survives beyond the body and is immortal. Even the philosopher Aristotle, who lived before the Christian era, came to the conclusion that human soul is immortal. So if all these traits are shared by all human beings, it is not too difficult for us to reason that we all share a common mother which the Scriptures reveal as "the woman" in the Book of Genesis. Adam, only after eating the fruit and experiencing the Fall which we call, the 'Original Sin,' names "the woman" as "Eve,": " "The man called his wife Eve, because she became the mother of all the living." (Genesis 3:20) Although Adam and Eve were originally created immaculately--that is, without sin-- to live eternally in union with God the Creator, with the Fall and the Original Sin, pain, toil, and death enter the human race. No human persons down the history will escape this tragic fate. "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree."

How are we to escape this tragic fate? Every human person born of a human mother share the same fate as Cain and Abel, unless we were born to a different kind of parents--parents who were not touched by the Original Sin. It would require a different kind of Eve; Eve was "the mother of the all the living" who were born from 'below.' We need a new kind of Eve who will be mother for all those who will be born from 'above.' Jesus said, "Amen, amen, I say to you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above." (John 3:3) Every child to be born requires a womb. Just as all human beings are given birth through the womb of Eve inheriting the fallen human nature, those who are to be 'born from above,' will be born through the womb of the New Eve inheriting a supernatural life given by the New Adam, Our Lord Jesus Christ.

It was not too difficult for the early Christian community to grasp Blessed Mother as the New Eve. Only a generation after the first Apostles, St. Justin Martyr wrote near 155 A.D. that "Christ became a man by a virgin to overcome the disobedience caused by the serpent ...in the same way it had originated...Eve, the first woman, was a virgin at the time that she was tempted by the serpent in the garden. Thus, Eve, a virgin, conceived disobedience and death, whereas, Mary, a virgin, conceived the Word in obedience and brought forth Life." Few years later around 189 A.D. St. Ireneus would further say that Jesus Christ is the New Adam and Mary the New Eve who undid what the first Eve had done. The first Eve disobeyed God and thereby brought sin and death into the world. The New Eve, Mary, obeyed and believed God's message which was given to her at the Annunciation ( Lk .1 :26-38 ), and brought salvation and life to the world in her son, Jesus, who crushes the head of the serpent. Mary, like us, shares in this victory.

So what does all this mean? Every Christian who is re-born, born-again, or born-from-above through baptism all share a common mother, the New Eve--the Blessed Mother. Christian brothers and sisters of other denominations can ignore or forget their mother, like many of us who forget to send Mother's Day card or gift. They may even deny that they were born from above through Blessed Mother. However, "the apple does not fall far from the tree."