Blessed are those whose sins are forgiven.
1st Reading: Gen 3:1-8
Gospel: Mk 7:31-37
Again Jesus set out; from the country of Tyre, passed through Sidon and skirting the sea of Galilee, he came to the territory of Decapolis. There a deaf man who also had difficulty in speaking was brought to him. They asked Jesus to lay his hand upon him.
Jesus took him apart from the crowd, put his fingers into the man's ears and touched his tongue with spittle. Then, looking up to heaven, he groaned and said to him, "Ephphetha," that is, "Be opened."
And his ears were opened, his tongue was loosened, and he began to speak clearly. Jesus ordered them not to tell anyone, but the more he insisted on this, the more they proclaimed it. The people were completely astonished and said, "He has done all things well; he makes the deaf hear and the dumb speak."
The story of Adam and Eve is presented in a mythical form. To treat it as if were literal truth is, among other errors, to do a great injustice to the Book of Genesis, which was intended as a myth or an allegory, teaching lessons rather than relating historical facts. A specific and concrete act of rebellion by a particular human couple doesn't seem to be a plausible explanation of the sinful nature of human beings, or of the disorder we see all around us in the world today.
Evolutionary biology allows us to find that we are human beings with natures that allows us to be reshaped, so that we can share in God's life. In adapting ourselves to serve goodness, we show we're capable of being reshaped to the higher demands of God; demands which culminate in the command: "Be perfect! Be Christ-like!" Cooperate with God as He reshapes us to share in His life. We only have to ask and God will reshape us to be His companions. Through Christ, God is telling us great moral truths, perfect and complete versions of the various moral truths that arose in the course of evolution.