Day 77: She Became the Mother of all the Living
Genesis 3:9-24
Just as man exercised his prophetic role in naming the animals, “The man named his wife Eve, because she was the mother of all living,” (Gen 3:20). We are bound to believe that all of humanity came from a single pair (see Humani Generis 37). This is also supported by research and the presence of a kind of mitochondrial DNA in the cells of every human person. Man and woman are created with a soul and endowed with the Holy Spirit to become “a living being,” (Gen 2:7); that is, a being with the same life as God because of the presence of the Spirit. We see that after the Fall, the Holy Spirit is forced out of their souls because of their decision to deliberately disobey God. Therefore, the human nature Adam and Eve pass on is a fallen one. She is called the mother of all the living because she is the mother of the human race.
“The knot of Eve’s disobedience was loosed by the obedience of Mary.”
Saint Irenaeus
Many people, including many Early Church Fathers, will make the connection in the Protoevangelium; that is, Genesis 3:15, and Mary. We should pay attention to our Blessed Mother as the New Eve; that is, the New Woman, who was also created without sin so that just as humanity fell by a man and a woman, it may be redeemed by the New Man Christ and the New Woman Mary.
However, we should lean into these connections and types because they will continue to shed more light on “the way to the tree of life,” (Gen 3:24). Again, many Church Fathers made the connection that the Cross is the tree of life and we can now partake of its fruits; that is, Christ in the Eucharist. Just as Adam and Eve were not able to approach the tree in their state of mortal sin, likewise, we cannot approach Christ in the Eucharist if we are in a state of mortal sin. This is what Paul speaks about in 1 Cor 11. We must go to Confession and have the Holy Spirit restored in our souls before receiving our blessed Lord again. This is why we must be baptized because we do not have the Holy Spirit in our souls because the human nature Adam and Eve pass on is one devoid and deprived of the Spirit. All of this is why Mary is the New Mother of all the Living; that is, those who are alive in Christ. It is through her and the Holy Spirit that the Christ-child came into the world and it is by her and the Spirit that He comes into our hearts. It is the restoration of the breath of life that makes us children of Christ and not children of the world, thus making available the way; who is Christ (cf. Jn 14:6), to the tree of life.
Prayer: Lord, help me to treasure the gift of the Holy Spirit in my soul all the days of my life so that I may come to live with You and the Father in the unity of the same Spirit