"Why Adam was a wimp."

Was Adam a wimp? (That, believe it or not, is the deep, theological question for the day.) Was Adam a wimp?

Dr. Scott Hahn from the University of Steubenville thinks he was--although he doesn't use that exact term in describing the first man and his weakness. But a wimp by any other name is still a wimp.

What are Professor Hahn's reasons for reaching this conclusion about the physical father of the human race? Well, he begins by going to Genesis 2:15 where God told Adam that his basic duty was to "till and keep" the garden of Eden. It's obvious what the Lord meant when he said to "till" the garden, but the meaning of the second part of the instruction, according to Hahn, might not be so obvious to us. In his book that I recommended to you a few weeks ago, A Father Who Keeps His Promises, Hahn says that the word "keep" (shamar in Hebrew) means "to guard." Which means that God was telling Adam that it was his responsibility to protect the garden of Eden from all potential intruders. And, once Eve was created shortly after this, Adam was also responsible for protecting her. [By the way--everyone knows the real story about the creation of Eve, right? Adam was walking through the garden one day, feeling very lonely, so the Lord said to him, "What's wrong?" Adam said, "Lord, I don't have anyone to talk to here." So the Lord said, "My son, I will give you a woman to be your companion. She will cook for you and wash your clothes; she will always agree with every decision you make. She will bear your children and never ask you to get up in the middle of the night to take care of them. She will not nag you and will always be the first to admit she was wrong when you've had a disagreement. She will never have a headache and will freely give you love and passion whenever needed." Adam said, "That's great, Lord, but what will a woman like that cost?" God responded, "An arm and a leg." Adam said, "Well what can I get for just a rib?" The rest is history. (Just for the record, I did not make that up! That was sent to me by a married man in the parish--so blame him!) Anyway, back to Dr. Hahn's insight. Adam was given the responsibility by God to protect the garden and his wife. Enter Satan. He begins by asking Eve a question: "Did God really tell you not to eat from any of the trees in the garden?" She responds, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; it is only about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden that God said, 'You shall not eat it or even touch it, lest you die.'" Satan retorts, "You shall not die." Professor Hahn says that implicit in those words of Satan was a threat. In effect Satan was saying, "You shall not die, Eve, you will live--but only if you eat the fruit. If you refuse to eat it you will definitely die because I will kill you!" Now where was Adam when all this was happening? Where was Eve's knight in shining armor? Was he out slaying dragons? Was he out for his morning jog at the other end of the garden? No! He was right there with his wife! That's clear because it says that after Eve ate the fruit "she also gave some to her husband, who was with her." Adam was standing right there for the whole event. He heard Satan threaten his spouse and himself, and he made the decision to remain silent. Why? No doubt because he was afraid of what would happen if he did speak up and take action! He knew that if he stood up to Satan and Satan attacked him, he might suffer and die. So he took what he thought was the prudent way out: he kept his mouth shut until it was time to put the piece of fruit in it. A true wimp if there ever was one!

This, of course, should help us to understand our own behavior. We all come into this world with original sin which we inherit from Adam and Eve. That truth was pointed to in our second reading from Romans 5, where St. Paul tells us: "Through one man sin entered the world, and with sin death." But even after original sin is taken away through Baptism, there is something which still remains. It's called "concupiscence." Concupiscence is traditionally defined as "the inclination to sin," but in the terms of this homily you might simply choose to call it wimpiness! That means that whenever we fail to do or say the right thing because we're afraid of the consequences, we're giving in to concupiscence and acting just like wimpy Adam did in the garden of Eden. I know of doctors, for example, who currently refuse to refer for abortions or to give out contraceptives, but who compromised themselves on those issues for a long time because they were afraid--they were afraid of the financial and professional consequences of doing the right thing. That's a contemporary manifestation of Adam's wimpiness. When teens give into peer pressure regarding drugs or alcohol, they're giving in to concupiscence and acting like wimpy Adam. Whenever we join in the gossip at work, or fail to speak up and defend our Catholic faith when we have the opportunity to do so, or commit any other sin of omission, we are giving in to concupiscence and behaving like Adam the wimp.

Today we celebrate the first Sunday of Lent. Lent is a time for us to come to terms with our own wimpiness, and to take positive action against it! This is the purpose of spending more time in prayer, of attending Mass more frequently, of making a good Confession. These are some of the means that God has given us to battle the wimpiness of Adam within ourselves. Because the only power that can possibly overcome the wimpiness of Adam is the power of Jesus Christ--present in prayer and the sacraments.