Monday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time

“Cain Killing Abel”
by Daniele Crespi, 1818-1820

Readings for Monday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time [1]
 
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible [2]
 
Readings and Commentary:[3]
 
Reading 1: Genesis 4:1-15, 25
 
The man had relations with his wife Eve,
and she conceived and bore Cain, saying,
"I have produced a man with the help of the LORD."
Next she bore his brother Abel.
Abel became a keeper of flocks, and Cain a tiller of the soil.
In the course of time Cain brought an offering to the LORD
from the fruit of the soil,
while Abel, for his part,
brought one of the best firstlings of his flock.
The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering,
but on Cain and his offering he did not.
Cain greatly resented this and was crestfallen.
So the LORD said to Cain:
"Why are you so resentful and crestfallen.
If you do well, you can hold up your head;
but if not, sin is a demon lurking at the door:
his urge is toward you, yet you can be his master."
Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let us go out in the field."
When they were in the field,
Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.
Then the LORD asked Cain, "Where is your brother Abel?"
He answered, "I do not know.
Am I my brother's keeper?"
The LORD then said: "What have you done!
Listen: your brother's blood cries out to me from the soil!
Therefore you shall be banned from the soil
that opened its mouth to receive
your brother's blood from your hand.
If you till the soil, it shall no longer give you its produce.
You shall become a restless wanderer on the earth."
Cain said to the LORD: "My punishment is too great to bear.
Since you have now banished me from the soil,
and I must avoid your presence
and become a restless wanderer on the earth,
anyone may kill me at sight."
"Not so!" the LORD said to him.
"If anyone kills Cain, Cain shall be avenged sevenfold."
So the LORD put a mark on Cain, lest anyone should kill him at sight.
Adam again had relations with his wife,
and she gave birth to a son whom she called Seth.
"God has granted me more offspring in place of Abel," she said,
"because Cain slew him."
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Commentary on Gn 4:1-15, 25
 
The story of Cain and Abel first establishes that the ability to join in God’s creative plan through procreation is his gift to us, as Eve exclaims: "I have produced a man with the help of the LORD." “Consequently the Church reminds married couples of their duty 'to transmit human life and to educate their children; they should realize that they are thereby cooperating with the love of God the Creator and are, in a certain sense, its interpreters.'"[4]
 
The story also gives us the rationale for some of the peoples being nomadic. It establishes the rights of these peoples to subsist on the land. At a deeper level, however, we see that when Cain first became envious, the Lord warned him about sin. God explains that sin is always ready to take the unwary, a “demon lurking at the door.”
 
CCC: Gen 4:1-2 2335; Gen 4:3-15 401; Gen 4:3-7 2538; Gen 4:4 2569; Gen 4:8-12 2259; Gen 4:10-11 2259; Gen 4:10 1736, 1867, 2268; Gen 4:25-26 2335
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 50:1 and 8, 16bc-17, 20-21
 
R. (14a) Offer to God a sacrifice of praise.

God the LORD has spoken and summoned the earth,
from the rising of the sun to its setting.
"Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you,
for your burnt offerings are before me always."
R. Offer to God a sacrifice of praise.
"Why do you recite my statutes,
and profess my covenant with your mouth
Though you hate discipline
and cast my words behind you?"
R. Offer to God a sacrifice of praise.
"You sit speaking against your brother;
against your mother's son you spread rumors.
When you do these things, shall I be deaf to it?
Or do you think that I am like yourself?
I will correct you by drawing them up before your eyes."
R. Offer to God a sacrifice of praise.
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Commentary on Ps 50:1 and 8, 16bc-17, 20-21
 
Psalm 50 is didactic in explaining that God does not want sacrifice for the sake of sacrifice or praise, which is just lip service. Rather he wants genuine obedience and sincere praise. He rebukes the hypocritical worshiper.
 
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Gospel: Mark 8:11-13
 
The Pharisees came forward and began to argue with Jesus,
seeking from him a sign from heaven to test him.
He sighed from the depth of his spirit and said,
"Why does this generation seek a sign?
Amen, I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation."
Then he left them, got into the boat again,
and went off to the other shore.
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Commentary on Mk 8:11-13
 
Ironically, this passage follows the story of the “Multiplication of the Loaves.” It is clear from the language here that the Pharisees who confront him have gotten word of this event and are hoping for something to prove that Jesus’ announcement of the Kingdom of God is valid. “The objection of the Pharisees that Jesus' miracles are unsatisfactory for proving the arrival of God's kingdom is comparable to the request of the crowd for a sign in John 6:30-31. Jesus' response shows that a sign originating in human demand will not be provided; cf. Numbers 14:11, 22.”[5]
 
It is interesting to note from the parallel passage in Matthew 16:1-4,that the phrase used: "The Pharisees and Sadducees came and, to test him, asked him to show them a sign from heaven." is identical in the Greek to the phrase used by the Evil One when he came to test Christ in the desert (Matthew 4:1ff). [6] Jesus gives those who also want to test him the same answer.  He turns his back on them.
 
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Reflection:
 
We find in scripture the real impact of mankind’s fall from grace, the punishment given to Adam and Eve as a consequence of their disobedience to God.  In Genesis, the fallen nature of their offspring Cain and Abel is manifested in jealousy: “sin is a demon lurking at the door.”
 
It is likely that it was same “resentful” attitude that caused the Pharisees to be blinded to the nature of Christ.  Demanding signs they could not see, they were to become the new Cain as they would ultimately persecute and kill Jesus.
 
It is for this reason Jesus came. He came so mankind, all mankind, could be restored to grace, and once more enjoy God’s loving presence.  When Jesus offered himself, the first fruits of salvation, as the perfect sacrifice, he reopened the gates of heaven. These gates had been closed and barred since Adam’s first bite at the apple ended innocence and introduced sin into the world.
 
In baptism we were adopted by God.  We were washed clean of original sin, Adam’s sin, and sanctified, made holy so that we might have the grace of Christ as part of our inheritance.  While sin remains in the world, and we need to be aware of it, it no longer finds easy roots in our hearts.  The Holy Spirit has strengthened that place in our being, and we can reject it if we draw on that strength.  It is the same grace, given to us in baptism, which allows us to see the signs Christ gave to this generation.  We only need to open the eyes of faith and we see that Christ’s miracles abound.
 
Pax
 

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[1] The picture used is “Cain Killing Abel” by Daniele Crespi, 1818-1820.

[2] S.S. Commemoratio

[3] The readings are taken from the New American Bible, with the exception of the psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for English in Liturgy (ICEL). This republication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.

[4] Vatican II, "Gaudium et spes," 50.

[5] See NAB footnote on Mark 8:11-12.

[6] Fire of Mercy Heart of the Word Volume II, Erasmo Leiva-Merikakis, Ignatius Press, San Francisco, CA, © 2003 p.487.