HOMILY: FEBRUARY 20, 2022 (1 Corinthians 15: 45-49)

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Please read this passage before reading the homily.

My sisters and brothers,

There are two Adams, the first Adam and the second Adam.  The first Adam received life and the second Adam gave life.  The first is from the earth, earthly; the second is from heaven, heavenly.

When the first Adam gives a banquet, there is much food, but the spoons and forks are enormous in size, more than ten feet long, so much so that the banqueters cannot put anything in their mouths and cannot enjoy the food.

When the Second Adam gives a banquet, there is much food, and the spoons and forks are enormous in size, more than ten feet long, but those attending the banquet feed each other, and everybody gets to enjoy the food.

One time I visited a small village in Mexico where the women washed their clothes in the river by hand.  They had no running water or electricity.  For mass, the priest would have to bring all that was needed for Mass with him.  Their trucks and cars were very old.  Their poverty was very great.  Such is the life of the first Adam.

Into this life, in Judea or Mexico or likewise in some other small and poor place, the Second Adam comes.  He has the same nature that we have, except for sin.  Into the life of the first Adam the Second Adam was likewise born.  He was one of us, but he gave to this life the grace of having hope.  The Second Adam changed the direction of this old life.  The mechanics were the same, but the results were life-giving.

The life of the first Adam had no hope, but was filled with hard labor, sweat, and tears.  The life of the Second Adam is fruitful, full of joy, and simplicity.

We were born in the image of the first Adam, but our vocation and calling from God is that we become the image of the Second Adam for the rest of the world.  Just as we have borne the image of the first Adam, we will also bear the image of the heavenly Adam.