“And the woman saw that the tree was good to eat, and fair to the eyes, and delightful to behold: and she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave to her husband who did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened: and when they perceived themselves to be naked, they sewed together fig leaves, and made themselves aprons.”
Eve’s attentiveness moves from the Lord to the object of desire, and her constancy breaks. Her attention moves from the divine to the temporal, and with it placed in front of her, she indulges, breaking the love relationship she has with God. Though her intellectual capacity, not weighed down by sin, is greater than yours, it lays down something important concerning human weakness: All people need constant refreshment. Thirst arises anew, hunger after a few hours returns, and so too with love. A great consolation may make you feel unbreakable, but within a day it fades. “Peter answering, said to him: ‘Although all shall be scandalized in thee, I will never be scandalized.’ Jesus said to him: ‘Amen I say to thee, that in this night before the cock crow, thou wilt deny me thrice’” (Matthew 26:33-34). To keep one’s attention from Jesus is to keep oneself from the waters of life: “He that thirsteth, let him come: and he that will, let him take the water of life, freely” (Apocalypse 22:17), which yields many more opportunities to slip into errors of lust, vanity, and pride as your soul looks for the refreshment of love. So, forgetting her God, she turns to eat from the tree, determining for herself the ways of good and evil, partaking with her husband who had not been vigilantly watching the garden or his wife. The error of Adam in allowing this to take place shows the necessity for vigilance: “He cometh to his disciples, and findeth them asleep, and he saith to Peter: ‘What? Could you not watch one hour with me? Watch ye, and pray that ye enter not into temptation’” (Matthew 26:40-41). The Lord truly doesn’t ask you for much compared to the incredible debt that He paid, but He does ask you for all that you are. The world is burning, the devil is roaming free, and avid prayer is needed: “Shut up this army in the hands of thy people Israel, and let them be confounded in their host and their horsemen. Strike them with fear, and cause the boldness of the boldness of their strength to languish, and let them quake at their own destruction. Cast them down with the sword of them that love thee: and let all that know thy name, praise thee with hymns” (1 Machabees 4:31-33). Who else will rise up to fight in the kingdom of love if not yourself? “Who knoweth whether thou art not therefore come to the kingdom, that thou mightiest be ready in such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14). Spread the love of God by your life, by your every action, and by prayer, that He may be loved throughout the world, and keep vigilance for your own sake: “Be sober and watch: because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, goeth about seeking whom he may devour Whom resist ye, strong in faith” (1 Peter 5:8-9). Adam and Eve were not vigilant, and their vulnerability ceased being something beautiful and intimate, becoming rather something to be hidden and obscured. Their eyes were opened to the potential consequences of what could happen to their hearts and bodies when someone without grace approached them, and their resolution was to pitifully cover themselves with fig leaves. This shows another great mystery, that your sexuality is the most intimate unveiling of yourself to another, a revealing of a secret that expresses you in a profound way. When this is kept in the heart of another, be it a spouse or God Himself, it allows you to be fully yourself with another person. However, like a bully finding out a secret of someone smaller than them, the devil longs to trumpet this and show it to all he can: “To disclose the secrets of a friend, leaveth no hope to an unhappy soul” (Ecclesiasticus 26:24). Adam and Eve realized this, with the devil’s usual tactic being to downplay the consequences of sin in order to tempt before overwhelming with shame after it has been done driving them into hiding from God. They attempt to hide the enormity of their shame beneath little leaves, as people hide the pain and guilt in their hearts behind temporal things. Thus, when you remove yourself from all desires that aren’t God, your soul moves into a place of utter vulnerability, not being able to hide behind its goals, wants, or distractions, and comes before God Himself. It is in these times that He manifests his gentleness, showing that He will not rush in to hurt you as has been done previously, but that He will care for your little heart that you have brought before Him: “Let not your heart be troubled, nor let it be afraid” (John 14:27). He is infinite tenderness, and His voice is tender, His hands gentle: “His throat most sweet, and he is all lovely: such is my beloved, and he is my friend, O ye daughters of Jerusalem” (Song 5:16), and He will love your heart in His own, perfect way, if you return to your innocence by the sacrament of penance: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all iniquity” (1 John 1:9), and by removing the fig leaves of what is not God that you may bear your heart to Him: “I count all things to be but loss for the excellent knowledge of Jesus Christ my Lord” (Philippians 3:8).