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Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden

Adam and Eve are cast out of Paradise.

Adam and Eve are cast out of Paradise.

Amidst the high mountain-tops of the spiritual life is a fertile valley: God's garden. "This is Eden".

Through our Baptism, we are adopted as God's children. We have a right to be heard in prayer. We can be as confident before God our King as an envoy who addresses a great earthly King saying: "Here are my credentials. I know you will hear me". Christ guarantees we'll be heard.

If we persevere in faith, we can approach the 'shore' - the state of great charity - from which we will depart to Heaven at our death. Even in this life, we can come near the edge of Eden.

The purpose of Holy Communion is to restore to human beings the joy of intimate union with their Divine Creator: a joy known by the first man and woman but lost through Original Sin. It brings bliss, consolation and peace to those who come to Christ with purified hearts.

God created good people. But those first human beings rebelled against God, and so turned a corner in the great 'road' of our salvation history. They left behind the joys of Eden; but God would choose a people to follow Him, and would promise a Saviour Who would help people to regain their lost innocence. He would restore the life of Divine grace to their souls.

There was a time, long ago in Paradise, when our first parents loved to serve God, and were, for a short while, prompt to fulfil all His wishes as soon as He had made them known. Then came the Fall. But now, even God's children today often hide from Him.

When the first human beings said "No" to God, the all-good, beautiful and holy, it was as if that cry of disobedience reverberated round the whole universe, so shocking was their pride and hard-heartedness. The whole of nature was damaged by the consequences of that Original Sin, at what we call 'the Fall'; and suffering entered our world.