What Really Happened in the Garden of Eden and Where Is It?

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The readings for this homily: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/022226.cfm

Father Chris Alar, MIC, invites us to reconsider the Genesis story in light of both tradition and modern discoveries. He notes that scientific genealogy now points to a single ancestral woman, reinforcing the plausibility that Adam and Eve were actual historical persons. He stresses that the biblical account employs symbolic language to convey theological truth, not to serve as a scientific textbook. The garden, he explains, symbolizes the state of grace—a divine communion that humanity originally shared with the Father. By locating the entrance of Eden to the east, the ancient tradition connects the garden with the tabernacle and the Holy of Holies, the most sacred space where God dwelt among his people.

Father Chris distinguishes the two creation narratives, showing that one offers a chronological outline while the other provides a vivid visual metaphor of God shaping man from the earth. He reiterates that humanity is a unique composite of matter and spirit, endowed with a rational, immortal soul that separates us from animals. The episode of the tree of knowledge, according to Fr. Chris, is less about acquiring moral awareness and more about the tragic attempt to seize God’s legal authority over good and evil—a theme that mirrors contemporary attempts to legislate morality.

Father Chris also links the garden imagery to the Church’s Sacramental life, describing the tabernacle as a miniature Eden where the Holy of Holies resides. He reminds listeners that the Sacraments are the ordinary channels through which God continues to offer the grace first granted in Eden. By understanding these layers, we can love our faith more deeply and recognize that the Our Father, the Mass, and the Sacraments are extensions of that original divine intimacy.

During this Lenten season, Fr. Chris encourages the faithful to use the disciplines of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving to enter more fully into the mystery of Eden, allowing the heart to be transformed by the same grace that first animated Adam.

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