Feb 22, 2026
First Sunday of Lent, Lectionary: 22
First Reading: Genesis 2:7-9; 3:1-7
The LORD God formed man out of the clay of the ground
and blew into his nostrils the breath of life,
and so man became a living being.
Then the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east,
and placed there the man whom he had formed.
Out of the ground the LORD God made various trees grow
that were delightful to look at and good for food,
with the tree of life in the middle of the garden
and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the animals
that the LORD God had made.
The serpent asked the woman,
“Did God really tell you not to eat
from any of the trees in the garden?”
The woman answered the serpent:
“We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden;
it is only about the fruit of the tree
in the middle of the garden that God said,
‘You shall not eat it or even touch it, lest you die.’”
But the serpent said to the woman:
“You certainly will not die!
No, God knows well that the moment you eat of it
your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods
who know what is good and what is evil.”
The woman saw that the tree was good for food,
pleasing to the eyes, and desirable for gaining wisdom.
So she took some of its fruit and ate it;
and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her,
and he ate it.
Then the eyes of both of them were opened,
and they realized that they were naked;
so they sewed fig leaves together
and made loincloths for themselves.
Responsorial Psalm: Ps 51:3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 17
R. (cf. 3a) Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness;
in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense.
Thoroughly wash me from my guilt
and of my sin cleanse me.
R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
For I acknowledge my offense,
and my sin is before me always:
“Against you only have I sinned,
and done what is evil in your sight.”
R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
A clean heart create for me, O God,
and a steadfast spirit renew within me.
Cast me not out from your presence,
and your Holy Spirit take not from me.
R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
Give me back the joy of your salvation,
and a willing spirit sustain in me.
O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth shall proclaim your praise.
R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
Second Reading: Romans 5:12-19
Brothers and sisters:
Through one man sin entered the world,
and through sin, death,
and thus death came to all men, inasmuch as all sinned—
for up to the time of the law, sin was in the world,
though sin is not accounted when there is no law.
But death reigned from Adam to Moses,
even over those who did not sin
after the pattern of the trespass of Adam,
who is the type of the one who was to come.
But the gift is not like the transgression.
For if by the transgression of the one, the many died,
how much more did the grace of God
and the gracious gift of the one man Jesus Christ
overflow for the many.
And the gift is not like the result of the one who sinned.
For after one sin there was the judgment that brought condemnation;
but the gift, after many transgressions, brought acquittal.
For if, by the transgression of the one,
death came to reign through that one,
how much more will those who receive the abundance of grace
and of the gift of justification
come to reign in life through the one Jesus Christ.
In conclusion, just as through one transgression
condemnation came upon all,
so, through one righteous act,
acquittal and life came to all.
For just as through the disobedience of the one man
the many were made sinners,
so, through the obedience of the one,
the many will be made righteous.
Verse Before the Gospel: Matthew 4:4b
One does not live on bread alone,
but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.
Gospel: Matthew 4:1-11
At that time Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert
to be tempted by the devil.
He fasted for forty days and forty nights,
and afterwards he was hungry.
The tempter approached and said to him,
“If you are the Son of God,
command that these stones become loaves of bread.”
He said in reply,
“It is written:
One does not live on bread alone,
but on every word that comes forth
from the mouth of God.”
Then the devil took him to the holy city,
and made him stand on the parapet of the temple,
and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down.
For it is written:
He will command his angels concerning you
and with their hands they will support you,
lest you dash your foot against a stone.”
Jesus answered him,
“Again it is written,
You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.”
Then the devil took him up to a very high mountain,
and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in their magnificence,
and he said to him, “”All these I shall give to you,
if you will prostrate yourself and worship me.”
At this, Jesus said to him,
“Get away, Satan!
It is written:
The Lord, your God, shall you worship
and him alone shall you serve.”
Then the devil left him and, behold,
angels came and ministered to him.
Reflection
First Reading: Two Unique Trees in the Garden of Eden
There are two (2) trees in the middle of the Garden of Eden: Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (see Gen 2:17) and the Tree of Life (see Gen 3: 22 & 24). They were placed by God because of the significance they have in man’s salvation. Between the two, it is the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil that God prohibits Adam and Eve not to even touch, lest they die.
Curiously, these two trees are in the same place, as if to say that they do co-exist with each other and are even symbiotic in their existence. Notice that these trees embody powers exclusive to God and which He also personifies, they are: life—the power to exist which is the very essence and nature of God, and omniscience—knowing everything, including what is good and evil. He has seen all the good in the world because he created everything to be good. He knows all the evil in this world but is not and never will be the author of evil.
The Tree of Life does not initially prove its significance in the beginning of Genesis because Adam and Eve were created by God with the preternatural gifts of innocence and immortality. Innocence gave them purity of heart and mind, and they had no knowledge of evil because they were created for the good by God himself. They were immortals and had no immediate or pressing need for the Tree of Life. Though immortal, they possessed everlasting life which could be lost by giving into the temptations of the devil and disobeying God’s will.
Since God is also the personification of love, Adam and Eve’s, who were created out of love, had to be tested in their love for God, just like all love relationships get subjected to. We all know that they failed and disobeyed God because they gave in to the lie. God tested Adam and Eve in the Garden by allowing the devil to enter it and do what he always does—to lie and murder souls. God prohibited even the touching of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Adam and Eve were weak in contrast to the devil. Though God gave us free will, He knew that mankind wouldn’t stand a chance against the devil, if man tried to fight evil alone. To make things worse, when man fell by eating the fruit from the Forbidden Tree, he became broken and as a consequence, weaker against the forces of darkness.
Man’s free will or freedom to choose is the same thing that God gave the angels, and because some of them didn’t want God’s perpetual light, everlasting life and refused to serve Him, they staged a rebellion (see Rev 12), lost and got evicted out of Heaven. Those evicted are the “pioneers” of darkness in this world and they have been called as diablo or Satan, which means: those who seek the separation of man from God and the accuser of man in the divine court.
These two trees will merge in the Cross of Christ.
Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil
Now, let’s take a look at the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
Recall that “The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to till it and keep it” (Gen 2:15). To “till” obviously referred to exert effort to make the soil productive and allow flora to flourish. To “keep” meant to protect and secure the garden. The Levite priests who guard the Ark of the Covenant and the Jerusalem Temple understood their said duty as drawn from this Adamic charge in Genesis. With this command, together with the words “fill the earth and subdue it” (in Gen 1:28), God installs Adam as priest who is to mediate between creation and the Almighty.
To till is not only about calling Adam to become a farmer and produce food. It is a sweeping decree to see to it that what God has created should be made fruitful because everything has a purpose: to produce fruit for man’s use and to glorify God in creation.
But the duty to keep the Garden also raises questions. Why would God order it to be kept secure and why the prohibition of ‘taking fruit’ from the said Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil?
Adam and Eve, who had the preternatural gift of innocence, didn’t know evil because they were created from pure goodness and love. It is this innocence that God wanted preserved. Partaking of the forbidden fruit not only caused man to give in to the devil’s temptation and disobey God. It also opened their eyes to evil: “…the serpent said to the woman, “You will not die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Gen 3: 4-5). Perhaps, Adam and Eve were so naïve that they didn’t know that they were being lied to. Sadly, whatever consequence was attached to disobedience, which includes losing their divine innocence and life, didn’t seem devastating enough for them that they were willing to forego everything in favor of the lie.
Side Note: “And their eyes were opened…”
There are only two (2) Bible verses which mention the phrase “their eyes were opened.” The first is in Genesis 3:7: “Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons.” After eating the forbidden fruit, Adam and Eve’s eyes became open to the truth about the existence of good and evil in the world and lost their innocence and immortality. Adam and Eve, together with the entire human race, now have shame and have forfeited life when they disregarded God’s warning. When they were banished from the Garden, entry was prohibited until it was opened by the one who died on the Cross and rose from death.
The second verse is found in Luke 24:31: “And their eyes were opened and they recognized him; and he vanished out of their sight.” On the Road to Emmaus from Jerusalem, St. Clopas and companion met this unrecognized man who walked with them for a good 12 miles and to their amazement, opened up to them Scriptures and how the crucified Jesus was the Messiah Israel was promised salvation by God.
The eye opening in Genesis was a consequence of Adam and Eve’s disobedience and death. Having known what good and evil are, God said: “Behold, man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever.” Man’s disobedience to God is a grave sin and now, because of this, entered pride, malice, shame and guilt. If man didn’t know evil, everything he did wouldn’t be sinful for he knew nothing about evil and sin. But now that he does know evil and sin, it makes him one like God without God—very much like the devil which possesses supernatural powers to be used for mocking God and the ruin of souls. On the other hand, the eye opening on the Road to Emmaus was a consequence of Jesus revealing Himself in the breaking of the bread, which takes away the consequences of the disobedience of Adam and Eve in Genesis.
To keep the Garden meant that Adam must defend it because his spouse Eve is in it. The Devil was permitted to get in and made his move, not with Adam, but with Eve. Now, the face of evil makes his appearance. At that point in time, there is good and evil before man and the knowledge about them is represented in the Tree. Evil was allowed to enter only to shake Adam and Eve’s resolve and loyalty, and to make them distinguish what is good from what is evil. Adam was tested in the Garden to make him aware what is it they stand to lose if he didn’t fulfill his duty of keeping it.
Please note that what entered the Garden is a fallen angel, a creature far more superior to man. But this fallen angel entered appearing like a serpent or more specifically—a scary and frightening being which lost all his angelic beauty. Now that Adam sees him, does he still remember his duty to keep the Garden? Is he willing to confront this demonic leviathan? Adam should have concluded that this entity is NOT supposed to be there and he must be expelled with God’s help.
Adam’s first mistake was not seeking God’s help outright. Yes, fear could have overcome him but that would have impelled him more to cry out to God for help. Instead of laying his life down for his bride, who was already being “attacked” by the Devil himself, he chooses to stay mum and derelict about it and left the negotiating and decision making to his wife.
The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was a tree of testing. What was it supposed to test? It was supposed to test our use of the gift of free will, our power to choose between good and evil, between right and wrong. It is free will that gives us the power to choose to become moral, immoral and amoral. It is this tree which God attached the great prohibition and warning to Adam, when Eve wasn’t yet around: “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die” (Gen 2:16-17). Note: Holiness can only be achieved with God in our hearts and minds.
Man’s innocence was lost through the beguiling lies of the Devil, tempting them to take from the Forbidden Tree: “You will not die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:4-5). Unfortunately, Adam and Eve failed big time and thus came original sin, the cause of our concupiscence and proclivity toward sin.
Our Lord Jesus became flesh and dwelt amongst us to tell us and prove to us that He has defeated sin and death; He has defeated the Devil. That even if our proto parents have failed the test or even if we have failed the test, Jesus gave mankind a fresh start by paying for all the sin in the world through His death on the Cross. Jesus came to be baptized in the Jordan so that we too could be baptized in water and spirit that brings us new life; a baptism which brings us rebirth and makes us born from above.
Tree of Life
22″Behold, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever” — 23therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken. 24He drove out the man; and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.
Let’s start with the premise that our God is the absolute good and the personification of good. He only wills the good in what He created, particularly in man which He fashioned in His own image, after His own likeness. He creates man only for the good because goodness means life and true life is about doing what is good. God can’t will what is not good because goodness is His very nature and essence. Whatever is against God is evil—this is an absolute rule!
Goodness is about a life of being with God. Just remember that a life with God requires grace. Yes, we received grace through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit when we were baptized and in the reception of the other Sacraments. But sin and becoming lukewarm in the faith can easily defeat us because we are weak and broken due to original sin. Therefore, we have to want to live a life of grace. If we become complacent in our faith, if we take holiness for granted, we won’t stand a chance against the forces of evil. Except for Jesus, no one has won against evil without grace.
Life should NOT be about a life dedicated to the accumulation of material possessions. Possessions may make life more convenient but they are NOT the source of holiness. They are supposed to be possessed only for the reason of doing the good, not for selfish and evil reasons.
We know what the Tree of Life is or what it stands for. The Tree of Life is the source of the life, the source of goodness and all that is good. This Tree of Life makes its definitive appearance in the New Testament in the Cross because the one who died on it is the source of all life, Jesus. He gave His life so that we can have His life, the divine life. Remember, the divine life is the only kind of life in Heaven and it is the only standard for entry into God’s abode. In fact, it is the only life worth living here on earth.
Whenever we sin, especially mortal sin, we die. But the Cross opened up the gates of Heaven because from the Cross, life poured out and together with it was payment for all the sin of the world.
The Third Tree: The Cross
One may say that the Cross is the sum of all trees in man’s salvation history. If Adam went and eat from the wrong tree, our Lord Jesus went to the right tree—the Cross, so that He could give us the right fruit: the Bread of Life in the Eucharist.
For first century Jews and Romans, crosses were there from which criminals hung and fight for their lives; a violent symbol of justice and punishment for what evil people did.
In the case of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Cross meant liberation. Even if the first century Jews and Romans have seen the Cross of Christ as a Roman execution, we know that such view was limited because it offered much more than a Roman execution. The Cross of Christ was no less than the brutal execution of an innocent man; it was also Deicide – the killing of God. The Cross is the symbol of the greatest evil man is capable of and that is to execute God. Man didn’t believe that Jesus is God and that is why we killed Him with our sins. Our sins caused the Cross. In a way, the Cross is also a reminder of what happens when we kill God in our hearts and minds. When we walk away from God, we fall into the clutches of evil and die. Like the salt which lost its taste, we will just be thrown along the pathway to be trampled upon.
The Cross is also the greatest symbol of love man has ever seen. It is an act of unconditional love from God who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Because the Cross, thou hast redeemed the world. Good Friday was an emptying of life from the Cross to all mankind so that man can be resurrected with Christ on the last day. This is why the Cross is the Tree of Eternal Life.
The Cross is also the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil because through it, the greatest evil was performed. But through it also, the greatest good came forth when Jesus poured out His life just to save mankind. The Cross is the symbol for us to look at and reflect about the goodness of God and the example showed us by Jesus when He was with us. From the Cross, Jesus speaks, not only on Good Friday, but until the end of time. In Jesus is life and goodness, and it took the greatest evil for us to know how much good there is in the world.
Lastly, the Cross is man’s liberation from the bondage of sin. Please consider that the Cross relates to Adam. How? Adam was gifted with the preternatural gift of immortality. So, why would God put a Tree of Life in the middle of the Garden if Adam was already immortal? Adam should have no need for the Tree of Life if he were already immortal. Because of the Crucifixion of our Lord on the Cross, we now know why Adam needed the Tree of Life and what applies to Adam applies to all mankind – we all died due to pride and disobedience and it is the Cross, the Tree of Life, which saved us.
This Lent, let us all remember that our objective in life is to reach Heaven and for that to be realized, we must be holy enough to draw from the Tree of Life. Our battles on this earth emanate from our resilience and strength to side with Truth, Good and Holy, and we can only know them if we draw from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, so that we can do the good and fight evil. In other words, we have to start living the holy life by embracing our crosses daily because by doing so, we do God’s will and glorify Him in what we do and say.
Today’s Responsorial Psalm is so appropriate because we need mercy and anybody who says that he does not is a fool: Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
A blessed First Sunday of Lent to everyone.
– Gospel Reflection by Kuya Rommel Cecilio of SLRP Bible Apostolate Ministry