“So Adam called his wife's name Life, because she was the mother of all living.”

The mother of all living, life herself, is our mother Eve. What do we know about her?

3 Scriptural Facts:
1. Her creation from the side of Adam in the image & likeness of God was honored and exalted by God & by Adam. After creating all creation & then Adam, the Lord God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.” Gen 2:18 This is the only place in His act of creation that God said it wasn’t good. Adam remarked on the love he felt for her saying, “This is now bone of my bones & flesh of my flesh.” (v.23) “God did not create Eve to be Adam’s subordinate, but his helper..

She was not made from his feet, to show she’s below him. Nor from his head to be above him. But from his side, to be comparable to him.

"The fact that woman was created after man does not demean her since man himself was created after all the animals, yet he is superior to them. So rather than seeing the woman as secondary or inferior to man, she should be seen as interior to him, part of him.” (LACopts)

2. Through her womb, God fashioned & brought forth every living human being. Adam & Eve were fruitful & multiplied. In fact, Holy Tradition teaches us that she had twins consecutively, male and female. God gifted them with an everlasting bond without shame & complete unity.The fulfillment of this good pairing was an example of divine love.

3. As the mother of all living, Eve prefigures our mother St Mary. Though created for holiness, Eve fell in vainglory, just as we do. St Mary is the fulfillment of humanity & womanhood, so we look to both of them to understand and fulfill womanhood.

God created Eve equal in honor to Adam. Despite the fall & the consequences that befell humankind, we still look to God’s primary purpose in creating Eve.

If we look at the word helper, it is also used to describe the Holy Spirit. (Jn 15:26) In the same way that the Holy Trinity has a divine unity, woman was also created so that created human beings can exemplify such a unity. Womanhood & manhood is never meant to be seen as separate from each other. But equal, with different roles