The second Sunday of the period of Great Lent is called the Sunday of Expulsion. The basis of the mystery and the name can be found in the Holy Bible, when Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s commands at ate from the Tree of Life and thus were “expelled” from the garden of Eden.
“The Lord God therefore banished him from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he had been taken. 24 He expelled the man, stationing the cherubim and the fiery revolving sword east of the garden of Eden, to guard the way to the tree of life” (Genesis 3:23-24)
Expulsion Sunday places us at the very beginning. The created order, including Adam and Eve, was spoken into existence by the very Word of God, but our harmony with the world and the communion we enjoyed with our Creator was ruptured because of sin. As a result, Adam and Eve, who are a type of all of us, were expelled from paradise and access to the Tree of Life was blocked. However, through Jesus Christ, the new Adam (see I Corinthians 15:45), there is forgiveness of sin. By way of baptism, we are placed on the journey back to the Garden to commune with our Creator, and are once again given access to the Tree of Life.
The Church Fathers have given the Sundays of the Period of Great Lent such names and mysteries which symbolise mankind’s way of life: birth, sinning, regret and repentance.
