Paradise Lost

Why are there so many broken relationships? Why does it seem that there is so much suffering in the world? Both of these questions can be answered only if we are willing to take a closer look at original sin. Original sin is a reality that cannot be escaped. It is the absence in the human person of what ought to be there.      Man was created in the image and likeness of God. Man’s very essence is derived from the generosity of God, who is being, the perfection of being, in Himself. Like God, Adam had a mind and a free will. In his creation he encountered a harmonious world. There was no disunity or disharmony, between Adam and God, his neighbor, nature, or between his body and soul. That fourfold harmony was a result of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit or sanctifying grace. As Long as Adam freely chose to accept who he was and his dependance on God, that harmony would remain.     Adam was made for relationship. The fulfillment of relationship was the gift of sanctifying grace indwelling in his soul. The harmony of his relationships could only be disrupted by his own free choosing. If Adam, in humility, could continue to subordinate himself to the God who created him, harmony would remain. However, the moment that he sees something more in himself or  he rejects the fact that he is a creature in a created world or rejects the truth of the entire created order, the end result would be disharmony. Cardinal Ratzinger says of this rejection “Human beings who consider dependence on the highest love as slavery and who try to deny the truth about themselves, which is their creatureliness, do not free themselves; they destroy truth and love.” (Ratzinger, In the Beginning..., Pg. 70)     This preference for autonomy and elevation to the throne of God is the very essence of sin. It is a rejection of the good of the created order and “in it’s essence, a renunciation of the truth.” (Ratzinger, pg. 71) This was the choice that Adam made at the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The natural moral law is subject to God alone. It is universal and immutable. In Adam’s haste he failed to accept that this law imposes upon him limitations. Cardinal Ratzinger says that those who “deny the limitations imposed on them by good and evil, which are the inner standard of creation, deny the truth.” (pg. 71) This denial caused a colossal break in his relationship with God. As a result there is a disharmony where there previously was none. The relationship between God and man is now damaged. As a result, man lost what ought to be present in his soul, the sanctifying grace of God.      Sin is not therefore, some abstract principle. It is the reality of the free action of an individual. The whole history of sin begins in chapter three of Genesis and it has it’s origin in the free choice of Adam to reject his dependence on God. (Pg. 71).  If men are to understand and to conquer the consequences of original sin, a deeper understanding of the human person is necessary. As was mentioned before, God made man perfectly. He gave him all that he needed in order to live in communion with Him and choose the good. Freedom is a necessary part of that goodness. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church says: “Sin is an abuse of the freedom that God gives to created persons so that they are capable of loving him and loving one another.” (CCC 387)      In this lies original sin. Given everything necessary to remain in communion with God, man is created in goodness. Everything that God has created is good. Everything in man is good. God gave him every gift necessary for goodness. However, in his narrow groping for the power to arbitrate truth, man rejects the goodness which has been bestowed upon him. In so doing, he severs his relationship with God. His free choice is the impetus for the entry of disharmony and evil to enter the world. It enters through the absence of sanctifying grace or the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in man. This is what ought to be there. It’s absence is the absence of the good that ought to  be present in man.      St. Thomas Aquinas affirms this in the Summa Theologicae. He says that there are three goods of human nature. They are the powers of the soul, man’s inclination to virtue, and the gift of original justice or holiness. He goes on to say that the last of these three goods, original justice, was lost in the fall, while the inclination to virtue is diminished as a result of it. In other words, what was originally a part of human nature is now absent due to the first man’s rejection of the God. All of this has led to an imperfect pursuit of the recovery of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit or justice. Which in turn has led to the presence of disorder and evil in the world.      The absence of the good, is as Ratzinger says the absence of truth. Which is the absence of love. For this reason original sin has led to a world in which relationships are damaged and the good is difficult to attain. Ratzinger says “God’s love can unify damaged human love and radically reestablish the network of relationships that have suffered from alienation.” (pg. 74) The suffering and evil that have entered the world through original sin, can only be remedied by the re-orienting one’s life to Christ and the sanctification in the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Pray the Rosary Daily!Be Holy, Not Worldly!Sacred Heart of Jesus, Have Mercy on Us!

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Canonical link: Paradise Lost