AUDIENCE OF 12/3/08
Catechesis #15, Pauline Year Catechetical Cycle
Here is a translation of the full catechesis:
Dear brothers and sisters,
In today's catechesis, we will dwell on the relationship between Adam and Christ, delineated by St. Paul in the famous page of the Letter to the Romans (5,12-21), in which he hands down to the Church the essential lines of the doctrine on original sin.
For convenience, here is the full citation:
12 Therefore, just as through one person sin entered the world, and through sin, death, and thus death came to all, inasmuch as all sinned --
13 for up to the time of the law, sin was in the world, though sin is not accounted when there is no law.
14 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.
15 But the gift is not like the transgression. For if by that one person's transgression the many died, how much more did the grace of God and the gracious gift of the one person Jesus Christ overflow for the many.
16 And the gift is not like the result of the one person's sinning. For after one sin there was the judgment that brought condemnation; but the gift, after many transgressions, brought acquittal.
17 For if, by the transgression of one person, 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 person Jesus Christ.
18 In conclusion, just as through one transgression condemnation came upon all, so through one righteous act acquittal and life came to all.
19 For just as through the disobedience of one person the many were made sinners, so through the obedience of one the many will be made righteous.
20 The law entered in so that transgression might increase but, where sin increased, grace overflowed all the more,
21 so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through justification for eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Actually, in the first letter to the Corinthians, writing on faith in the resurrection, Paul had already introduced the comparison between the progenitor and Christ. "For just as in Adam all die, so too in Christ shall all be brought to life...'The first man, Adam, became a living being', the last Adam a life-giving spirit" (1 Cor 15,22.45).
With Rom 5,15-21, the comparison between Christ and Adam is more articulated and illuminating: Paul reviews the story of salvation from Adam to the Law and from there to Christ. At the center is not so much Adam with the consequences of sin on mankind, as much as Jesus Christ and the grace which, through him, is poured in abundance on mankind.
The repetition of 'how much more' about Christ underlines how the gift received in him surpasses by far the sin of Adam and the consequences it produced on mankind, such that Paul can conclude with "But where sin increased, grace overflowed all the more" (Rm 5,20). Thus, the comparison that Paul traces between Adam and Christ highlights the inferiority of the first man with respect to the prevalence of Christ.
On the other hand, it is precisely to place in evidence the incommensurable gift of grace, in Christ, that Paul refers to Adam's sin: one might say that if it were not to demonstrate the centrality of grace, he would not have put off discussing sin which "through one person, entered the world, and with sin, death" (Rm 5,12).
Thus, if in the faith of the Church, the awareness of the dogma of original sin matured, it is because it is connected inseparably with the other dogma, that of salvation and of freedom in Christ.
The consequence is that we should never consider the sin of Adam and mankind in a way detached from the salvific context, that is, without understanding it within the horizon of justification in Christ.
But as men of today we should ask ourselves: what is original sin? What does St. Paul teach, what does the Church say? Is this doctrine still sustainable today?
many think that, in the light of the story of evolution, there is no longer place for the doctrine of original sin that then spreads itself over the whole history of mankind. Consequently, even the question of redemption and the Redeemer would lose its foundation.
So, does original sin exist or not? To be able to answer, we should distinguish two aspects of the doctrine on original sin. There is an empirical aspect, that is, a concrete reality, that is visible, I would say tangible to all. And there is the aspect of mystery which concerns the ontological basis of this fact.
The empirical fact is that there exists a contradiction in our being. On the one hand, man knows that he must do good, and intimately, he wants to do good. But at the same time, he also feels the impulse of doing the opposite, of following the road of selfishness, of violence, of doing what he pleases even if he knows it would be acting against good, against God, against neighbor.
St. Paul in his Letter to the Romans, expressed this contradiction in our being thus: "The willing is ready at hand, but doing the good is not. For I do not do the good I want, but I do the evil I do not want" (7,18-19). This interior contradiction in our being is not a theory. Each of us experiences it everyday. And above all, we always see around us the prevalence of this second will. Just think of the daily news on injustice, violence, lies and lust. We see it everyday; it is a fact".
As a consequence of this power of evil on our spirits, a dirty river has formed which poisons the geography of human history. The great French thinker Blaise Pascal spoke of a 'second nature' which is superimposed on our original nature which is good. This 'second nature' makes the bad appear as normal to man. Thus even the usual expression "This is human" has a double meaning.
"This is human" Can mean: this man is good, he acts as a man should act. But it can also mean falsehood: evil is normal, it is human. Evil seems to have become second nature.
This contradiction in the human being, in our history, should provoke, and does provoke, even today, a desire for redemption. I fact, the desire that the world may change and that the promise that a world of justice, peace, good will be created is everywhere. In politics, for instance, everyone speaks of this need to change the world, to create a more just world. This in itself is an expression of the desire for a liberation from the contradiction that we experience in ourselves.
Thus, the fact of the power of evil on the human heart and in human history is undeniable. The question is: how do we explain this evil? In the history of ideas, outside the Christian faith, there is a principal explanation, with many variations. This model says: being itself is contradictory, it carries good as well as evil. In the ancient world, this idea implied that there were two equal and original principles: a good principle and a bad one. This dualism was supposedly insurmountable. The two principles are on the same level, therefore there would always be, from the origin of being, this contradiction.
And so the contradiction in our being simply reflects the opposition of the two divine principles, so to say. In the evolutionist atheist version of the world the same vision returns in a new way.
even if, in this concept, the vision of being is monistic, it supposes that the being as such carries in itself both good and bad from the very start. Being itself is not simply good, but open to both good and bad. Evil is just as original as good. And human history would develop only the model already present all preceding evolution.
And that which Christians call original sin is only the mixed nature of being, a mixture of good and evil which, according to this theory, belongs to the same matter as being.
This is a vision which is basically desperate: if it were so, then evil is invincible. At the end, all that counts is self-interest. And every progress would necessarily have to be paid with a river of evil, and whoever would like to serve progress must agree to pay this price.
Politics, basically, is based on these premises - and we see the effects. This modern thinking can, in the end, only create sadness and cynicism.
So we ask again: what does faith tell us, as testified by St. Paul ? First, it confirms the fact of competition between the two natures, the fact of this evil who shadow hand over all creation.
We heard Chapter 7 of the Letter to the Romans, and we can add Chapter 8. Evil exists, simply. As an explanation, and in contrast with the dualisms and monisms that we briefly looked at and found desolating, faith tells us: there are two mysteries of light and one of night, which, however, is wrapped up in the mysteries of light.
The first mystery of light is this: faith tells us that there are not two principles, one good and one evil, but only one principle, the Creator God, and this principle is good, , only good, without a shadow of evil. And so, even being is not a mixture of good and evil; being as such is good, and therefore, it is good to be, it is good to live.
This is the happy announcement of faith: there is only a good source, the Creator. And therefore to live is good, it is good to be a man, a woman. Life is good.
Then comes the mystery of darkness, of night. Evil does not come from the source of being itself - it is not equally original. Evil comes from a created freedom, from an abused freedom.
How was it possible? How did it happen? This remains obscure. Evil is not logical. Only God and good are logical - they are light. Evil remains mysterious. It is presented in great images, as in Chapter 5 of Genesis, with the image of the two trees, the serpent, the sinning man. A great image that makes us guess but cannot explain what is in itself illogical.
We can guess but not explain. Nor can we say why one is next to the other, because it is a more profound reality. It remains mystery of darkness, of night.
But there is soon another mystery of light. Evil comes from a subordinate source. God with his light is stronger. And so, evil can be overcome. And the creature, man, can be healed.
The dualistic visions, even the monism of evolutionism, cannot say that man can be healed; but if evil comes only from a subordinate source, it remains true that man can be healed. And the Book of Wisdom says, "The creatures of the world are wholesome' (1,14).
Finally, man not only can be healed, He is healed, in fact. God introduced healing. He entered history in person. To the permanent source of evil he opposes a source of pure goodness. Christ crucified and resurrected, the new Adam, opposes the dirty river of evil with a river of light.
And this river is present in history: we see the saints, the great ones but also the humble saints, the simple faithful. We see that the river of light that comes from Christ is present and is strong.
Brothers and sisters, it is Advent time, In the language of the Church, the word Advent has two meanings: presence and waiting. Presence: light is present, Christ is the new Adam, he is with us and among us. Already the light shines, and we should open the eyes of the heart to see the light and to introduce ourselves into the river of light.
Above all, be grateful for the fact that God himself entered history as the new source of good.
But Advent also means waiting. The dark night of evil is still strong. And so, let us pray in Advent with the ancient people of God: 'Rorate caeli desuper' [Drop down, dew from heaven].
And let us pray with insistence: Come, Jesus. Come, give strength to the light and to goodness; come where lies, ignorance of God, violence and injustice dominate; come Lord Jesus, give strength good in this world and help us to be bearers of your light, workers of peace, witnesses of truth. Come Lord Jesus!
In English, he said:
In our continuing catechesis on Saint Paul, we now consider the Apostle’s teaching on the relation between Adam, the first man, and Christ, the second Adam (cf. 1 Cor 15:22.45; Rom 5:12-21).
Paul’s teaching on the sin of Adam and its disastrous consequences for the human family is meant to emphasize the surpassing gift of grace bestowed on humanity by Jesus Christ.
Seen in this light, the doctrine of original sin explains the misery of our human condition, yet Paul also underlines the moral responsibility of each man and woman for this tragic reality.
"All have sinned", the Apostle tells us, "and all fall short of the glory of God" (Rom 3:23). Yet now, by faith in Christ, we have been justified and are at peace with God (cf. Rom 5:1).
Christ, the new Adam, by his obedience to the Father’s will, has set mankind free from the ancient burden of sin and death. In Baptism, he has given us a share in his saving death and resurrection, and made us adoptive children of the Father.
The new life and freedom which we have received by the grace of Christ impels us to bear witness to the sure hope that all creation will be freed from its bondage to corruption, and share in the glorious freedom of the children of God (cf. Rom 8:19ff.).
I am pleased to greet all the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors present at today’s Audience, especially those from Malta, Australia, South Korea and the United States of America. Upon you and your families I cordially invoke an abundance of joy and peace in our Lord Jesus Christ.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 07/12/2008 20:07]