Open the newspaper – Flip on the TV – Scroll through Facebook, Twitter, or whatever the current social media platform is - and one thing is undeniably clear – there is a problem with the world. – Evil seems to be present no matter where we look.
There is an ugly reality in front of us – something that cannot be denied – the nasty reality of moral evil – No matter what technology – something really is wrong with the world – Something that GK Chesterton notes was “is the only part of Christian theology which can really be proved.”
The problem is widely accepted – from the greatest saints – to the most atheistic skeptics. In the face of the obvious reality of evil in the world, there are only two possible answers. As Chesterton puts in his book Orthodoxy, one “must either deny the existence of God, as all atheists do; or must deny the present union between God and man, as all Christians do” – Philosophers like to call this problem the human condition – The Western Christian tradition calls it Original Sin.
Original sin – Adam and Eve - there in the garden, - and the serpent tempting them – And there is the start of human weakness - following Satan’s lies – Not trusting God but going their own way – thinking something is being held from them.
We may not be directly responsible for original sin – Sin is a personal action - it would be unjust to say we are “guilty” of original sin in the same way one is guilty of personal sins – indeed, the Catechism of the Catholic Church notes that Original sin is only sin by analogy – Yet it has had a massive, destructive, effect on all creation.
As Pope Benedict – then Cardinal Ratzinger, said in a Lenten Homily given in Munich – “Human beings are relational, and they possess their lives—only by way of relationship … To be truly a human being means to be related in love, to be of and for. But sin means the damaging or the destruction of relationality. … sin is loss of relationship, disturbance of relationship, and therefore it is not restricted to the individual.”
The damage caused by that sin of Adam harmed all creation – including creation’s relationship with God – “each person is, from the very start, damaged in relationships and does not engage in them as he or she ought.” Chesterton is correct – The relationship between creation and God is deeply wounded – All it takes to know that is to look at the news – not just today but at any time through history.
In the words of St Paul – “Through one man sin entered the world, and through sin, death, and thus death came to all men” – Evil does not show there is no God – but that the sin of Adam has deeply wounded all creation – and that world is separated from God. – our relationship with God was wounded right at our birth – we are tempted by sin again and again – how often do we do what we know is wrong? – regretting it – yet doing it again.
What is the answer? There are all sorts of attempted solutions to try and solve the problem – From psychological counseling to sociological studies, new political structures and law enforcement action – the invention of new technology – while these are not bad – counseling is beneficial to many, and we need law enforcement – they cannot solve the problem – for we cannot solve the problem – for we are affected by that deep wounding of Original sin. Where lies our hope?
Again, in the words of St Paul - “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.” – The answer is only found in Christ – the new Adam.
He came to heal what was damaged by that first sin – Pulling back to God all that has been separated by that wound of original sin – dying and rising, opening the door through death. – but also throughout his life - Adam and Eve faced Satan in the garden – and brought sin into the world - Christ for 40 days in the desert, again tempted by Satan – But where Adam failed – Christ held to his mission – the salvation of the world.
A solution is found to evil – the Atheist might deny God as a response to evil in the world – yet that is no solution, for sin is still here. However, the Christian turns to Christ – the son of God become man – come to heal that wound – in Confidence that “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.” – That we will be made righteous, if only we hold to Christ.
Here we are at the beginning of Lent – our own 40 days of fasting – uniting ourselves to Christ – a time where we recall our sins and repent – Accepting God’s mercy - doing penance – prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. – We cannot undo the damage of original sin – that wound to the world from which we all have inherited – But Christ can and does – for that is why he came – if only we look to him – something that Lent particularly brings to mind.