Saturday, March 12, 2011

First Sunday of Lent: The "tsunami" of original sin is turned back by the grace to resist temptation in Christ


A tsunami devastates everything in its path. This behemoth of destruction which can sweep away man and everything he has made as it ripples through cities, towns and countryside, is caused by a rebellion of rupture deep within the earth. Plates move, rise up, and break against all constraints, sending a shock wave through everything which surrounds them. We have seen only a few images which give us some idea of the awesome and terrible power of nature displayed in recent days afflicting the people of Japan. They remain in need of our prayers and material assistance.

There is another kind of tsunami which is even more devastating, however, because it reverberates through all human life, manifesting itself as a rupture deep within every human person and capable of throwing man and woman into eternal suffering, without love and without the others who make love possible.

The rejection of God, the choice of our first parents Adam and Eve to abuse their freedom and refuse God and His plan for them, erupted as an earthquake of sin and death with effects upon the whole human family, tearing every person away from original justice with God and tearing God away from a communion of love with all His creatures. Shock waves reverberated forth from this rebellion against God and His love which continue to affect each of us today, even after Baptism, through a darkened intellect and a weakened will. The tsunami which resulted from the "original earthquake" we call "original sin", the doctrine about which which Saint Paul teaches in today's second reading.

For the full text of today's homily you are invited to visit Meeting Christ in the Liturgy by clicking here.

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