Day 56: Man's First Sin

Man, tempted by the devil, let his trust in his Creator die in his heart and, abusing his freedom, disobeyed God's command. This is what man's first sin consisted of. All subsequent sin would be disobedience toward God and lack of trust in his goodness. CCC 397

In today's reading, the Catechism speaks of that first sin which brought death and brokenness to the world. The first part of this section is entitled, "Freedom Put to the Test". Our first parents unfortunately failed that test and we haven't done any better ever since then. The "Father of lies" deceived our first parents and through their fall from grace "preferred [themselves] to God and by that very act scorned Him. [They] chose [themselves] over and against God" (CCC 398). All of us do the very same thing. In crying out for our "freedom" we forget what that actually means. As the Catechism Companion, Vol I puts it:

True freedom is the power to do what we ought to do. But man violated that freedom... When we sin, we prefer ourselves and our way to God's - which leads us to act against our own good. (p. 116)

Original sin would have drastic and cosmic consequences on not just Adam and Eve, but all of us and Creation itself. Tomorrow this will be further elaborated on, but for now though, the Catechism gives some of the immediate results:

After that first sin, the world is virtually inundated by sin There is Cain's murder of his brother Abel and the universal corruption which follows in the wake of sin. Likewise, sin frequently manifests itself in the history of Israel, especially as infidelity to the God of the Covenant and as transgression of the Law of Moses. and even after Christ's atonement, sin raises its head in countless ways among Christians. Scripture and the Church's Tradition continually recall the presence and universality of sin in man's history. (CCC 401)

The Last Judgement fresco by Michelangelo, Sistine Chapel, Vatican City (1536-1541)