Saturday, December 22, 2012
392. What is sin?
(Comp 392) Sin is “a word, an act, or a desire contrary to the eternal Law” (Saint
Augustine). It is an offense against God in disobedience to his love. It wounds
human nature and injures human solidarity. Christ in his passion fully revealed
the seriousness of sin and overcame it with his mercy.
“In brief”
(CCC 1871) Sin is an utterance, a deed, or a desire contrary
to the eternal law (St. Augustine, Faust
22: PL 42, 418). It is an offense against God. It rises up against God in a
disobedience contrary to the obedience of Christ. (CCC 1872) Sin is an act
contrary to reason. It wounds man's nature and injures human solidarity.
To deepen and
explain
(CCC 1849)
Sin is an offense against reason, truth, and right conscience; it is failure in
genuine love for God and neighbor caused by a perverse attachment to certain
goods. It wounds the nature of man and injures human solidarity. It has been
defined as "an utterance, a deed, or a desire contrary to the eternal
law" (St. Augustine, Contra Faustum
22: PL 42, 418; St. Thomas Aquinas, STh
I-II, 71, 6). (CCC 1850) Sin is an offense
against God: "Against you, you alone, have I sinned, and done that which
is evil in your sight" (Ps 51:4). Sin sets itself against God's love for
us and turns our hearts away from it. Like the first sin, it is disobedience, a
revolt against God through the will to become "like gods" (Gen 3:5),
knowing and determining good and evil. Sin is thus "love of oneself even
to contempt of God" (St. Augustine, De
civ. Dei 14, 28: PL 41, 436). In this proud self-exaltation, sin is
diametrically opposed to the obedience of Jesus, which achieves our salvation
(cf. Phil 2:6-9).
Reflection
(CCC 1851)
It is precisely in the Passion, when the mercy of Christ is about to vanquish
it, that sin most clearly manifests its violence and its many forms: unbelief,
murderous hatred, shunning and mockery by the leaders and the people, Pilate's
cowardice and the cruelty of the soldiers, Judas' betrayal - so bitter to
Jesus, Peter's denial and the disciples' flight. However, at the very hour of
darkness, the hour of the prince of this world (Cf. Jn 14:30), the sacrifice of
Christ secretly becomes the source from which the forgiveness of our sins will
pour forth inexhaustibly.
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