The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 57: Consequences of Adam’s Sin (2025)

Episode Date: February 26, 2025

Fr. Mike examines the consequences of the sin of our first parents, Adam and Eve. He discusses that even though they committed a personal sin, it affected all of human nature. As Fr. Mike states, “Original sin broke the world.” Additionally, we explore the idea that although we are good, we are still broken. Fr. Mike also discusses how each and every one of us has an inclination towards evil and sin known as concupiscence. Today’s readings are Catechism paragraphs 402-406. This episode has been found to be in conformity with the Catechism by the Institute on the Catechism, under the Subcommittee on the Catechism, USCCB. For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/ciy Please note: The Catechism of the Catholic Church contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.

Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz and you're listening to the Catechism in a Year podcast, where we encounter God's plan of sheer goodness for us, revealed in scripture and passed down through the tradition of the Catholic faith. The Catechism in a Year is brought to you by Ascension. In 365 days, we'll read through the Catechism of the Catholic Church, discovering our identity in God's family as we journey together toward our heavenly home. It is day 57, reading paragraphs 402 to 406. Oh my gosh. As always, I'm using the Ascension edition of the Catechism, which includes the Foundations of Faith approach,

but you can follow along with any recent version of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Also, you can download your free Catechism in a year reading plan by visiting ascensionpress.com slash C-I-Y Y and you can also click follow or subscribe or whatever the word is in your podcast app for daily updates and daily notifications. It is day 57 as I said, you guys, congratulations. This is really good. And I know I said this a thousand times now. Well, it can't be a thousand cause it's only the 57, but the fact that you've stuck with this, you know, I imagine by now, hopefully you've gotten to a kind of a rhythm where you realize okay

This is different than listening to the Bible This is gonna be a little bit different in like how you engage your brain when it comes to we're not following a story But we're following this and actually, you know when we talk about original sin, we talk about the fall We are kind of following a story. In fact, these are some of the things that we can really connect them to our lives today We're talking about the consequences of Adam's sin for humanity, and if you do have the catechism, you can follow along and realize you're only covering a couple different paragraphs. But we recognize that the consequences of this one sin, right?

We talked about yesterday, original sin, for all of humanity. One of the things that the church is going to note is that, yes, as St. Paul says, by one man's disobedience many, that is all men, were made sinners. And sin came into the world through one man and also through one man, one man's act of righteousness, Jesus Christ's act of righteousness, leads to acquittal and life for all of us. And so this recognition that we're all born afflicted. When we talk about original sin, it's not a sin that is committed, but it is a sin that's contracted. That's what paragraph 404 says. So it says this, the last sentence of paragraph 404 says,

original sin, this is why original sin is called sin, quote unquote, only in an analogical sense. It is a sin, quote unquote, contracted and not, quote unquote, committed. It's a state and not an act. That's one of the reasons I've mentioned it before, but one of the co-founders of the CFRs, the Franciscan Friars of the renewal, he had once said, he has a book actually called the original wound. It's so good. And he, that's what he calls original sin. He says, it's a state again, not an act. So that's why we baptized babies. We recognize that every one of us is born into this state this fallen state this wounded state

We remain good and this is what we're gonna also going to talk about that there are consequences We have this attraction to sin. We have Darkening of our intellect. We have a weakening of our will we die and Yet we remain good. And so there's you know in paragraph 406 it talks about this the last paragraph We're gonna read today. It talks about how over the course of 2000 years, there were different, maybe extremes or different distortions of what original sin is. For example, in the fifth century, there's plagianism and plagius, he held that man could by the natural power of free will and without any necessary help of God's grace could lead

a morally good life. And so Adam's fault was reduced to bad example. of free will and without any necessary help of God's grace could lead a morally good life. And so Adam's fault was reduced to bad example. On the other hand, some of the first Protestant reformers, they taught that original sin had radically perverted man and destroyed his freedom. There's even such a thing as a doctrine in some non-Catholic Christian circles as total depravity. So that would mean that here's a human being that they, again, are totally depraved.

Now, the Catholic Christian view is that we're not depraved, but we are deprived. We remain good, but broken. We remain beautiful, but broken. And so we need God's grace, absolutely. We're still made in His image and likeness. We still have goodness because we still continue to participate in God's existence, right?

I mean, He gives us our existence, he holds us in being, and we still have the capacity by his grace to be an image of him to the world and be, yeah, to receive his grace. So we're good but fallen. Another way to say it, good but broken. Deprived but not depraved. Hopefully that makes some sense. But today, you know, we're going to 402 to 406 And I think it's gonna really highlight What you and I experience? Not only yep haven't contracted or haven't committed this sin, but I have contracted it I was born into this brokenness

All of us have been at the same time God has not given up on us and as we'll talk about today and tomorrow And the and the days following as I said it is day 57 We're reading paragraphs for two to four or six before we launch into that. Let's say a prayer Father in heaven we call upon your name in the name of your son Jesus Christ we pray We pray that you continue to meet what meet us with your grace We we pray that you continue to remind us that yes, we are broken, but we remain beautiful. And that we are broken, but we remain good. And that we need you. That you're not optional, Lord God. You are necessary. Your grace is necessary. Without you, we can do nothing. And so come to our aid. Come with us right now. Come be with

us right now. Guide us and give us the strength that on our own we do not have to be the people that you have created and redeemed us to be. Come Holy Spirit, give us the divine life and help us to walk as Jesus walked. In His holy name we pray, amen. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, amen. As I said three times now, it's day 57, we're reading paragraphs 402 to 406. The consequences of Adam's sin for humanity. All men are implicated in Adam's sin, as St. Paul affirms, by one man's disobedience many, that is, all men, were made sinners. Sin came into the world through one man,

and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all men sinned. The apostle contrasts the universality of sin and death with the universality of salvation in Christ when he writes, Then as one man's trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one man's act of righteousness leads to acquittal and life for all men. Following St. Paul, the Church has always taught that the overwhelming misery which oppresses men and their inclination toward evil and death cannot be understood apart

from their connection with Adam's sin and the fact that he has transmitted to us a sin with which we are all born afflicted, a sin which is the death of the soul. Because of this certainty of faith, the Church baptizes for the remission of sins even tiny infants who have not committed personal sin. How did the sin of Adam become the sin of all his descendants? The whole human race is in Adam as one body of one man. By this unity of the human race, all men are implicated in Adam's sin, as all are implicated in Christ's justice.

Still, the transmission of original sin is a mystery that we cannot fully understand. But we do know by revelation that Adam had received original holiness and justice not for himself alone, but for all human nature. By yielding to the tempter, Adam and Eve committed a personal sin, but this sin affected the human nature that they would then transmit in a fallen state. It is a sin which will be transmitted by propagation to all mankind, that is, by the transmission of a human nature deprived of original holiness and justice, and that is why original sin is called sin only in an analogical sense.

It is a sin contracted and not committed, a state and not an act. Although it is proper to each individual, original sin does not have the character of a personal fault in any of Adam's descendants. It is a deprivation of original holiness and justice. But, human nature has not been totally corrupted. It is wounded in the natural powers proper to it, subject to ignorance, suffering, and the dominion of death, and inclined to sin, an inclination to evil that is called concupiscence. Baptism, by imparting the life of Christ's grace, erases original sin and turns a man back toward God.

But the consequences for nature, weakened and inclined to evil, persist in man and summon him to spiritual battle. The Church's teaching on the transmission of original sin was articulated more precisely in the 5th century, especially under the impulse of St. Augustine's reflections against Pelagianism and in the 16th century in opposition to the Protestant Reformation. Pelagius held that man could, by the natural power of free will and without the necessary help of God's grace, lead a morally good life. He thus reduced the influence of Adam's fault to bad example.

The first Protestant reformers, on the contrary, taught that original sin has radically perverted man and destroyed his freedom. They identified the sin inherited by each man with the tendency to evil, concubiscencia, which would be insurmountable. The Church pronounced on the meaning of the data of revelation on original sin, especially at the Second Council of Orange in 529 and the Council of Trent in 1546. Okay, so that is an action-packed paragraph 402 to 406. So one of the things that we're hearing is right from the beginning we recognize that here is

original sin which is connected to our human nature, right? So in paragraph 404 it notes this. It says, by yielding to the tempter, this is right in the middle of that paragraph, by yielding to the tempter Adam and Eve committed a personal sin, right? That they chose, a sin they chose. But this sin affected the human nature that they would then transmit in a fallen state. So it goes on to say, it's a sin which will be transmitted by propagation to all mankind, that is, by the transmission of human nature. So we have a human nature that is deprived of original holiness and justice.

Remember, the state in which Adam and Eve were originally created was that state of original holiness and justice. Remember, the state in which Adam and Eve were originally created was that state of original holiness and justice. And earlier in that very same paragraph it says, we do know by revelation that Adam had received original holiness and justice, not for himself alone, but for all human nature. God wanted this for all of his human creatures, like for all those beings he made in his image and likeness. So when Adam and Eve committed a personal sin, it affected human nature. Just like it affected all of creation, right?

All of creation now is out of whack, right? So essentially we can, I think we can relatively accurately say that original sin broke the world. The world remains good. Human beings remain good. And yet we are good but broken. And there is an element here where we have to understand that how does this work? How is it that sin is passed on simply by propagation, right?

By procreation. By new human beings being made and generated and being born into this world. Part of the answer, as the church says, is a mystery. In paragraph 404 it says it's a mystery. And yet we recognize that sin doesn't just affect our souls, right? Sin doesn't just affect the immaterial world or the spiritual world. That as human beings, we are made of body and spirit.

And so we're wounded in our body and spirit. And some of the consequences here that are very, very clear, one of the consequences is death. In fact, in paragraph 403, it says, the church has always taught that the overwhelming misery, which oppresses men, their inclination toward evil and death, right? Our inclination toward evil and death cannot be understood apart from their connection with Adam's sin and the fact that he has transmitted to us a sin with which we are all born afflicted, a sin which is the death of the soul. That phrase death of the soul comes from the Council of Trent and it's recognition that we have what is it? An inclination towards evil and death that we all experience and we're all born afflicted by this and that's one of the reasons why we recognize that we even baptize infants who could not possibly have committed personal sin and yet yes every

human being is born into this broken state every human being is born into the state where our relationship with God has been wounded right Adam and Eve were created with original justice and holiness and we are born into the state where our relationship with God has been wounded, right? Adam and Eve were created with original justice and holiness, and we are born into a world where that original holiness and justice has been broken. And so what happens? Well, in paragraph 405, it says, so baptism, by imparting the life of Christ's grace,

erases original sin and turns a person, or turns a man back toward God But the consequences for nature weakened and inclined to evil persist and so again keeping this in mind What are some of the consequences to human nature? Well, we've named them before The consequences of original sin are we have a darkening of the intellect that we can think but we don't always think clearly We have weakening of the will where we can choose but we don't always choose with persistence or perseverance. We don't always choose well. We're all oriented towards death. We all will die. So these consequences still exist and we have this thing called concupiscence which is an inclination towards sin. Now baptism erases original sin but those

consequences are still in us and What do they do? Well the last line last words of paragraph 405 That those persist in us and they summon us to a spiritual battle and we're talking about that tomorrow The fact that it's a hard battle that the fighting against this brokenness in us and this brokenness in the world is Going to be a hard battle. But the last thing I want to highlight is what I mentioned earlier and that is there are different ways that people who have departed from the consistent Catholic faith have said either that original sin is just bad example, right? Plagius who had maintained that. So basically if you want on your own, you can do it.

You can basically be good on your own without the help of God's grace which is error or on the other extreme that we're so broken that we become depraved that also is an error what we want to say is human nature because of original sin has become deprived of that original state of holiness we're deprived of that original state of justice. But we're not depraved. We remain good but broken as I keep saying again and again. So in the midst of this world that's broken and yet beautiful, good and yet and yet broken, here we are. We're summoned to spiritual battle and we'll talk about that more tomorrow. Now keep this in mind, you and I are living that right now. And so, keep up your prayers. Keep praying for each other. You know, one of the things that this reveals is that we belong to each other. Through one man's sin, death entered the world. So, through Jesus Christ's right one man's

act of righteousness, life is possible. We're all connected. We're all connected to each other in our brokenness and what Jesus has done. For one, he's done for all. It's a matter of us saying yes to that. It's a matter of us cooperating with that, that act of God's grace. And so since we are connected in this incredible, incredible way, then we have to pray for each other. I am praying for you.

Please pray for me. My name is Father Mike and I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.