Tuesday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 474

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 the gift of justification
come to reign in life through the one Jesus Christ.
In conclusion, just as through one transgression condemnation came upon all,
so, through one righteous act
acquittal and life came to all.

Saint Paul reflected deeply upon his own experience of sin and grace. He seemed free of regret about his Pharisaic zeal because he believed the Lord had forgiven him for his misguided intentions. But he was nonetheless convinced of the importance of every human act, both sinful and graceful. 

Adam's sin, by most human standards, did not seem at the time terribly consequential. His foolish disobedience might have been no worse than jaywalking or speeding at midnight on an open highway.  But the Apostle knew that the Lord scrutinizes both our actions and our intentions and that a corrupt heart may appear through the slightest misdeeds. Adam's sin reflected the willfulness of our human nature, and our unwillingness to submit even to the authority of God. 

Adam's sin was egregious despite the fact that he had given no thought to its possible consequences. The Divine Author of Genesis says nothing of his motive. Perhaps it seemed like a good idea at the time. Did he put compliance with his wife ahead of obedience to his God? Was he curious to see what God would do? Was he hungry and let his stomach be his god? 

It doesn't matter. It happened and a deed, once done, cannot be undone. It happened; it's history. Deal with it. 

Only another act of infinitely greater importance could reverse the flow of sin and death that began with Adams' sin. That sweeping historical force of willfulness had to be redirected toward willingness. The punishing tide must turn to blessing. We find hope for God's mercy in his clothing Adam and Eve, his  call of Abraham, the deliverance from Egypt, and the promise of prosperity for those who keep his commandments. These foreshadowed the mysteries of the Incarnation and Redemption, although we did not know what to make of them at the time. 

It was Saint Paul's particular inspiration to connect the dots and see how the sin of Adam was reversed by the sacrifice of Jesus. The practice of Penance, and the rite of auricular confession in particular, helps practicing Catholics to connect Adam's sin to the Lord's passion, death, and resurrection; and then to find one's particular story of sin and mercy. I often ask penitents to "Tell me a story" about a particular sin: how it came about, what actually happened, its consequences, and the reparation and atonement that may have followed. 

Perhaps in remembering, they also experience the superabundant mercy of God which is there in the past and remains in this moment. When we see our personal sins in the light of the Cross, we begin to appreciate the Lord's mercy. Saint Augustine, centuries after Saint Paul's Letter to Rome, would celebrate the happy fault which merited so great a redeemer. We hate and despise sin but we are grateful that through the sacraments, God rewrites the story and transforms it into a gospel.