12th Sunday of Ordinary Time: Original Sin, Genetic Disposition

Maybe you’ve asked yourself, “Why am I the way I am?” On this Father’s Day, I suspect that most all of us could talk about what we have in our lives that came by virtue of our fathers, whether it’s your appearance, your mannerisms, your aptitudes, interests or other genetic dispositions. They may not all be stuff you necessarily wanted.

Our second reading tells us that the father of the human family—Adam—passed onto us the condition of Original Sin, although St. Paul doesn’t use that term. In fact, there’s no explicit mention of Original Sin in the Bible. It’s a concept that’s in the Bible that we’ve simply given a name, so that we can more easily talk about it and try to understand it.

Many of us learned early in our catechesis that Original Sin is a stain that tarnishes the beauty of every newborn soul.1 While that might be a helpful way of conceptualizing it, it’s more accurate to understand Original Sin as an absence of something wonderful that the Lord willed us to have—the grace that makes us his sons and daughters.

To be clear, it's not so much that we are being punished for Adam’s decision, but instead that we simply bear the effects of his transgression. Think of it this way: No one blames the children of an irresponsible father who loses all his money gambling. The children had nothing to do with his recklessness. Nevertheless, that reality might well mean they are consigned to live in poverty and to bear the onerous burdens that come with it. So it is with Original Sin.2

While it would seem like an injustice or a cause for hopelessness, we remember the definition of mercy: Getting something good, even when it’s not necessarily earned or deserved. With this in mind, St. Paul says, “But the gift is not like the transgression…” While Adam’s disobedience alienated us from God, the gift that is Jesus’ obedience overcame that rupture.

But even more, he stresses the disproportion between the two. Both affect the spiritual well-being of all, but they are not equal. Jesus more than paid the debt, and we who were poor have become rich. Through the merits of Jesus, our brother, our heavenly Father gives us not life, but instead supernatural life. As it’s sung at the Easter Vigil: “O truly necessary sin of Adam, destroyed completely by the Death of Christ!....O felix culpa!”

Yes, it has given way for us to become adopted sons and daughters of his Father. As we celebrate Father's Day, we bear in mind, as Pope Benedict XVI once said, that there is but one fatherhood, that of God the Father, the one Creator of the world, of all that is seen and unseen. Yet our fathers—even with their flaws and failings—are created in the image of God and have been granted a share in this one paternity of God.3 May our fathers always seek to reflect the love of God the Father in all they do, that in whatever way we would ask, “Why am I the way I am?”, the answer would be: “Because I am loved.”

And may we sons and daughters, who have been given this freedom in the life of grace, exercise this freedom, following the path of obedience modeled by Jesus our brother and Redeemer.

1 Hahn, Scott W.. Romans (Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
2 Ibid.
3 Pope Benedict XVI, Address in Yaounde, Cameroon (March 9, 2009).