The third chapter of Genesis details the cosmic tragedy of original sin. Adam and Eve lived in a primordial innocence, in complete spiritual harmony with God, each other, and within themselves. Life was perfect!
The serpent, however, seduces them into violating the fundamental prohibition that the Lord had placed upon our Scriptural parents; they ate the forbidden fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
Consequently, Adam and Eve fell into sin, hiding from God in shame, ruled now by disordered passions, suffering the murder of their son at the hands of his brother, and driven out of paradise. The world as God intended it is shattered.
The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil symbolizes the one barrier that humanity cannot cross, namely, we cannot be God.
We are His beloved children, made in His image and likeness, but we are creatures, dependent on Him for our very existence.
Satan tricks Adam and Eve into thinking that God is not a benevolent Father, but an oppressive force who keeps them from being free, from making their own decisions about what is good and evil, and from being their own gods.
Throw God off and you will find the ultimate self-realization, so whispers the voice of darkness.
Consequences of original sin
We see the tragic consequences of original sin on full display all around us.
The siren song of our culture urges people, especially the young, to throw off God and religion as archaic, oppressive, and as impediments to our freedom and self-expression.
The sexual revolution is a rebellion against God and the beautiful gift of our humanity, rejecting God’s teachings on marriage, sexuality, fertility, and life.
In the current moment, many view our humanity as endlessly fluid; we make up ourselves; we determine what is right and wrong for us; we can make ourselves be and do whatever suits us.
These fundamental errors go all the way back to Eden and explain the cultural self-destruction we are painfully experiencing.
The rage of the far Left against the possibility that the Supreme Court may overturn Roe v. Wade is a disturbing case in point.
The threats against the lives of the justices in question, the arson and vandalism of a pro-life agency here in Madison, the public call for the disruption of Holy Mass across the country, and the vandalism of Catholic Churches all show that legalized abortion is fundamental to the agenda of false freedom which many of our leaders and people espouse.
We have lived for almost 50 years in this country with the legalized insanity that an unborn life is human if wanted by the mother and not human if not wanted as if we have the power to confer humanity on others.
The differences in rejecting and accepting life
Our president, who professes to be Catholic, recently said that a woman has the right to abort her child. Our Speaker of the House, who professes to be a devout Catholic, opined that the overturning of Roe v. Wade would be an “abomination.”
This fundamental rejection of the sanctity of life in its most fragile and beautiful beginnings is the true moral abomination.
We can see how legalized abortion has morally coarsened many of our leaders and people against the law of God which is inscribed in the human heart.
It is no accident that the advocates for abortion target the Catholic Church as their enemy, for She is the voice of Truth, calling all people to reject the lies of the Evil One and to embrace the gift and responsibility of our lives and the call to serve the common good, to build a culture of life and compassion, where every person is welcomed, nurtured, and loved.
Catholics will continue to heal, teach, feed, form, and nurture all people, especially the poorest and most vulnerable in our midst.
We do this because the Gospel demands it, as we see the face of Christ in every person we meet, because every human being is a unique, unrepeatable expression of God’s love and creativity, and has a soul destined to live forever in the glory of Heaven.
In these difficult times, I encourage all of us to speak the truth with love, to pray for the conversion of those who have embraced a culture of death, and to continue to act out the Gospel of life.
Our pregnancy help centers and Walking with Moms in Need, the new national initiative which seeks to equip every Catholic parish in the country to welcome and help mothers in a crisis pregnancy or a crisis parenthood, are expressions of the Church’s deep desire to be pastorally close to everyone struggling with these challenges.
May God bless, heal, and convert our country, this great experiment in freedom which was founded on the fundamental idea that every person has the right to life.