Original Sin and Suffering - 2nd week of Advent!

It's Advent, so we're trying to clean our souls up and get them spiffy for the Lord's coming on Christmas and when he comes again to take us home!

(**modified from Lifeteen “Full Filled” retreat.)

Sin. We’ve emptied ourselves of it. So how do we stay out of it?

Picture it: You realize that you’re in an unhealthy relationship. Emptying your jar means not only breaking up with someone who is dragging you down, emptying your jar, your life, but it also means that you might spend some nights alone – all alone – just you and God. That is a tough reality sometimes.

Picture it: You realize that you are consumed not by God’s fire, but by the need to be liked or to be accepted. Everything you do and don’t do, say and don’t say, wear and don’t wear, is in some way, big or small, affected by those you go to school with or hang out with. You realize that by emptying your jar, your life, also means that you probably won’t “fit in” completely. It means that to truly follow the Gospel means you can’t accept certain behaviors in the people around you, because they lead to sin and, ultimately to death. That’s a tough reality sometimes.

Picture it: Your jar is empty and God is calling you not to fill it….not to fill it with busyness, not to fill it with your own wants or desires – He wants to be the one to fill it. Think about it, God wants you to remain completely empty and be filled only by Him to COMPLETELY let go of control. Can you do it? Can you trust Him?

True repentance has two motions: turning away and turning toward. Last week you turned away from sin. Unless you identify those areas of your life that lead you into sin, however, there is a good chance that you will walk back into it…even seek sin.

Fear of emptiness (being emptied of the comforts which lead you to sin) is what the devil wants. He wants you to doubt God’s grace and the fulfillment you get with God.
Emptiness of sin makes us nervous, anxious, scared, worried, frustrated, doubtful.
We are afraid to let God take care of everything. Why when we know that God is bigger than the issues we have and he sees all our hurts and knows our every need? He sees everything, he knows everything, he knows you, and he loves you.

(Blue is Info from “A Father Who Keeps His Promises” by Scott Hahn)

So how did we get this way? How did we come to the point where we lack trust in God? Why do we fall to sin? Why do we suffer from all of this?
Adam and Eve and the first sin – Original Sin

Here's a neat video on The Beginning. Just know that they take some creative story-telling liberties and they aren't using straight up Bible verses. Also, after Lucifer fell we refer to him as Satan. But other than that, it's a pretty neat video and fits into our discussion well.

The serpent lied to us and we believed him. Unfortunately sometimes we still do.

Check out Genesis 3: The Fall of Man

If we’re on Adam’s team (the human race team) and he is our challenge "champion" then we are troubled with the fate he “won” for us. The Stain of Original Sin.


Quote from Scott Hahn
“ Once the nature of Adam’s sin is understood to be his refusal to suffer out of love for his Father and bride, three conclusions logically follow. First, the divine curse of suffering imposed on Adam and Eve was reasonable. Second, their humble acceptance of that punitive suffering would be remedial. Third, Christ’s bearing of this curse, in his own sacrificial suffering on the cross, would prove to be redemptive.”

“Willingness to give ourselves out of love, even if it entails suffering, is what makes us fruitful.”
Adam failed to give himself willingly out of love, trusting God and being obediant to Him. He doubted God and feared the serpent aka the devil more than he trusted God. He failed God and he failed his wife.

Thus the curse of suffering was laid upon us all.

“Our father still wants us to be fruitful; that is why he imposed the curse of suffering, in order to keep alive our potential to become supernaturally fruitful.”

Suffering as part of the Church (which is Christ’s mystical body) shares in the redemption factor which gets us into heaven. Christ’s sacrifice made it possible for us to get into heaven. So being part of his church and part of his mystical body redeems us, but we have to “take up our cross” and suffer along with him as well. This is why there is suffering in the world.

As Christians we are called to suffer joyfully with Christ for through his suffering and the suffering of the Church his bride we are redeemed! We can’t be totally free from Original Sin until we’re in heaven, but the only reason we’re allowed into heaven/paradise in the first place is because of Christ’s strength in death to counter Adam’s weakness. Christ is the new Adam being the perfect man and Mary is the new Eve as the perfect woman. Through Mary's self giving "Be it done to me according to thy word", and by Christ's death on the cross we are again allowed to partake in salvation. We can see that "tree of life" again.

This is all the spirit of Advent. It’s penitential, but it’s life giving. We’re suffering because we’re waiting in anticipation, but we’re joyful because Christ is coming!!

For more info check out "A Father Who Keeps His Promises" by Scott Hahn, The Catechism of the Catholic Church #396 - 421, and some of these links In Innocence We Were Created, To Explain Infant Baptism You Must Explain Original Sin, Verse by Verse on Original Sin