315 SIN

YOUCAT Lesson 315

YOUCAT the catechism for Catholic youth

315  What is sin in the first place?

A sin is a word, deed, or intention by which man deliberately and voluntarily offends against the true order of things, as God’s loving providence has arranged them.  [1849-1851, 1871-1872]

 

Photo: A World War II refuge in Europe.  Whose sins bring about global suffering? …..315

To sin means more than to violate some rules about which men have agreed.  Sin turns freely and deliberately against God’s love and ignores him.  Sin is ultimately “love of oneself even to contempt of God” (St. Augustine), and in the extreme case the sinful creature says, “I want to be like God” (see Genesis 3:5).  Just as sin burdens me with guilt, wounds me, and by its consequences ruins me, so too it poisons and damages the world in which I live.  It becomes possible to recognize sin and its seriousness by drawing near to God.  67, 224-239

“Many say, “I have done too much evil; the dear Lord cannot forgive me.”  That is outright blasphemy which sets a limit to God’s mercy.  But it has none: it is infinite.  Nothing offends our dear Lord so much as to doubt his mercy.”  St. John Vianney (1786-1859)

1849-1851, 1871-1872

II. THE DEFINITION OF SIN

1849 Sin is an offense against reason, truth, and right conscience; it is failure in genuine love for God and neighbor caused by a perverse attachment to certain goods. It wounds the nature of man and injures human solidarity. It has been defined as "an utterance, a deed, or a desire contrary to the eternal law."( St. Augustine, Contra Faustum 22:Patrologia Latina 42,418; St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae I-II,71,6.)¹²¹ –Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition

1850 Sin is an offense against God: "Against you, you alone, have I sinned, and done that which is evil in your sight."(  Psalm 51:6.)¹²² Sin sets itself against God's love for us and turns our hearts away from it. Like the first sin, it is disobedience, a revolt against God through the will to become "like gods,"( Genesis 3:5.)¹²³ knowing and determining good and evil. Sin is thus "love of oneself even to contempt of God."( St. Augustine, De civ. Dei 14,28:Patrologia Latina 41,436. )¹²⁴ In this proud self- exaltation, sin is diametrically opposed to the obedience of Jesus, which achieves our salvation.( Compare Philippians 2:6-9.)¹²⁵ –CCC

1851 It is precisely in the Passion, when the mercy of Christ is about to vanquish it, that sin most clearly manifests its violence and its many forms: unbelief, murderous hatred, shunning and mockery by the leaders and the people, Pilate's cowardice and the cruelty of the soldiers, Judas' betrayal - so bitter to Jesus, Peter's denial and the disciples' flight. However, at the very hour of darkness, the hour of the prince of this world,( Compare John 14:30.)¹²⁶the sacrifice of Christ secretly becomes the source from which the forgiveness of our sins will pour forth inexhaustibly. --CCC

IN BRIEF

1871 Sin is an utterance, a deed, or a desire contrary to the eternal law (St. Augustine, Faust 22:Patrologia Latina 42, 418). It is an offense against God. It rises up against God in a disobedience contrary to the obedience of Christ. –CCC

1872 Sin is an act contrary to reason. It wounds man's nature and injures human solidarity. –CCC