Week 7: Passages 350-395

This week we read passages 350-395.




Passages 350-354 are the “In Brief” summary for the last sections on angels and creation. Good review!




Just a recap, we are on Part One, Section Two: The Profession of the Christian Faith, Chapter One: I Believe in God the Father, Article 1: I Believe in God the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and Earth.




We are about to start on Paragraph 6. Man:
I. In the Image of God
Man is made in the image of God, which according to the CCC means several things:

• Only man is able to know and love his creator.




• Man is the only creature God willed for its own sake.




• Man was created to share in God’s own life, which is the reason for his dignity.




• Man is capable of self-knowledge, self-possession, and of freely giving himself and entering into communion with other persons.




• Man is called by grace to a covenant with his Creator, to offer him a response of faith and love that no other creature can give in his stead.




• It is only through the mystery of the Word made flesh that the mystery of man becomes clear.




• Because of its common origin, the human race forms a unity, a law of human solidarity and charity.

II. Body and Soul but Truly One
The human person is at once corporeal and spiritual. The spiritual element of man is called the “soul”. The human body and the soul are united and are considered a unity, the soul can be considered the form of the body. The body and the soul share the dignity of “the image of God”.




III. Male and Female He Created Them
Man and woman have been willed by God, one hand in perfect equality as human beings and on the other hand as distinct beings of man and woman. Both have dignity and reflect the creator’s wisdom and goodness.

“In no way is God in man’s image. He is neither man nor woman. God
is pure spirit in which there is no place for the difference between the
sexes. But the respective ‘perfections’ of man and woman reflect something
of the infinite perfection of God: those of a mother and those of a father and
husband.” (CCC 370)

God created man and woman together and willed them for each other. We can see this in the Scriptures: “It is not good that man should be alone. I will make a helper fit for him.” Adam’s cry: “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh” underscores the shared humanity of man and woman.
Man and Woman were created to be a communion of persons, helpmates, both equal and complementary. In marriage they are united by God to become “one flesh” and are able to cooperate is God’s work in transmitting human life. Man and Woman are given the vocation of “subduing the earth” or in other words caring for the world that God has created for them.




IV. Man in Paradise
The first man was created good and existed in a state called “original justice” in which man lived in inner harmony, harmony between man and woman, and harmony between man and all creation. As long as he remained in this state of divine intimacy he would not suffer and die.

This quote jumped out at me:

“The ‘mastery’ over the world that God offered man from the beginning was
realized above all within man himself: mastery of self. The first man was
unimpaired and ordered in his whole being because he was free from the triple
concupiscence that subjugates him to the pleasures of the senses, covetousness
for earthly goods, and self-assertion, contrary to the dictates of reason.” (CCC
377)

And this one really got me pondering on the nature of work and what makes it burdensome:

“The sign of man’s familiarity with God was that God places him in the
garden. There he lives ‘to till and keep it.’ Work is not yet a burden,
but rather the collaboration of man and woman with God in perfecting the visible
creation.” (CCC 378)

I wonder if tomorrow while I am scrubbing that nasty place behind the toilet (moms of boys know what I’m talking about) it will make it feel less burdensome to think to myself, “This is not a burden, you are collaborating with God in perfecting the visible creation!”
Alas for concupiscence.
And we all know what’s coming next (thanks a lot, Adam and Eve)…




Paragraph 7. The Fall
If God is infinitely good and all his works are good then where does evil come from?

“The revelation of divine love in Christ manifested at the same time the extent
of evil and the superabundance of grace. We must therefore approach the
question of origin of evil by fixing the eyes of our faith on him who alone is
its conqueror.” (CCC 385)

I. Where Sin Abounded, Grace Abounded All the More
Without the Revelation of God we cannot truly understand sin, or man’s rejection of God and opposition to him. We are tempted to explain it a way as a flaw, weakness, or mistake. When we become aware of God’s plan sin is revealed as an abuse of “that freedom that God gives to created persons so that they are capable of loving him and loving one another”. (CCC 387)
The full meaning of the story of Genesis is revealed only by the light of the death and Resurrection of Christ. The doctrine of original sin is the reverse side of the “Good News”.

“The account of the fall in Genesis 3 uses figurative language, but affirms a
primeval event, a deed that took place at the beginning of the history of
man. Revelation gives us the certainty of faith that the whole of human
history is marked by the original fault freely committed by our first parents.”
(CCC 390)

This really hit the point home for me that creation is not just the starting point on the timeline, the Biblical equivalent of that big black "Start" dot on kids' mazes that shows you where to put your pencil. The Fall was an actual foundational event that shapes and influences the entire course of human history.





II. The Fall of the Angels
Satan was first a good angel, created by God who became evil by his own doing. The devil and other demons rejected God and tempted our first parents to do the same: “You will be like God.”
The choice of the devil and other demons to reject God was irrevocable due to their nature, just as it is impossible for us to repent after death.
The mission of Jesus was to destroy the work of the devil.
Satan’s power is not infinite, although he is a spirit and can cause physical and spiritual harm. He cannot prevent the building up of the kingdom of God. God permits Satan to act in the world.

“It is a great mystery that providence should permit diabolical activity, but
‘we know that in everything God works for good with those who love him.’”
(CCC 395)

Questions for reflection:

• What are some ways we can be better "helpmates" in our marriages?


• How often are we still tempted by Satan's promise, "You will be like God"?


• Can you think of an example in your own life of the statement"where sin abounded, grace abounded all the more"?