The Inward Consequences of the Sin

In Paradise, Adam, united to God by charity, possessed three great goods, viz., pleasure and contentment in seeing God, knowledge and possession of all things, dignity as the supreme ruler of creation. When union with God was destroyed, these great prerogatives were lost, and there remained three great voids in human nature. Man tries to fill these voids with created things; he seeks delight in sensual gratifications, in the knowledge and possession of material goods, in exalting himself in his own esteem above others. Nothing can fill the space once occupied by God; man's desires, therefore, are forever growing; he may acquire far more than he can use, but he is never satisfied; and his efforts to gain more become continually more ferocious. These desires are what the Apostle speaks of: "All that is in the world is the concupiscence of the flesh, the concupiscence of the eyes, and the pride of life" (1 John ii. 16). These could not exist in the state of original justice, but they broke out in human nature at the time of the fall, and have been the torment and the peril of man ever since. These are not only the source of individual sins, but of all the miseries, without exception, which affect human society. There is no other remedy for those evils, but to satisfy the illimitable desires of the soul with the one gratification that is infinite, viz., God. All other remedies are futile. Seek no other in your troubles. Continue Reading.