EVIL

a) Original Paradise
b) Devil
c) Original Sin
d) Transmission of Sin
e) Reality of Evil
f) Origin of Evil
g) Sense of Pain
________________________________

a) Original Paradise

        When God had created heaven and earth, "then the Lord God planted a garden in Eden in the East, and there he put the man he had formed". God imposed a double mandate upon man: to work the land and to take care of it, and not to taste the forbidden fruit which gives knowledge of good and evil.

        In this paradise, man could enjoy:

-original innocence. The man and the woman didn’t feel embarrassed with each other or in front of God. Their soul was totally pure;
-habitual grace. God walked through the garden, and man could see God and his universe face to face. They shared the same land;
-immortality. G
od didn’t create us to just dispose of us. Later our bodies would never know the corruption of old-age or death if it weren’t for our sins.

        Man could enjoy everything and never feel boredom, monotony or pain.

b) Devil

        "The snake was the most cunning animal that the Lord God had made". This snake was Lucifer, The most powerful angel in heaven, who became the enemy because he wanted to be like God. Lucifer, now converted into demon, sided 1/3 of the angels with him, but he was finally beaten by Michael and thrown out of heaven forever.

        Now on earth, the devil goes after all those who follow Christ, because feels envious, and he makes us sin through his:

-temptation. Satan distorts both words and things, to change the order of things and to make it seem like the opposite, seducing us to evil;
-obsession. Satan repeats memories or images to us, to weaken our willpower and make us lose our strength or reason;
-possession. S
atan could take a human form (mouth, limbs, head…) to try to conquer our spiritual soul.

        The devil can be overcome by the Holy Virgin Mary, who "descends from God and who will step on his head when he hurts her heel".

c) Original Sin

        Our first parents, Adam and Eve, committed the original sin. They disobeyed God, who had forbidden them from tasting the knowledge of good and evil. This didn’t help them to "become like gods", but instead caused the triple divine punishment:

-lose their original privileges,
-effort and sacrifice when doing their worldly chores,
-pain and suffering in their personal relationships.

        Original sin is passed on from parents to children, and means a break from God and from others. It means offending our Creator and putting everything he created out of its order.

d) Transmission of Sin

        Sin is something we are born with and which is present in all men. Only the Virgin Mary was freed of this original sin through God’s grace (God was able to free her of this, it suited him, and so he did it).

        This stain from the original sin can be erased through baptism and every time we go to confession. But the mark of what happened will always come back, and history will always repeat itself.

        Christians shouldn’t despair because of this. Instead they should fight it, and this is how they should overcome it, because sin will always lead us to more sin and concupiscence (the inclination towards evil).

e) Reality of Evil

        In this world, with so many good and beautiful things, are wars, illnesses, catastrophes, famine… realities originated by nature or created directly by mankind.

        We can say that evil can be:

-material: wars, hunger, bad habits, famine, mistreatment… in everything we see and feel every day;
-spiritual: fears, depressions, stress, competition… everything that we keep inside ourselves;
-deep down: que
stions like: why doesn’t good overcome evil? Or why is it so hard for us? ... Whatever makes us look to God for answers?

f) Origin of Evil

        Indeed, the origin of evil is explained through God and in the Bible. It is true that the primary blame and cause for evil is always sin. But there are also 3 secondary causes:

-nature itself. Sometimes, nature’s own cycle is unforeseeable or is born with defects or injuries;
-human structure. On occasion, evil is produced through people’s own way of being, because we are limited, have habits or preferences, and we break down little by little;
-bad freedom. This
is the misuse of freedom, sometimes turning off the good path or getting into risky situation where we shouldn’t be.

g) Sense of Pain

        The last reason explains that evil lies in the meaning that people give to things. For example, an illness taken well, or a misfortunate birth or accident faced with courage… this can put us in God’s special grace and make him partial to us, apart from:

-purifying us from within, making us humble and more realistic,
-strengthens us on the outside, throwing light on other facets, qualities, constancy and familiarity.

 

Mercaba Eds 
Diocese of Cartagena-Murcia 
General Diagram of Mercaba's You
th Catechism