20140816 INTER-GENERATIONAL SIN
Reading 1, Ezekiel 18:1-10, 13, 30-32
2 'Why do you keep repeating this proverb in the land of
Israel: The parents have
eaten unripe grapes; and the children's teeth are set on edge?
3 'As I live -- declares the Lord Yahweh -- you will have no
further cause to repeat
this proverb in Israel.
4 Look, all life belongs to
me; the father's life and the
son's life, both alike belong to me. The one who has sinned is the one to die.
6 and he does not eat on the mountains or raise his eyes
to the foul idols of the House of Israel, does not defile his neighbour's wife
or touch a woman during her
periods,
7 oppresses no one, returns the pledge on a debt, does not
rob, gives his own food to the hungry, his clothes to those who lack clothing,
8 does not lend for profit, does not charge interest,
abstains from evil, gives honest judgement between one person and
another,
9 keeps my laws and sincerely respects my judgements --
someone like this is truly upright and will live --
declares the Lord Yahweh.
13 lends for profit, or charges interest, such a person will by no means
live; having committed all these appalling crimes he will die, and
his blood be on his own head.
30 So in future, House of Israel, I shall judge each of
you by what that person does --
declares the Lord Yahweh.
Repent, renounce all your crimes, avoid all occasions for guilt.
31 Shake off all the crimes you have committed, and make
yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! Why die, House of Israel?
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 51:12-13, 14-15, 18-19
12 Give me back the joy of your salvation, sustain in me a
generous spirit.
14 Deliver me from bloodshed, God, God of my
salvation, and my tongue will acclaim
your saving justice.
19 Then you will delight in
upright sacrifices,-burnt offerings and
whole oblations -- and young bulls will be offered
on your altar.
Gospel, Matthew 19:13-15
13 Then people brought little children to him, for him to lay his hands on
them and pray. The disciples scolded them,
14 but Jesus said, 'Let
the little children alone,
and do not stop them from coming to me; for it is to such as these that the
kingdom of Heaven belongs.'
15 Then he laid his hands on them and went on his way.
INTER-GENERATIONAL
SIN
The question of
inter-generational sin and original sin has always been a source of contention
and disagreement.
The objection lies in that if sin must be willingly committed by one who is
free, then it is not fair that we suffer the sins of our parents and ancestors
through no fault of ours.
The cause of such
misunderstanding is due to the fact that the word “sin” is used analogously
and not literally. Of course, we cannot inherit the sins
personally committed by someone else. Nevertheless, we can inherit
the guilt as a consequence of their sins.
In the Old Testament,
great emphasis was given to the collective sin of the community. This was because salvation was
always taken to be of a people or a nation. People tended to see
themselves as a community rather than as individuals. The success or
failure of one would have had repercussions on the rest of the community. More
so, if the person who sinned was the head of the community, as his sin would
have involved the whole nation. Hence, the sin of the king or the leader
of the tribe, or the father of the household, would cause all those under his
care to suffer the punishments for his sins.
Thus, we can understand why
the bible, since the time of Moses, speaks about the sins of our forefathers
affecting us. We cannot deny that in some ways we are influenced by both
the culture of the society we are born into and also the spiritual influence of
our parents. Although it would not be right to speak of genetic sin, but
certainly the emotions and the psychological state of our parents would have
affected us even when we were in the womb of our mothers and when we were being
brought up by them as well. Therefore we must recognize that we do suffer
the effects of the sins of our parents, although we do not and cannot inherit
their sins. Indeed, Ezekiel himself did not sin, but like the good and
righteous ones of Israel, he too was in exile because of the sins of his
fellowmen.
Of course, there is a
danger that we can exonerate ourselves of all guilt and push the blame on our
forefathers. This is what Ezekiel sought to do in today’s first
reading. We must see sin in perspective. Ultimately, God does not condemn
us for the sins of our parents, but only our personal sins. So it
is more important that we take cognizance of our own personal sins rather than
blaming them on our parents. Yes, we suffer the consequences, but we have the
freedom and the will to change the orientation. The power to overcome our
sins is within us. We need not resign ourselves to committing the same
sins our parents did. In other words, the prophet is saying that we are
responsible for our own sins. “As I live – it is the Lord who speaks –
there will no longer be any reason to repeat this proverb in Israel. See
now: all life belongs to me; the father’s life and the son’s life, both alike
belong to me. The man who has sinned, he is the one who shall die.”
Isn’t this what the
doctrine of original sin, and by extension, that of intergenerational sin,
wants to convey, namely,
that we share the fallen nature of our parents? This fallen nature has
affected us physically, emotionally, spiritually and
psychologically. We are wounded right from the start.
Original sin itself strictly is not yet a sin, except insofar as the fact that
right from the start of our conception we are not in union with God.
However, soon it will become a sin in a real sense because we will then reenact
what our parents had done by our personal sins.
Of course, intergenerational
healing does not exclude our asking forgiveness for our own personal sins.
The responsorial psalm and the prophet made it clear that we must repent of our
personal sins and not lay all the blame on our relations. Like the
psalmist, we must seek sincere repentance for our sins and ask the Lord to
cleanse us and recreate in us a new heart.
In the same vein too, baptism
also takes away our sins insofar as we are separated from God.
Through baptism, we are reconciled with God. Our sins, original and personal,
are forgiven. As a consequence of the grace of Christ, we experience an
inner renewal of body, mind and spirit. We should not have any doubts
about the power of the sacrament of baptism to free us from sin and the Evil
One. The grace given to us at baptism is always there.
How is it possible that
our sins are taken away at baptism? The same principle holds with regard to the vicarious
death of Christ. Jesus, as the New Adam, rescinded all that was lost by
the First Adam. As St Paul says, “For if, by the trespass of the one man,
death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s
abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life
through the one man, Jesus Christ. Consequently, just as the result of
one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of
righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. For just as
through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also
through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.“ (Rom
5:17-19). Jesus as the head, and we being His body, enables us to share
in His victory over sin and death.
However the Council of
Trent also teaches that concupiscence still remains in us in spite of our
baptism. Nevertheless it is not a sin, but a tendency to sin
remains. Our human nature remains weak but with the grace of Christ we
can overcome temptation to sin. Hence, we are now in communion with God
in principle. We are renewed in Him and we are His children. But
the warfare still carries on and the battle against sin must continue to be
fought with the grace of God. So, existentially we all remain sinners
even after baptism. After all, who does not sin after baptism; unless we
are baptized before death! Metaphysically however, we are saints.
To preserve our holiness, we must strengthen our prayer and spiritual life;
frequent the sacraments, especially the Eucharist.
The importance and
relevance of intergenerational healing, therefore, is that it is not a matter of asking forgiveness
for the sins we have inherited from our parents, rather, it is to ask God to
forgive their sins on one hand; and on the other, we choose to forgive them for
the effects of their sins upon us. Through forgiveness we help the
departed souls to rest in peace and return to the Lord; at the same time we
free ourselves from curses, guilt and our bondage to their past. So
generational healing is the practical application of the grace of Christ given
to us at baptism to heal our wounds, especially emotional and psychological
traits inherited from our wounded forefathers and those who have had an
influence over us directly or indirectly.
The gospel text today
brings to light the relevance of generational healing. If Jesus reprimanded the
disciples for forbidding the children to go to Him, it was because He
understood how we can influence our children for better or for worse.
Knowing that we come from dysfunctional and imperfect parents, they too, need
prayers to be healed of the negative traits they received from their parents
and relatives. Of course the other meaning of blessing the children is to
remind us that unless we are innocent, receptive and trusting in God, like
children of their parents, we cannot share in the life of God.
As parents, we must
therefore consider carefully, what we do and say and how we will affect our
children for better or for worse. Recognizing how much influence we
can have over our loved ones, let us strive to live a life of holiness so that
we can impart goodness to them instead of evil. On our part, recognizing
that we are wounded from our past, we must continually seek the Lord for inner
healing and at the same time, pray for the forgiveness of the souls of the
faithful departed, that they too will embrace the loving mercy of God’s
forgiveness and be united with the Lord in heaven.
WRITTEN BY THE MOST REV WILLIAM GOH
ARCHBISHOP OF SINGAPORE
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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