At the Easter Vigil, there is an especially poignant moment during the singing of the Easter Proclamation, or the Exsultet, when the deacon or priest sings: “O happy fault, O necessary sin of Adam, which gained for us so great a Redeemer.” (Roman Missal II translation) As we set out on the journey of Lent, the Church offers us the figures of the Adam and Eve in the garden surrounded by all the delights that earth can offer. When we become aware of these faults and failures within ourselves, it is a connection with the foundational nature of sin. The fall of Adam and the entering of sin into human history was an essential part of salvation history. St Paul understands this clearly because he knows that in the person of Jesus you don’t just get a simple reversal of the disobedience of Adam by the absolute obedience of Jesus – but the transformation of the original sin as new creation begins to break into the world.
Recorded at St Paul’s, 8am (9’31”)
Sunday 1, Season of Lent, Year A.