Adam, and also Eve, refused to take responsibility for their actions. They argued bitterly, blaming each other for what they had done. And so they not only hurt their relationship with God, they hurt their relationship with each other and with their own souls.
A lot of people today think that either God doesn't exist or that sin doesn't exist. Or else they have a vague idea that some people are sinners, but of course they are not. If one uses the word "sin" around them, they blink at you as if you just said something rather quaint. Isn't that sad.
It's hard to think about ourselves as being sinners, but of course, if we understand what sin is, we can accept that we do sin. Adam shows us what sin is. Sin is saying "no" to God. Sin is hiding from God so we don't face what we've done or said and how it has affected others. Sin is blaming others for what we've said or done, refusing to take personal responsibility for our own words and actions and their damaging effects.
We can make this even simpler. God is Love. Every time we say "no" to loving God, ourselves, or the people in our lives, we sin. Every time we splinter love to pieces through our anger, our arrogance, our willfulness, our superiority complex, our unwillingness to listen, or to forgive - we sin. Every time we use each other and manipulate each other, we sin. Every time we go on a power trip, we sin. Every time we turn away when someone needs us, we sin. Every time we neglect to pray, refuse to pray, refuse to build up our relationship with God and experience His strength and mercy, we sin.
"I am a sinner … I am sure of this. I am a sinner whom the Lord looked upon with mercy. I am, as I said to detainees in Bolivia, a forgiven man. … I still make mistakes and commit sins, and I confess every fifteen or twenty days. And if I confess it is because I need to feel that God's mercy is still upon me.” (Interview with Italian magazine, Credere, Dec. 2, 2015)
For many of us, the very thought of going to Confession brings a negative reaction. But for the Pope, the experience of Confession is a positive one - a personal encounter with the person of Jesus, ever loving and merciful! He feels the need to confess his sins often even as you or I feel the need to tell a loved one that we're sorry for what we've said or done. We do so without fear, sometimes even with tears, because we know we've hurt this person who loves us and whom we love. Pope Francis knows that our sins hurt Love Itself - Jesus, our Savior.
Of course, true repentance means that, in addition to going to God in prayer and/or in Confession to say that we're sorry, we also need to apologize and ask forgiveness of those we have hurt with our words and actions. Or, if we've had an argument and still believe what we say is right, to make peace with the other person, sometimes to agree to disagree. Love is always about building bridges of communication, of building bridges to unity.
How do we prevent our sinning, our separating ourselves from God, from ourselves, from others? By guarding our hearts. Keeping watch over our inner thoughts and feelings and saying "no" to expressing them in negative, hurtful, sinful ways. Keeping watch that we don't allow ourselves to be influenced by friends whose lifestyles are seriously self-indulgent, who are consumed by consumerism, who backbite, who feel superior to those who are poor, or have handicaps, or are different in some way, who sleep in on Sundays instead of going to Church. Because we need to pray daily, to worship with a faith community weekly. Not for God, my friends! For us! We need to routinely ask ourselves: whom are we allowing to influence our lives and attitudes more, God, or our friends? Who is our heart set on more, God, or our friends?
St. Teresa of Avila reminds us,
"Our faith is so feeble that we desire what we see rather than what faith is trying to tell us about." She sees the effects of serious sinning as being akin to being bitten by a poisonous viper. "When a viper bites someone and the wound swells, his whole being is toxified. If we do not take care of ourselves, this is what will happen to us. Many remedies will be required to cure us and only God's great mercy will keep our wound from killing us. Once the spirit of evil begins to detect that the character and habits of the soul indicate ...readiness to move ahead... all the powers of hell will be gathered to drive (the soul) back....
"Oh, my Beloved! Here is where we need your help; without it we can do nothing. In your mercy, do not allow such a soul to suffer delusion and go astray..." (from "The Interior Castle.")
Guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. Open your heart, and allow God in to enlighten you with understanding of the ways in which you've sinned. Open your heart, so God can fill you with repentance. Open your heart even wider, so you can experience the healing balm of God's merciful, forgiving love. Pope Francis says,
"Let us go forward in such a way that ou hearts open up to Jesus and to his salvation. Let us go forward without fear, for Jesus' love is greater and if we ask forgiveness for our sins he will forgive us. This is what Jesus is like."