Why we are all insane

Kathryn Jean Lopez interviews Peter Kreeft about his new book on ourselves via the wisdom of Saint Thomas Aquinas.

Lopez: How does Thomas Aquinas say the Eucharist keeps one from sin? And how is he so sure sin is the worst thing in the world?

Kreeft: The Eucharist keeps us from sin because the Eucharist is literally Christ, whose given name, “Jesus,” means “savior” — from sin. And that means not just salvation from sin’s punishment (hell) but from sin itself, i.e., He sanctifies us as well as justifying us, makes us heavenly here as well as taking us to heaven there.

He is sure that sin is the worst thing in the world, even worse than pain (which very much surprises and discombobulates nearly everyone in our culture) for the very simple reason that sin means separation from God, and God is the supreme good, joy, happiness, and fulfillment. Sin is much worse than just disobeying laws; sin is the dying of the soul, the personality, the Who, the I, the self. God is the source of all life and joy; sin cuts that umbilical cord. We’re all sinaholics. And quite insane, by the way; for we know, by experience, not just by faith, that sin and selfishness (“my will be done”) always bring us misery, in the end, and that unselfish love and faith (trusting God: “Thy will be done”) always bring us joy and peace, in the end. So the next time you’re tempted to sin, think this way: God, in giving you free will, is asking you: “Which hand will you pick? In my right hand is the key to joy, in my left hand is the key to misery. You know that every time you picked my right hand you got joy. What about this time?” And we say: “Hey, God, let’s try the left hand; maybe it will work this time.” We are quite insane.

Read more here.