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Sin and its EffectsWhy does God give us commandments? Not because He likes to give

orders. Not to gain anything for Himself. If we imagine 1000 great

Saints "serving" God for a century - -what would He gain from that?Nothing at all.

So He does not give us orders to get anything for Himself. No, insteadHe wants to give things to us, give us His graces. But if we are notopen to take in what He sends, the graces will run off uselessly, likethe water on the back of a duck.

So the first reason He gives orders is so He can give good things tous. There is another reason: God is Holiness itself. So He loves all thatis right, dislikes what is morally wrong. If then a sinner disturbs theright order of things, puts it out of balance, the Holiness of God wantsthat restored.

We could compare this picture to a two pan scales. A sinner takesfrom one pan what he has no right to take - the scales is out ofbalance. The Holiness of God wants it rebalanced. How can anyone dothat? If a man stole property, he begins to rebalance by giving it back.To keep the property is to continue the sin. Suppose Pat stole $100from Mike, and then came back and asked Mike to forgive him.Suppose Mike said: I do forgive you. But Mike still should ask Pat togive back the $100. For if Pat kept it, the offense would continue.Really, no forgiveness could be had then. To forgive is to let it go - butPat should not let it go without seeing the money come back. Thatwould be bad for his friend Mike. If Mike kept on holding on to it,he

would be continuing the offense. An offense cannot be forgiven or letgo while the offense continues. So Mike could say: Yes, I am willing tolet it go in the sense that I am willing to be friendly to you again. But Icannot afford to lose that $100. (We said "begin" because theimbalance from even one mortal sin is infinite - too much for anycreature to make it up. So if the Father wanted it -He did not have toarrange to make it up, but surely did want it - the only possible waywould be to send His son to make it up. That He did).

God of course cannot lose anything. Yet as we said, His Holinesswants the things to be given back.

Suppose someone did not steal property, but stole a pleasure he had

no right to have. That pleasure is used up, so we cannot talk aboutgiving it back. But the sinner could do what amounts to the same bygiving up some other pleasure he could have rightly had. That beginsto rebalance the scale. God does not demand that the rebalance becomplete at once - if the sinner intends to do it - in this world or in thenext (Purgatory) that will be enough.

But there is another angle. St.Paul told the Corinthians ( 1 Cor 12:26):"If one member [of Christ] suffers, all the members suffer. For we are

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naturally bound together, we form one body in Christ. An old Rabbissaid it well, Simeon ben Eleazar: "Someone has committed atransgression. Woe to him! He has tipped the scale to the side of debtfor himselfand for the world. For any sin of someone harms all. Thereis no such a thing as a victimless crime.

So the Holiness of God wants the scales rebalanced because He loveswhat is right in itself. He also wants it rebalanced because theimbalance is harmful to all the other members of Christ.

But one member can make up for another. So St. Paul said (Col 1:24):"I fill up the things that are lacking to the tribulations of Christ in myflesh for His body, which is the Church." Of course, Christ lacked nosuffering. His suffering was beyond telling. But the whole Christ, thatis, Christ with His members, can lack something. For we are not savedas individuals. We are saved in as much as we are members of Christ.And of course that means we must be like Him - like Him in the matterof making rebalance for sin. St.Paul knew that many members of Christ

were not doing their part - but he, Paul, could make up for them. So hedid.This remarkable interrelation reflects the fact that love of God and

love of neighbor are most closely joined together. To love in general isto will good to another for the other's sake. Of course, we must adjustthat a bit when we direct love to God, for it is foolish to say we wishHim well! But, as we saw above, it pleases Him when we obey. So inpractice, to love God is to obey Him, so He may have the generouspleasure of giving to us, and of seeing the moral order righted. But --God wills also to give to neighbor. Therefore if I love Him, I will wantHim to have the pleasure of giving to neighbor too. In that way I love

God - and also, by willing good to neighbor, I am loving neighbor.We saw that St. Paul tried to make up for the sins of others. That is

love for others, of course, for that helps to put them in position to beable to receive God's generosity. But a large question": How can wehave reparation enough to not only make up for our own sins, but alsoto help with those of others? It is true, by our own power we cannotfully make up for our own sins -- recall above we said that make-up forsin only begins to make up? Yet we can offer the same reparationtwice, as it were. If I offer suffering in reparation for sins of myneighbor, then it doubles in value, or is counted twice. First, it isreparation for my own sins. But also, in willing to make reparation for

neighbor, the love of neighbor involved makes it also a help toneighbor, and additionally pleasing to God's generosity.