Please read the passage before reading the homily.
We blame Adam for our death. He sinned and taught us to sin. Because of his sin, we have to die. We have inherited the sin and death of Adam somehow or other. We recognize ourselves in Adam and likewise Adam in ourselves. Through our birth in Adam, we sin with Adam.
We praise Christ for our life. He was faithful and taught us to be faithful. Because of his faithfulness, we can be faithful. We have inherited the grace and peace of Christ somehow or other. We recognize ourselves in Christ and likewise Christ in ourselves. Through our rebirth in Christ, we live with Christ.
Now, through our baptism into Christ, we have changed and are in Christ. With Christ we have died and with Christ we have risen with Christ, as St Paul says in the second reading, “through baptism we have been buried with Christ and likewise have risen with him.”
The gift of Adam is mysterious, the mystery of sin and death. We have experienced this mystery physically in our living and dying. As the gift of Adam, so likewise is the gift of Christ mysterious and even more so than the gift of Adam. We really share this gift of Christ even if not physically, but in the realness and truth of the sacraments. Christ was buried and we by baptism were buried with him: We share the death of Christ, just as we share the death of Adam. Christ was raised from the dead and so have we been raised from the tomb with him. We share the resurrection of Christ and the forgiveness of our sins just as we have shared the sin of Adam. Through Adam, sin and death; through Christ, on the other hand, forgiveness and new life.
We see in ourselves clearly the works of Adam. We see less perfectly the works of Christ in us. Christ, however, has cancelled the works of Adam and has brought us back to eternal life. That which we see is not really true, but that which we do not see is perfectly true.
Now we are with Christ, and God has given us new life with Christ by forgiving all our sins.
We do not have to blame Adam for our sins; we do have to praise God through Jesus Christ, God’s Son, who has associated us with his life and resurrection. Through his living, Jesus Christ has taught us how to life correctly.