When the Homily is about Immunology

Sin is a disease

I used to be in a 12 step program (still am I guess), and I have learned to understand why such groups refer to their addictions as diseases. A lot of times people take offense at this, because they think that 12 steppers are simply trying to weasel their way out of personal responsibility, but I think this offense is held to because these people fail to grasp the full spectrum of what is meant by the term disease – it does not by any means preclude personal responsibility.

dis·ease
n.
1.A pathological condition of a part, organ, or system of an organism resulting from various causes, such as infection, genetic defect, or environmental stress, and characterized by an identifiable group of signs or symptoms.
2.A condition or tendency, as of society, regarded as abnormal and harmful.

pa·thol·o·gy
n. pl. pa·thol·o·gies
1.The scientific study of the nature of disease and its causes, processes, development, and consequences.
2.The anatomic or functional manifestations of a disease: the pathology of cancer.
3.A departure or deviation from a normal condition: “Neighborhoods plagued by a self-perpetuating pathology of joblessness, welfare dependency, crime” (Time).

A departure or deviation from a normal condition is the part that really strikes me. It seems to be right in line with the Greek word harmatia, which can be defined as “error”, “flaw”, “missing the mark” – pathology indeed.

We need healing medicine, AND we need to follow the prescriptions of our Doctor and the Hospital staff.