Am I committing a mortal sin?

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leigh2015

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Hello all.

I just entered the Church this past Saturday at the Easter Vigil and was baptized, confirmed, and received my first Holy Communion 🙂 Thanks be to God! I really would like to go to Mass today, but I am not sure if I should receive the Eucharist or not. I’m having a lot of trouble understanding exactly what a mortal sin is. I have yet to tell my mom that I joined the Church and I do not know if this is a sin or not and if it is the same thing as denying God. I plan to tell her, but I just do not feel like now is the right time. We have a difficult relationship and I would like to try to make amends as much as possible before telling her I am Catholic so that hopefully she will give Catholicism a chance. Please let me know if this is sinful or not and any advice you may have. Thank you for your help and God bless!
 
leigh2015 said:
Hello all.

I just entered the Church this past Saturday at the Easter Vigil and was baptized, confirmed, and received my first Holy Communion 🙂 Thanks be to God! I really would like to go to Mass today, but I am not sure if I should receive the Eucharist or not. I’m having a lot of trouble understanding exactly what a mortal sin is. I have yet to tell my mom that I joined the Church and I do not know if this is a sin or not and if it is the same thing as denying God. I plan to tell her, but I just do not feel like now is the right time. We have a difficult relationship and I would like to try to make amends as much as possible before telling her I am Catholic so that hopefully she will give Catholicism a chance. Please let me know if this is sinful or not and any advice you may have. Thank you for your help and God bless!
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Just from your own words I would not give whatever you had done or failed to do any thought that you had committed a mortal sin. By the way congratulations in becoming a Catholic Christian. You seem to be a very thoughtful person. Try not to dwell too much on what a mortal sin is or that you have committed it. A mortal sin must be very serious and I mean very serious and there is no indication at all that you have committed it. In anything from your words you just commit what we all do a hundred times a day and that is the hundreds of venial sins which we all get involve in. Remember that the Mass is where we can receive the forgiveness of all our venial sins so take your place there and completely give yourself to the Lord Jesus who makes us clean once again with our reception of His Precious Body and Blood.
 
Catechism of the Catholic Church
1857 For a sin to be mortal, three conditions must together be met: "Mortal sin is sin whose object is grave matter and which is also committed with full knowledge and deliberate consent."131
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1858 Grave matter is specified by the Ten Commandments, corresponding to the answer of Jesus to the rich young man: "Do not kill, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and your mother."132 The gravity of sins is more or less great: murder is graver than theft. One must also take into account who is wronged: violence against parents is in itself graver than violence against a stranger.
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1859 Mortal sin requires full knowledge and complete consent. It presupposes knowledge of the sinful character of the act, of its opposition to God’s law. It also implies a consent sufficiently deliberate to be a personal choice. Feigned ignorance and hardness of heart133 do not diminish, but rather increase, the voluntary character of a sin.
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1860 Unintentional ignorance can diminish or even remove the imputability of a grave offense. But no one is deemed to be ignorant of the principles of the moral law, which are written in the conscience of every man. The promptings of feelings and passions can also diminish the voluntary and free character of the offense, as can external pressures or pathological disorders. Sin committed through malice, by deliberate choice of evil, is the gravest.
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Talk to a priest about your situation. I do not think you have to refrain from communion because of this. God bless you on your faith journey:signofcross::extrahappy:
 
Something I learned from the Jesuits when I was a boy: When in doubt, confess.
You will never go wrong discussing your behavior with the priest in the Confessional.
 
I have a very anti-Catholic mom as well. Do you live with her? Do you live close to her? I had the luxury of picking the time to call my mom, who lives in another state. It’s best to understand your faith well enough to defend it. If you feel ready, tell her. If not, get some advice from your priest or deacon. For me, we had several unpleasant conversations until she realized she wasn’t going to change my mind. We agreed to disagree. Sometimes, that’s best. It’s been a year and she has actually softened a little. She even went to Mass with me when she visited. Take it slow, but do tell her, when you are ready.
 
Nope its not a sin.

You dont have to tell her until you feel its right
leigh2015 said:
Hello all.

I just entered the Church this past Saturday at the Easter Vigil and was baptized, confirmed, and received my first Holy Communion 🙂 Thanks be to God! I really would like to go to Mass today, but I am not sure if I should receive the Eucharist or not. I’m having a lot of trouble understanding exactly what a mortal sin is. I have yet to tell my mom that I joined the Church and I do not know if this is a sin or not and if it is the same thing as denying God. I plan to tell her, but I just do not feel like now is the right time. We have a difficult relationship and I would like to try to make amends as much as possible before telling her I am Catholic so that hopefully she will give Catholicism a chance. Please let me know if this is sinful or not and any advice you may have. Thank you for your help and God bless!
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chimo said:
Just from your own words I would not give whatever you had done or failed to do any thought that you had committed a mortal sin. By the way congratulations in becoming a Catholic Christian. You seem to be a very thoughtful person. Try not to dwell too much on what a mortal sin is or that you have committed it. A mortal sin must be very serious and I mean very serious and there is no indication at all that you have committed it. In anything from your words you just commit what we all do a hundred times a day and that is the hundreds of venial sins which we all get involve in. Remember that the Mass is where we can receive the forgiveness of all our venial sins so take your place there and completely give yourself to the Lord Jesus who makes us clean once again with our reception of His Precious Body and Blood.
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You need to be really careful here my friend! Telling someone not to dwell on what a mortal sin is and that its very difficult to commit is a falsehood and you should not be telling people that. I don’t say that to make people scrupulous or anything but this mentality coming from so many areas of our church concerning sin is down right dangerous.

I say go to confession like another poster mentioned. I certainly don’t think its a mortal sin here either but confession is a great tool in the toolbox.
 
I would say that as long as your mother isn’t supporting you (you living under her roof while you’re a student) there isn’t any sin at all in not telling her immediately. But even if you are, it would be a venial sin only, unless she asked you about it and you lied to her (which would be a sin regardless of whether you are living with her).

But johnnyt3000’s advice is best–ask your priest, and if he doesn’t know you well already from RCIA or somewhere, make sure you tell him how new a Catholic you are. Questions that are perfectly natural from new Catholics can tend to sound like scrupulosity in more seasoned Catholics, so to get the right advice, it’s important to let him know.

God bless you and

Welcome!!!

–Jen
 
George_Stegmeir said:
Something I learned from the Jesuits when I was a boy: When in doubt, confess.
You will never go wrong discussing your behavior with the priest in the Confessional.
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Of course, this can be taken to extremes: if we took even our slight doubts to the Confessional, however unprobable they might be, we would be being rigorists, and would be applying a moral analysis to our behavior which has been condemned by the Church.

However, in this case, and for the OP, I think I would recommend going to Confession, simply because they need to begin to form their conscience.

Leigh, if your priest or priests can be seen as being solid and reliable, I would certainly ask them to help you understand the principles behind some of the things you have questions about.

As for not telling your mother about your becoming Catholic, and whether this is sinful: it would be sinful to not tell someone something they have a right to know.

For example, let’s say there was a 5 foot tall space alien living in her attack. Well, I would say, in justice, she deserves to know about that, especially is said alien is posing a threat to her life.

On the other hand, she may not need to know a great deal of things about you; and yes, whether or not you are Catholic might be one of them.

Your being Catholic might be something she has a right to know under conditions that she’s clearly established with you. For example, let’s say you live with her, and she’s told you that the only reason you’re allowed to be there is because you’re not Catholic.

As someone else has asked: it would be relevant to know if you live with your mom.

Likewise, I don’t think that your not telling her just yet is somehow denying God: it is simply finding the time and the place to communicate with her, and that is totally a judgement call.

You would be denying God if she came out and asked you about your religion, and you refused to tell her the truth about it.

… and WELCOME HOME!!!

After your baptism, you were totally a LIVING SAINT, having had all of your sins washed away, along with the temporal punishment for them. How cool is that?! 🙂
 
Thank you all for your help. I do not live with my mom. I’m currently in college and live where I go to school. She has not asked me anything in regards to religion. She doesn’t currently practice any religion so I don’t see her ever directly asking. I do plan on going to confession-if for any reason, just to ask for advice. I just don’t know if I can make it to confession before mass today and didn’t want to receive the Eucharist unjustly.
 
OP, this is not a sin, it is a matter of prudential judgement. Perhaps you should be talking to a good counselor about establishing an adult relationship with your mother.

You should also have a reading program to continue to learn more about the Catholic Faith. Perhaps speak with your pastor or RCIA director about this.
 
eightydeuce82 said:
You need to be really careful here my friend! Telling someone not to dwell on what a mortal sin is and that its very difficult to commit is a falsehood and you should not be telling people that. I don’t say that to make people scrupulous or anything but this mentality coming from so many areas of our church concerning sin is down right dangerous.

I say go to confession like another poster mentioned. I certainly don’t think its a mortal sin here either but confession is a great tool in the toolbox.
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If one is growing with the Church and with God is what I am trying to say. St. Maria Faustina who is saint in the Catholic Church often felt she had committed mortal sins. The Lord Jesus had to correct her because she would not go to Holy Communion (for the Lord said to her she had never committed a mortal sin in her life). The Lord admonished her for thinking that she has committed any mortal sin when her reluctance to go to Holy Communion was in the Heart of Jesus a graver offense. It is in the Heart of Jesus when we are thinking too much about what sins we commit and we are coming regularly to Church we need not to think too much on what a mortal sin is but more what Jesus can do for us in Holy Communion (for most of our sins are venial in nature). The problem with a lot of Christians is they are addressing too many sins labeling them as mortal when it is not. I am referring to Christians who regularly go to Church. I find this more of a problem within the Catholic Church but not in the Orthodox Church. People who go to Confession in the Orthodox Church regularly are not concerned about going to Confession because it is a mortal sin. It seems to be more of a practice in the Catholic Church. Yet I suspect that in most of these Confessions (I am referring to those who are faithful) they are giving too much weight to sins than the sin actually deserves. People who go to Church faithfully usually do not commit mortal sins. Yet it is always good I suppose to find this out with your parish priest. There seems to be a more acceptance within Catholicism in giving greater judgments to sin when the sin does not deserve this. Perhaps what I am saying is the average Catholic does not judge the same as the average Orthodox. Many times the priest would admonish St. Maria Faustina in Confession for accusing herself too greatly when she had only committed venial sins. Perhaps if most priests could only teach this to us. Now if you had committed adultery or murder or you are involving yourself in sex with a lot of partners than yes you should know before you go to receive Jesus that you need to stop it and go to Confession. The seriousness of what a mortal sin is in the Catholic Church seems to involve even by the many faithful that their sins are often accused as mortal when they are only venial. They accuse themselves not in the right light and this can bring you to omit Holy Communion. Perhaps this why I find the Orthodox tend to not judge themselves too severely as often as the Catholic.
 
leigh2015 said:
Thank you all for your help. I do not live with my mom. I’m currently in college and live where I go to school. She has not asked me anything in regards to religion. She doesn’t currently practice any religion so I don’t see her ever directly asking. I do plan on going to confession-if for any reason, just to ask for advice. I just don’t know if I can make it to confession before mass today and didn’t want to receive the Eucharist unjustly.
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If not telling your Mom that you have converted is the only thing on your mind, then go ahead and receive communion. You are an adult now and have the right to make your own decisions in such things. Waiting for the right time to tell her would be best, so as not to upset her too much and to keep things calm and friendly between you. My mother-in-law had a problem with my husband converting years ago, and things were a little strained between them for a while, but she has accepted it now and they can talk about it without hard feelings. Sometimes these things take time, especially if the news comes from out of nowhere and the other person feels left out of your decision (even if there is a good reason for that!). As you go along, discerning what is and what is not grave/serious matter will be easier.
 
No, that’s not sinful unless you are lying to her about it and even then it’s only venial.
 
leigh2015 said:
Hello all.

I just entered the Church this past Saturday at the Easter Vigil and was baptized, confirmed, and received my first Holy Communion 🙂 Thanks be to God! I really would like to go to Mass today, but I am not sure if I should receive the Eucharist or not. I’m having a lot of trouble understanding exactly what a mortal sin is. I have yet to tell my mom that I joined the Church and I do not know if this is a sin or not and if it is the same thing as denying God. I plan to tell her, but I just do not feel like now is the right time. We have a difficult relationship and I would like to try to make amends as much as possible before telling her I am Catholic so that hopefully she will give Catholicism a chance. Please let me know if this is sinful or not and any advice you may have. Thank you for your help and God bless!
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No, I do not think it is a sin. It is your prerogative whether to tell or to keep it to yourself. By the way, are you an independent adult already? That would made it easier and more straight forward.
 
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