Fr. Z: Am I obliged to receive communion?

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AndrewAxland said:
Where did you get that from? I’ve never heard of or seen masturbation being referred to as anything else than a mortal sin.
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Can you quote where you have seen this?
I think you will find you are mistaken somehow.
Grave matter yes, mortal sin not necessarily.
 
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So I asked you what the difference is.
And you reply there is a difference…

Have another try.
 
The matter of a sin (serious, not serious) is an element of a type of sin, whereas Mortal and Venial sins are the types of sins.
 
It’s kind of a “doesn’t hurt” matter - no one will be harmed by going to confession yearly with no mortal sins. And for most of us, I expect if we know of none it is a case of faulty memory or conscience rather than of great personal sanctity.
 
So you agree that “matter” is the objective element of both mortal and venial sins?
 
So when the Church says somebody’s conduct is seriously bad how do you know whether the author is speaking of the seriousness of the objective matter (grave versus light) or the seriousness of the person’s culpability (mortal sin versus venial sin)?
 
We aren’t talking about when the Church comes out and says that some person’s conduct is bad. We’re talking about the passage from Canon Law which tells us that we need to confess our grave sins once a year. What I’m saying is that in this case, “grave sins” means “mortal sins,” because we know that it is essential to the validity of the sacrament for the penitent to confess all of his mortal sins.
 
You have just broken off our discussion of the definitions and gone back to the very texts we are trying to understand accurately.

Can you just answer my question as I asked it please.

When we say somebody’s conduct is seriously bad how do you know whether the author is speaking of the seriousness of the objective matter (grave versus light) or the seriousness of the person’s culpability (mortal sin versus venial sin)?
 
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Grave sin done with knowledge and intent is mortal sin.

Look at it like this, chocolate chips are required for chocolate chip cookies, however chocolate chips alone are not cookies.
 
Sin with a grave matter***

If a sin is missing one of the three elements that make a mortal sin, it’s a VENIAL sin, not a “grave sin which isn’t a mortal sin.” Ridiculous.
 
I can kill a person (grave matter) but do it unintentionally (he is sleeping on a dark highway and I do not see him but run over him with my car) and that grave matter is still at the very worst a venial sin.
 
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