"Grave matter"

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I know the 3 things that have to be present in order for a sin to be mortal, but I don’t know what exactly constitutes “grave matter.” Is there a list of things that are grave?

Also, is it true that every sin has the potential to be mortal? For example, can lying be mortal?

Just trying to better form my conscience 🙂

Thanks!
 
Yes, lying can be a grave matter. Especially, lying under oath. Lying to harm someone, or their reputation, etc.

Here is a partial list from the Catechism:

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.”

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.

2326 Scandal is a grave offense when by deed or omission it deliberately leads others to sin gravely.

2291 The use of drugs inflicts very grave damage on human health and life. Their use, except on strictly therapeutic grounds, is a grave offense. Clandestine production of and trafficking in drugs are scandalous practices. They constitute direct co-operation in evil, since they encourage people to practices gravely contrary to the moral law.

2384 Divorce is a grave offense against the natural law. It claims to break the contract, to which the spouses freely consented, to live with each other till death. Divorce does injury to the covenant of salvation, of which sacramental marriage is the sign. Contracting a new union, even if it is recognized by civil law, adds to the gravity of the rupture: the remarried spouse is then in a situation of public and permanent adultery:
If a husband, separated from his wife, approaches another woman, he is an adulterer because he makes that woman commit adultery, and the woman who lives with him is an adulteress, because she has drawn another’s husband to herself.178

2272 Formal cooperation in an abortion constitutes a grave offense. The Church attaches the canonical penalty of excommunication to this crime against human life. "A person who procures a completed abortion incurs excommunication latae sententiae,"77 "by the very commission of the offense,"78 and subject to the conditions provided by Canon Law.79 The Church does not thereby intend to restrict the scope of mercy. Rather, she makes clear the gravity of the crime committed, the irreparable harm done to the innocent who is put to death, as well as to the parents and the whole of society.

2400 Adultery, divorce, polygamy, and free union are grave offenses against the dignity of marriage.

2352 By masturbation is to be understood the deliberate stimulation of the genital organs in order to derive sexual pleasure. “Both the Magisterium of the Church, in the course of a constant tradition, and the moral sense of the faithful have been in no doubt and have firmly maintained that masturbation is an intrinsically and gravely disordered action.” “The deliberate use of the sexual faculty, for whatever reason, outside of marriage is essentially contrary to its purpose.” For here sexual pleasure is sought outside of “the sexual relationship which is demanded by the moral order and in which the total meaning of mutual self-giving and human procreation in the context of true love is achieved.”
To form an equitable judgment about the subjects’ moral responsibility and to guide pastoral action, one must take into account the affective immaturity, force of acquired habit, conditions of anxiety or other psychological or social factors that lessen, if not even reduce to a minimum, moral culpability.
 
Yes lying can be mortal …such as lying under oath in court to give one example.
 
Regarding the 10 Commandments the Catechism also notes this:

The obligation of the Decalogue

2072 Since they express man’s fundamental duties towards God and towards his neighbor, the Ten Commandments reveal, in their primordial content, grave obligations. They are fundamentally immutable, and they oblige always and everywhere. No one can dispense from them. The Ten Commandments are engraved by God in the human heart.

2073 Obedience to the Commandments also implies obligations in matter which is, in itself, light. Thus abusive language is forbidden by the fifth commandment, but would be a grave offense only as a result of circumstances or the offender’s intention.

scborromeo.org/ccc/p3s2.htm
 
“John, did you steal Mr McArthur’s bicycle?”
“No, I never”
And then John drove away on his new bicycle that appeared to be scond-hand.

There. That’s grave matter.

“I know I shouldn’t masturbate, I know it’s wrong, but I just want to. I don’t care if God doesn’t like it”

Grave matter.

You know God has forbidden us to do something, and yet we continue to do it (whatever it is, fill in the blank).

That’s how we discern what is grave matter and what is not.
 
If I didn’t know something was grave, then I wouldn’t have full knowledge of it, so then it wouldn’t be mortal… right?

Breaking any of the Ten Commandments would be a grave matter?

There’s technically no such thing as a “white lie,” correct? So every little lie a person tells would be a sin?
 
If I didn’t know something was grave, then I wouldn’t have full knowledge of it, so then it wouldn’t be mortal… right?

Breaking any of the Ten Commandments would be a grave matter?

There’s technically no such thing as a “white lie,” correct? So every little lie a person tells would be a sin?
Yes, we even refer to Satan as the Father of lies. Some lies are venial because they are not serious. If the phone rings and it is a telemarketer and we lie and say our spouse is not home when he is, this is a lie, but it is not a serious sin. It would be a venial sin, and we should try to live our life without these little sins, but it does not put us out of the grace of God.
 
“John, did you steal Mr McArthur’s bicycle?”
“No, I never”
And then John drove away on his new bicycle that appeared to be scond-hand.

There. That’s grave matter.

“I know I shouldn’t masturbate, I know it’s wrong, but I just want to. I don’t care if God doesn’t like it”

Grave matter.

***You know God has forbidden us to do something, and yet we continue to do it (whatever it is, fill in the blank).

That’s how we discern what is grave matter and what is not.***
You appear to be blurring the distinction between gravity of a sin, on the one hand, and knowledge and consent, on the other.
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.”
Gravity of a sin is independent of your knowledge and consent to committing it. Unlawful killing of a human being is grave, even if you lack full consent or knowledge (in which case the mortality of the sin is lessened); contrariwise, you can absolutely know that a given act is sinful and deliberately do it anyway without it being a mortal sin (if it doesn’t involve a grave matter).

For example, the Catechism teaches us as follows:
Hatred of the neighbor is a sin when one deliberately wishes him evil. Hatred of the neighbor is a grave sin when one deliberately desires him grave harm. “But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven.”
Catechism ¶ 2303.

We’ve been forbidden to hate others (in fact, we’ve been commanded exactly the opposite). Yet, if we deliberately wish evil on our neighbor, it isn’t necessarily grave matter, so it isn’t necessarily a mortal sin – even if we deliberately violate God’s command not to hate.
 
Am So thankful for Confession 🙂 Protestants in particular have no idea what their missing with this sacrament. So awesome to go and be cleansed from mortal and venial sins. Not only does one get cleansed by the blood of Christ, but the priest is also there to give you spiritual guidance and direction in the confessional, which is so helpful
 
If I didn’t know something was grave, then I wouldn’t have full knowledge of it, so then it wouldn’t be mortal… right?
Correct. But understand that it isn’t a question of “Gee, I didn’t know that the Church has a Catechism that tells us that dishonoring our parents is a grave sin.” The law of God is written on every human heart, and every human knows from within that we are to honor our parents. Similarly, you can’t say “What?! Murder’s wrong?! No one told me!!” The law of God teaches all humans that wrongful killing is sinful.

A particular sin is grave or not grave in its own right, not because you knew it was grave or thought it was venial. That’s one of the elements governing the mortality of a sin. Now, if you didn’t realize it was sinful, or thought it was a minor sin, or what have you, that goes to the knowledge element; and it possibly affects the fullness of the consent you gave.
Breaking any of the Ten Commandments would be a grave matter?
That’s correct: the Ten Commandments all involve grave issues. So perjury is always grave matter; blaspheming God is always grave matter; and so on. At one point the Catechism points out that physically attacking your parents is objectively worse than physically attacking a stranger: because “Honor your mother and father” is one of the Ten Commandments.
There’s technically no such thing as a “white lie,” correct? So every little lie a person tells would be a sin?
God is Truth. Every untruth is an offense against Him. There are, however, degrees of sinfulness. Saying “Honey, you did fine” is not the same level of sinfulness as falsely implicating another person in a capital crime.
 
You appear to be blurring the distinction between gravity of a sin, on the one hand, and knowledge and consent, on the other.

Gravity of a sin is independent of your knowledge and consent to committing it. Unlawful killing of a human being is grave, even if you lack full consent or knowledge (in which case the mortality of the sin is lessened); contrariwise, you can absolutely know that a given act is sinful and deliberately do it anyway without it being a mortal sin (if it doesn’t involve a grave matter).

For example, the Catechism teaches us as follows:
Catechism ¶ 2303.

We’ve been forbidden to hate others (in fact, we’ve been commanded exactly the opposite). Yet, if we deliberately wish evil on our neighbor, it isn’t necessarily grave matter, so it isn’t necessarily a mortal sin – even if we deliberately violate God’s command not to hate.
That’s right, I’m sorry. I never realised in my post that I wasn’t being particular! Thanks for catching that!
 
I’m still confused with the whole gravity thing. Is this why we confess mortal and venial sins? That makes it so much easier than trying to figure out gravity.
the Ten Commandments all involve grave issues
But not every sin that goes against them is grave…?
 
I’m still confused with the whole gravity thing. …

"the Ten Commandments all involve grave issues "

But not every sin that goes against them is grave…?
Venial matter can also fall under various of the 10 commandments…

Catechism:

2073 Obedience to the Commandments also implies obligations in matter which is, in itself, light. Thus abusive language is forbidden by the fifth commandment, but would be a grave offense only as a result of circumstances or the offender’s intention.
 
Thanks for the link, LoyalViews! 🙂
Thus abusive language is forbidden by the fifth commandment
That means verbally abusing someone; not just using bad language, right? (sorry if that’s a silly question. I’m tired :yawn: )
 
A particular sin is grave or not grave in its own right, not because you knew it was grave or thought it was venial. That’s one of the elements governing the mortality of a sin. Now, if you didn’t realize it was sinful, or thought it was a minor sin, or what have you, that goes to the knowledge element; and it possibly affects the fullness of the consent you gave.
So just to be clear: if someone commits a grave sin without full knowledge that it is grave, but they find out later that it was, that person is not in a state of mortal sin… correct?
 
So just to be clear: if someone commits a grave sin without full knowledge that it is grave, but they find out later that it was, that person is not in a state of mortal sin… correct?
One can discuss the matter with ones confessor (Such can be a larger discussion)
 
Nice basic summary from the Compendium issued by Pope Benedict XVI
  1. When does one commit a mortal sin?
1855-1861
1874

One commits a mortal sin when there are simultaneously present: grave matter, full knowledge, and deliberate consent. This sin destroys charity in us, deprives us of sanctifying grace, and, if unrepented, leads us to the eternal death of hell. It can be forgiven in the ordinary way by means of the sacraments of Baptism and of Penance or Reconciliation.
  1. When does one commit a venial sin?
1862-1864
1875

One commits a venial sin, which is essentially different from a mortal sin, when the matter involved is less serious or, even if it is grave, when full knowledge or complete consent are absent. Venial sin does not break the covenant with God but it weakens charity and manifests a disordered affection for created goods. It impedes the progress of a soul in the exercise of the virtues and in the practice of moral good. It merits temporal punishment which purifies.

vatican.va/archive/compendium_ccc/documents/archive_2005_compendium-ccc_en.html
 
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