How common is mortal sin?

[upbeatjonm]

As a cradle Catholic, I went to Catholic grade school, high school and even Catholic college. Whenever I was taught about mortal sin, the teachers always gave examples of grave sins such as murder, adultery, robbery, abortion,etc. This led me to believe that these were the types of things that would send you to hell if you were not forgiven. However, in recent years, as I have been studying the faith more, it seems that virtually everything sinful is “grave”, such as a lustful look, masturbation, missing a single mass, etc.

It now seems as though mortal sin must be very common, even though people don’t seem to realize it. That’s probably why confession lines are so short.

How common are mortal sins for the average person? Do they commit them daily? Weekly, yearly?

 

[tessi]

It now seems as though mortal sin must be very common, even though people don’t seem to realize it. That’s probably why confession lines are so short.

How common are mortal sins for the average person? Do they commit them daily? Weekly, yearly?

If you receive Sacraments frequently, mortal sin is not common. I think the average person commits mortal sins very often. For instance, they miss Sunday Mass every now and then and it doesn’t seem important. I was educated in that line that only “big sins” were mortal sins but I learnt that the Church did not teach what they told me at school.

 

[jcoldc]

Well in order for it to be a mortal sin it needs to be:

1. a grave matter (what you are talking about)
2. you need to know it’s a grave matter (to debate what you said above)
3. you need to have done it with your full consent (ie. not under duress, perhaps doing something subconsciously etc.)

So I guess there would be doubt that mortal sin would be that common. However, I think one could debate where is the line of full consent, or knowing it’s a grave matter.

Personally I do agree that mortal sins are common, particularly among certain age groups. (ie. young people more likely to commit sexual sins than older people. Even married couples who are using ABC are committing mortal sin, whereas an older couple who is no longer fertile is not.)

And yes, missing mass is a mortal sin. So think of how many people are sinning there. Also a mortal sin, going to communion without being in the state of grace. Of course this has to be contingent on knowing you’ve committed a mortal sin.

However, staying blissfully ignorant about one’s faith (not that you’re saying that -just interjecting my fleeting feelings at times) just so you can say you don’t know what is a mortal sin, doesn’t wash either. It is our duty to learn and continue to grow in our faith.

 

[bilop]

As a cradle Catholic, I went to Catholic grade school, high school and even Catholic college. Whenever I was taught about mortal sin, the teachers always gave examples of grave sins such as murder, adultery, robbery, abortion,etc. This led me to believe that these were the types of things that would send you to hell if you were not forgiven. However, in recent years, as I have been studying the faith more, it seems that virtually everything sinful is “grave”, such as a lustful look, masturbation, missing a single mass, etc.

It now seems as though mortal sin must be very common, even though people don’t seem to realize it. That’s probably why confession lines are so short.

How common are mortal sins for the average person? Do they commit them daily? Weekly, yearly?

Personally, I would say I was in mortal sin for about 18-20 years of my life, from my confirmation through about age 34. Missing Mass frequently, never going to confession, and then sexual sins. At my worst, I was probably committing 5-10 mortal sins per week.

Since I’ve become a faithful Catholic, I would say rarely, if ever. Some things (e.g. Lust, impure thought, spontaneous blashphemy) are debatable and hard to ascertain if venial or mortal. If I’m in doubt, I go to confession right away.

In general, I would say mortal sin is very common. Between skipping Mass, Artificial Birth Control, receiving the Eucharist while not in a state of grace, masturbation, and fornication, I would say that a majority of catholics commit mortal sin weekly.

God Bless

 

[rwoehmke]

I am not going to estimate the rate of mortal sin in the population, but I would point out that while murder, missing Mass,grand theft, and a plethora of sexual matters seem to take the spotlight, most people neglect the demands of justice. We don’t pay people a living wage, we seem to feel that the laborer is just another line in the cost of goods sold. We turn corn into gasoline for our SUV’s while people in the world are starving. Etc., Etc., Etc. Americans use a huge part of the world’s resources and contribute the largest loads of pollutants to the ecosphere and get our unders in a twist about masturbation. I don’t have a problem with that particular sin, but I fear what the Lord is going to say about my abuse of the various types of justice. I do not hate my country. I do not hate Americans, but I do think we are capable of better.

 

[bilop]

I am not going to estimate the rate of mortal sin in the population, but I would point out that while murder, missing Mass,grand theft, and a plethora of sexual matters seem to take the spotlight, most people neglect the demands of justice. We don’t pay people a living wage, we seem to feel that the laborer is just another line in the cost of goods sold. We turn corn into gasoline for our SUV’s while people in the world are starving. Etc., Etc., Etc. Americans use a huge part of the world’s resources and contribute the largest loads of pollutants to the ecosphere and get our unders in a twist about masturbation. I don’t have a problem with that particular sin, but I fear what the Lord is going to say about my abuse of the various types of justice. I do not hate my country. I do not hate Americans, but I do think we are capable of better.

I have a hard time with a lot of what you are claiming as sins.

If a person as an individual employer defrauds his workers or pays a sub-minimum wage, yes that is a sin. Or, if you dump pollutants illegally, it might be a sin.

But, there is no “collective sin” for the general pollution caused by the economy. Or general use of “resources” as long as you are paying for the “resources” you use.

In terms of pollution and abuse of workers, developing countries like China are FAR, FAR worse than the U.S.

God Bless

 

[Michael96]

I think we need to avoid bith extremes here.

I have heard people say it’s very very difficult to commit a mortal sin (and even murder may not be under the full control of the person and so while grave is not mortal). This seems nonsense to me.

And then I hear people describe all sorts of little things as mortal sins which just seems to totally lack perspective to me.

And I’m not sure it’s that helpful to worry too much about it; I would advocate a daily examination of conscience at the end of the day (as that’s when you can remember all the little things) in prayer and then repent all sins and ask Christ to help you do better tomorrow. That way I think we can grow in Christ rather than worrying about what binary level is ascribed to each sin.

Repent all sins

 

[jcoldc]

Rwoehmke, I have to agree with bilop. I think it’s hard to tell people they are commiting mortal sins because of what, say the government or society has dictated as necesary. For example, are we expected to walk to work so we don’t use gas? Most of us would be unable to do that. Unless you are personally specifically doing some of the sins you mentioned, I don’t see how you could hold everyone accountable. Do you think God will hold you accountable because the US has legal abortions? If you stand for pro-life and try to support that, I don’t see how the answer could be -yes. Some things just aren’t your fault.

I think we need to avoid bith extremes here.

I have heard people say it’s very very difficult to commit a mortal sin (and even murder may not be under the full control of the person and so while grave is not mortal). This seems nonsense to me.

Michael96, sorry but those are the conditions of mortal sin. Your example was of murder. I would think every Catholic capable of cognitive thought knows that murder is a mortal sin. I don’t see how that could be a shocker. So that would meet two of the three criteria for mortal sin (being of grave matter and knowing it is grave matter.) The third condition is commiting murder of full consent. There are several ways someone can commit murder not of their consent or under duress. For example -someone broke into your home and was attacking you or a loved one, but in self defense you killed them. That would be under duress. Now if he surrendered or tried to walk away, and you said “to heck with it” and shot him anyway, that would be a mortal sin. Here’s another, recently in the news a woman was pregnant and didn’t want to have an abortion. But her boyfriend didn’t want to be saddled with a kid. So he put a morning after or abortive drug of some kind in her yogurt without her knowing it. While she chose to eat the yogurt, she did not choose to abort the baby. She participated but did not consent. It was not a mortal sin.

I hope that clears it up.

 

[teachccd]

Of course this has to be contingent on knowing you’ve committed a mortal sin.

If you don’t know that you committed a mortal sin then you didn’t. You cannot commit a mortal sin unknowingly…teachccd

 

[teachccd]

In general, I would say mortal sin is very common. Between skipping Mass, Artificial Birth Control, receiving the Eucharist while not in a state of grace, masturbation, and fornication, I would say that a majority of catholics commit mortal sin weekly.

God Bless

Again, we must be very careful here. Many Catholics’ actions may be of serious nature but not necessarily a mortal sin. Our Church teaches that for a sin to be mortal the three conditions mentioned before MUST be present. An ACT IS NOT a mortal sin in and of itself. It MUST be accompanied by the three conditions taught by our Church.

I would tend to say that a great majority DO NOT commit mortal sin because they lack either full knowledge or full consent. Someone, like myself, who has been studying the faith for a few years now could more easily fall into mortal sin. And even then the condition of FULL consent could be a gray area.

It’s always best to use the Sacrament of Reconciliation regularly and hear what the priest tells you about your individual state. Wondering how common mortal sin is has no bearing when you are finally judged…God Bless…teachccd

 

[rwoehmke]

I am certainly not saying that we are committing collective mortal sins. We make individual choices in matters of justice every day. Are we committing mortal sins? Only if the three conditions are met. The point is that some of these justice issues can rise to grave matter for some individual persons. We as a group, forum, or whatever don’t seem to talk much about these things as matters of potential sin against justice. There is a plethora of documents starting with Leo XIII’s encyclical rerum novara that touch on such things. We seem to tend more to focus on issues of sexual purity, which I admit are much more common than screwing an employee out of a just wage or denying workers the right to organize.

 

[zjl56]

Again, we must be very careful here. Many Catholics’ actions may be of serious nature but not necessarily a mortal sin. Our Church teaches that for a sin to be mortal the three conditions mentioned before MUST be present. An ACT IS NOT a mortal sin in and of itself. It MUST be accompanied by the three conditions taught by our Church.

I would tend to say that a great majority DO NOT commit mortal sin because they lack either full knowledge or full consent. Someone, like myself, who has been studying the faith for a few years now could more easily fall into mortal sin. And even then the condition of FULL consent could be a gray area.

It’s always best to use the Sacrament of Reconciliation regularly and hear what the priest tells you about your individual state. Wondering how common mortal sin is has no bearing when you are finally judged…God Bless…teachccd

Well, we must make it aware to everyone that we live in a time where the collective works of the Faith are available with just a few clicks. I realize that many people may not be fully aware, but ignorance is something that shouldn’t be a problem. So we can’t ignore issue and we must proclaim our true morality, for by accepting this ignorance it is a sin on our part to not help people understand the fullness of catholic faith.

 

[jcoldc]

Well, we must make it aware to everyone that we live in a time where the collective works of the Faith are available with just a few clicks. I realize that many people may not be fully aware, but ignorance is something that shouldn’t be a problem. So we can’t ignore issue and we must proclaim our true morality, for by accepting this ignorance it is a sin on our part to not help people understand the fullness of catholic faith.

Yes, I agree. I mentioned something similar too. Sometimes sin and that guilty feeling,I believe, are guiding us to “crack open” the CCC and find out what we’re doing. I believe the way it happens for me is something like this.

1. I commit a sin or (or perhaps not), but somehow feel guilty.
2. Look up to see where it fits in the sin categories or go to confession (since I’m probably headed there anyway.)
3. Might not have been a sin for me originally, since I didn’t know it originally, however I know it for next time

 

[zjl56]

I agree with your view on guilts, and how having guilt is a blessing. We hate having guilt, but so often our inner guilt is dead on and leading us to the right direction. Too often people just base everything on the 10 commandments, which while good, are just too vague. So we must all learn to have a broader sense of what constitutes a major sin, and how to rely on the wonderful gift from God that is our moral compass.
What has squashed this is multitudes of people saying that this sin or that is nothing to worry about, and said people go about doing it when they really need to consult a priest.
People thus accept sin into their lives and abandon their moral compasses.
If this cycle continues for many years, as it has in our case, whole devastating sins have been marked as “alright” due to a lifetime of reassurance as ok, leading to an enormous problem that must be tackled.

There’s my rant on guilt.

 

[Ramalama]

. . . denying workers the right to organize.

Is that a grave matter. I didn’t even know it was a sin. Or did that smile mean you were joking?

 

[teachccd]

Well, we must make it aware to everyone that we live in a time where the collective works of the Faith are available with just a few clicks. I realize that many people may not be fully aware, but ignorance is something that shouldn’t be a problem. So we can’t ignore issue and we must proclaim our true morality, for by accepting this ignorance it is a sin on our part to not help people understand the fullness of catholic faith.

Could that be perhaps why I volunteer countless hours teaching children and adults? I could not agree with you more…teachccd

 

[teachccd]

I agree with your view on guilts, and how having guilt is a blessing. We hate having guilt, but so often our inner guilt is dead on and leading us to the right direction. Too often people just base everything on the 10 commandments, which while good, are just too vague. So we must all learn to have a broader sense of what constitutes a major sin, and how to rely on the wonderful gift from God that is our moral compass.
What has squashed this is multitudes of people saying that this sin or that is nothing to worry about, and said people go about doing it when they really need to consult a priest.
People thus accept sin into their lives and abandon their moral compasses.
If this cycle continues for many years, as it has in our case, whole devastating sins have been marked as “alright” due to a lifetime of reassurance as ok, leading to an enormous problem that must be tackled.

There’s my rant on guilt.

Seems like our faith is very countercultural and that is why so many “feel” that everything is acceptable unless it’s murder…Our moral compass or our informed conscience is experiencially formed not taught. When so many of our young people are exposed to so much trash in the media they grow up with a misinformed conscience. While they feel as if they are following their conscience it leads to disaster…“an enormous problem that must be tackled”…teachccd

 

[una_fides]

I side with those who say that mortal sin is very common. Not only are offenses involving grave matter common, but actual mortal sins themselves.

Here’s are the reasons that the full consent and knowledge arguments promulgated by those who would try to make mortal sin a virtual impossibility do not hold water. Yes, one must know that an offense is a grave matter in order for it to be a mortal sin. Nevertheless, only invincible ignorance can clear someone for not knowing that something was or was not a grave matter. If a person has any guilt for not knowing that something was a sin, then he or she is still guilty for committing that action. All humans bear the highest responsibility to determine matters concerning their immortal souls, and because the natural law has been written on every man’s heart (Rom 2:15-16), we cannot feign our ignorance and somehow hope that we will be acquitted for our lack of diligence. St. Thomas Aquinas held steadfastly to this position.

Regarding “full consent,” the fact that someone is tempted in no way excludes the person from his or her free will to make the decision. Full consent means that the action took place through a person’s own individual choice, regardless of outside temptations. This fact becomes manifest in the first sin recorded in Scripture. The serpent tempted Eve and made her think that her choice was a good one. She responded to the temptation by violating God’s law and now our entire human race bears the stain of original sin as a result of this first mortal sin that excluded them from the garden of Eden.

How do these facts manifest themselves when properly understood? Well, if the matter of the sin is grave, go to confession. It’s that simple.

For more on mortal sin, check out this website:saintaquinas.com/mortal_sin.html
It’s a great site for learning exactly what the Church teaches on the matter and it pulls its contents directly from Scripture and the Catechism.

 

[una_fides]

Now to only slightly blur the lines from my last post (or at least clarify a bit). When fighting off temptations of the mind, such as lust or anger, we must remember that though the matter of thinking a lustful or hateful thought may be grave, if we do not consent to the thoughts but persist in fighting them off the whole time they are present, then we have not consented our will and the offense would not be a mortal sin.

For example, one day impure thoughts entered the mind of St. Francis of Assisi. He fought them with due diligence, but the thoughts would not cease to plague him. He thrust himself into a bush of thorns and rolled around in them. When he arose, the impure thoughts had ceased. May we learn from his example in how serious we should take the words of Christ that if our right hand offends us that it be better to cut it off then have our whole bodies thrust into hell.

None of us are guaranteed to live another minute. When we begin to truly see sin as God sees it and when our faith increases so that we really know these truths, we cannot run faster to a confessional when we find ourselves in danger of hell fire.

God bless.