I don't know what a mortal sin is

[LilyM]

can’t access the link

Here’s the actual document

 

[coda]

of all of the catholic teachings, the one that says that (a) if we die in an unrepented state of mortal sin and (b) if we are conscious of grave sin, we should not take communuion, causes me the most difficulty.

some acts obviously are mortal sins: murder, adultery, fornication, masturbation.

but most bad acts don’t fit into neat categories like that.

e.g., when i played golf yesterday, i had six beers over a six-hour period. i was never intoxicated, but the beer certainly affected my behavior. i also used some very harsh language (but did not take the lord’s name in vain) and threw my clubs a couple of times. when i went to mass this morning, i took communuion. i didn’t have time to go to confession before mass (and, frankly, don’t feel like i need to do so, even though i have asked forgiveness for my sins [the language] and will probably try to do better next time).

many people here will probably have an opinion about whether i am now in a state of mortal sin. sadly, those opinions are just that–opinions. the church has not very clearly defnied the acts that will send us to hell (or, if it has, i’d like to review the document).

some will say, “what’s the big deal–just go to confession.” and there’s no big deal about going to confession. the big deal comes, though, when i show up for mass and wonder whether my soul is in a good enough state to receive communion. that’s where the ambiguity really matters.

and the point is not whether going to confession is a big deal. i want to know whether i must go to confession.

adultery is a mortal sin. ditto masturbation. but is looking at pornography for 30 seconds a mortal sin? how about looking at a woman and having a lustful thought? what about looking at her five times and having lustful thoughts?

i wish the church would draw some bright lines on this.

We know in our hearts when we commit mortal sin…you just know…

 

[Daniel_Boucher]

Mortal sins are those that are grave, those that you know are grave, and those that you give the full consent of your will to commit. I was taught that grave sins are those of the Ten Commandments. Upon reading the Catechism, I learned that grave sins are those which have greater severity, as opposed to lesser sins, which are venial. So, yes the Ten Commandments command us to obey what we should or else fall into mortal sin; but other sins such as gluttony or sloth are grave when committed in severity. Some people might interpret gluttony or sloth from the Ten Commandments, however. The point with graveness, is the severity in nature of the sin. The Ten Commandments cover grave matters.

 

[FNDRB58]

e.g., when i played golf yesterday, i had six beers over a six-hour period. i was never intoxicated, but the beer certainly affected my behavior. i also used some very harsh language (but did not take the lord’s name in vain) and threw my clubs a couple of times. when i went to mass this morning, i took communuion. i didn’t have time to go to confession before mass (and, frankly, don’t feel like i need to do so, even though i have asked forgiveness for my sins [the language] and will probably try to do better next time).

Six beers? Light beer or regular? Light beer becomes mortal at six, regular starts at five. Harsh language? Venial sin if you hit a bad shot…which is justifiable. Mortal if you cussed at some guy who mistakenly took your ball. Throwing clubs? Now that is a tough one. The anger would be understandable but throwing clubs can kill people so if you haphazardously chucked your 6-iron towards the foursome on the neighboring fairway then that could be mortal…if it were toward ducks or other wildlife then…venial, definitely venial.

; )

 

[tr1strev]

Apologies.

If you go to catholicparents.org/oxcart/examination.html and click on the link for ‘Examination of Conscience by Fr Robert Altier’ it seems to work.

The link described that to commit a mortal sin one must do so with full knowledge that the act was wrong. As a dumb kid, I once played with a ouija board. I had no idea that what I was doing was wrong at the time and I don’t recall ever bringing it up in confession. I never withheld it on purpose, I just didn’t consider it. I guess that means that when it occurred, I did not commit a mortal sin b/c I didn’t have the requisite knowledge? Correct?

 

[jmcrae]

The link described that to commit a mortal sin one must do so with full knowledge that the act was wrong. As a dumb kid, I once played with a ouija board. I had no idea that what I was doing was wrong at the time and I don’t recall ever bringing it up in confession. I never withheld it on purpose, I just didn’t consider it. I guess that means that when it occurred, I did not commit a mortal sin b/c I didn’t have the requisite knowledge? Correct?

Correct.

But if you find that it is bothering you - if the memory of it comes up in your mind frequently and makes you feel anxious - you can still confess it - you would just say, “A sin from my past that I wish to confess is that I played with a Ouija board when I was a kid, without realizing the harm I was doing to myself, and without understanding the gravity of this act.”

It is a source of many graces, to also confess our venial sins, even though it isn’t a strict requirement.

 

[LilyM]

Correct.

But if you find that it is bothering you - if the memory of it comes up in your mind frequently and makes you feel anxious - you can still confess it - you would just say, “A sin from my past that I wish to confess is that I played with a Ouija board when I was a kid, without realizing the harm I was doing to myself, and without understanding the gravity of this act.”

It is a source of many graces, to also confess our venial sins, even though it isn’t a strict requirement.

Indeedy - we are in fact strongly encouraged to confess venial as well as mortal sins (or those we think may be mortal)

 

[Lucky7]

The Church does not “approve” examinations of conscience.

What do you mean by this?

OP…here’s a good way to go about determining what sins involve grave matter… go to the following website and do a search for the words “grave”, “evil”, “mortal”. You will probably get entries that aren’t what you are looking for, but it is fairly easy to pick out the ones that deal with sins.

scborromeo.org/ccc.htm

 

[thistle]

The Church does not “approve” examinations of conscience.

The Church “approves” examination of conscience in the sense you are supposed to examine your conscience daily but in the sense you mean (the lists which are available from Catholic websites) these are not “approved” because the Church has no list of all grave sins. However, these examination of conscience checklists are very good guidelines to what is and may be a grave sin.