If you are in mortal sin but went to mass anyways are you in less of a sinful state?

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SantaMaria

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Let’s say John(catholic) is in an invalid marriage (married in a Protestant church) and he intends to convalidate at some point. He is in a state of mortal sin and cannot be absolved until the marriage is convalidated.

Is going to mass beneficial to him? Does it make him in a less sinful condition than if he quit going until the convalidation? Are venial sins forgiven?
 
John may not necessarily be in mortal sin if he remains chaste and does not consummate the Protestant marriage before convalidation but it’s best for him to talk to a priest.

Missing mass deliberately and not for a good reason is mortal sin added to any other mortal sin(s) you might have, it wouldn’t necessarily lessen the latter.
 
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Going to Mass and receiving the Eucharist are two separate issues.

While Mass is about the sacrifice, it is also about worship.

John should continue to attend Mass, and as far as the other issues, he needs to speak to a priest, in a venue where all the pertinent details can be reviewed, rather than a social media site such as CAF.
 
Going to Mass is always beneficial. If somebody is really in mortal sin, the Mass should at least help to bring them a little spiritually closer to God so the Holy Spirit can work on them to get them to go to confession.

John may or may not be in mortal sin. He should speak to a priest ASAP. If he is not sure if he can receive Communion, he should not receive until he goes to confession and does whatever else is needed (such as resolving his marital situation) to make sure he gets back in a state of grace. The priest can advise him on what he needs to do.

If John is truly out of the state of grace and in a state of mortal sin, his venial sins will not be forgiven at the Mass. They will be forgiven the next time he makes a good confession. Also if John is truly in a state of mortal sin, he cannot accumulate any merit for attending the Mass.
 
Mortal sin breaks our relationship with God.
It needs to be repaired through Reconciliation.

That being said, God never stops pursuing us and inviting us into relationship with Him.

So, a person in mortal sin, who attends Mass, is showing the working of the Holy Spirit in his life.
Everything is not “all better”, there is still work to do, but it’s a step in the right direction.
 
It is always beneficial to attend at the holy sacrifice of the mass, and is required by the church. No one may ever be certain that they have committed a mortal sin, as this is the mortal sin of despair. Going to mass may cause one to be perfectly sorry for their sin, which would also forgive them if they had committed a mortal sin, although they should not receive communion outside of a special circumstance.
 
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