Is every Catholic obligated to confess once a year even if they donot have Mortal sin

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Is there a confusion of terms here? Grave *matter *is defined as things that go against the 10 commandments, etc. in the CCC. Grave matter and grave sin are not the same Latin phrases.

I’m thinking that there is a confusion. Some here may think that the Church means “sins that involve grave matter but may or may not be mortal” when the phrase “grave sin” is encountered. I don’t think that is the case. I think it is used more to mean a mortal sin, at least in the context of the CCC. Let us turn from the topic of once a year confession to the topic of you must be in a state of grace before receiving communion to get more samples of CCC language. I think we do all agree that we are supposed to be in a state of grace to receive communion, and that grave matter does not in itself cause us not to be in a state of grace. Let’s see if in that context they use “grave sin”. If they do, they mean mortal sin, and not merely grave matter.

In the “you must be in a state of grace” context they use “mortal”

**1415 **Anyone who desires to receive Christ in Eucharistic communion must be in the state of grace. Anyone aware of having sinned mortally must not receive communion without having received absolution in the sacrament of penance.

Yet in matching paragraph on the same topic they use “grave sin”

**1385 **To respond to this invitation we must prepare ourselves for so great and so holy a moment. St. Paul urges us to examine our conscience: “Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a man examine himself, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For any one who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment upon himself.” Anyone conscious of a grave sin must receive the sacrament of Reconciliation before coming to communion.

Either the CCC does not know it’s own mind, and can’t decide between if it needs to only be grave matter or if it in fact needs to be mortal, or else it is using “grave sin” to mean you are conscious of meeting all three criteria. Or is there some other explanation for their language?
 
Yes Pug, you’ve got it right. The CCC (and the Church) uses “grave sin” and “mortal sin” interchangeably. They mean the same thing.

There seems to be a misperception, sometimes, that “grave sin” means something other than “mortal sin”.

VC
 
Pug said:
Either the CCC does not know it’s own mind, and can’t decide between if it needs to only be grave matter or if it in fact needs to be mortal, or else it is using “grave sin” to mean you are conscious of meeting all three criteria. Or is there some other explanation for their language?
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They’re Italian; not English or German. (And definitely not Scottish.) The boundary line may be fuzzy. You should confess every instance of grave matter, even if it wasn’t with full knowledge or full consent of the will. But if you didn’t know you did it, then you don’t have to confess it.

Got it? 😉
 
Pug said:
Is there a confusion of terms here? Grave *matter *is defined as things that go against the 10 commandments, etc. in the CCC. Grave matter and grave sin are not the same Latin phrases.

I’m thinking that there is a confusion. Some here may think that the Church means “sins that involve grave matter but may or may not be mortal” when the phrase “grave sin” is encountered. I don’t think that is the case. I think it is used more to mean a mortal sin, at least in the context of the CCC. Let us turn from the topic of once a year confession to the topic of you must be in a state of grace before receiving communion to get more samples of CCC language. I think we do all agree that we are supposed to be in a state of grace to receive communion, and that grave matter does not in itself cause us not to be in a state of grace. Let’s see if in that context they use “grave sin”. If they do, they mean mortal sin, and not merely grave matter.

In the “you must be in a state of grace” context they use “mortal”

**1415 **Anyone who desires to receive Christ in Eucharistic communion must be in the state of grace. Anyone aware of having sinned mortally must not receive communion without having received absolution in the sacrament of penance.

Yet in matching paragraph on the same topic they use “grave sin”

**1385 **To respond to this invitation we must prepare ourselves for so great and so holy a moment. St. Paul urges us to examine our conscience: “Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a man examine himself, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For any one who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment upon himself.” Anyone conscious of a grave sin must receive the sacrament of Reconciliation before coming to communion.

Either the CCC does not know it’s own mind, and can’t decide between if it needs to only be grave matter or if it in fact needs to be mortal, or else it is using “grave sin” to mean you are conscious of meeting all three criteria. Or is there some other explanation for their language?
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That is not the topic of the thread. There was a question asked and that question was answered over and over again.

Do you not understand that the terms are used interchangeably? Is that even a word:shrug:
 
jmcrae said:
So, grave matter is not the same thing as grave sin? :confused:
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Grave matter does not become grave sin until all 3 conditions are met. Then grave matter becomes grave sin.

You do not have to confess grave matter until the conditions are met.
 
Indyann said:
That is not the topic of the thread. There was a question asked and that question was answered over and over again.

Do you not understand that the terms are used interchangeably? Is that even a word:shrug:
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I already answered the topic of the thread, but it seems probable to me that the answer is not being understood because of a misunderstanding of the words “grave sin”. I am not off topic. I am using another place in the CCC to demonstrate how that phrase is being used, so that people can begin to understand how that phrase is being used for the topic of the thread. The CCC is using “grave sin” to mean “mortal”, and I felt that this usage was clear in the context of receiving Eucharist, so I offered that to help clarify.

I entirely DO understand that the words are being used interchangeably. That was my point. And yep, interchangeably is a word.🙂
 
jmcrae said:
So, grave matter is not the same thing as grave sin? :confused:
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Correct. Grave matter (objectively existing, or thought to exist) is a component of a grave sin, but it is not grave sin itself. Just as grave matter is a component of mortal sin, but not mortal sin itself.

Grave sin = Mortal Sin = Serious Sin

VC
 
Pug said:
I already answered the topic of the thread, but it seems probable to me that the answer is not being understood because of a misunderstanding of the words “grave sin”. I am not off topic. I am using another place in the CCC to demonstrate how that phrase is being used, so that people can begin to understand how that phrase is being used for the topic of the thread. The CCC is using “grave sin” to mean “mortal”, and I felt that this usage was clear in the context of receiving Eucharist, so I offered that to help clarify.

I entirely DO understand that the words are being used interchangeably. That was my point. And yep, interchangeably is a word.🙂
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Ok I understand. I just don’t anyone to get any more confused. Sorry.
 
Verbum_Caro said:
Correct. Grave matter (objectively existing, or thought to exist) is a component of a grave sin, but it is not grave sin itself. Just as grave matter is a component of mortal sin, but not mortal sin itself.

Grave sin = Mortal Sin = Serious Sin

VC
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So, a lunatic can commit a murder, and it’s no biggie - he can just carry on as before.
 
Verbum_Caro said:
Non sequitur?

Perhaps you can explain.
VC
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It’s not a grave sin, right? Nothing that can be defined as “bad” happened. So he doesn’t need to go to Confession, nor receive the resulting counselling, healing, etc. He can just carry on as he did before he committed the murder. It doesn’t matter to God, that he did this.
 
jmcrae said:
It’s not a grave sin, right?
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I don’t know. All you mentioned was a lunatic who committed murder.

We need to know the circumstances, the degree of freedom, what you mean exactly by murder, the intent, aggravating circumstances, etc. etc. Then we might be able to opine whether or not it was a mortal sin.

But, how does this relate to the topic at hand? The question is: Does the Church require us by precept and/or Canon Law to confess non-mortal sins once per year? Answer: No.

The secondary question: Does “grave sin” as used in the Catechism, or in Canon Law, especially when describing the obligation to confess, mean something other than “mortal sin”? Answer: No.

VC
 
Indyann said:
No one is disputing how often one should confess. The question was How often MUST you confess if there is no mortal sin.

But that’s the rub. And that’s one of several reasons why the thread has meandered seemingly O/T. There seem to be some underlying assumptions that mortal sin is a lot more marginal than in fact it is: that there is a narrow range of what can be considered grave matter (let alone grave sin).

I think we need to re-study Jesus’ words about sin and, as jmcrae says, engage in a better examen – before assuming that unless we do something practically criminal, we have not committed mortal sin.
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Elizabeth502 said:
engage in a better examen – before assuming that unless we do something practically criminal, we have not committed mortal sin.
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It is very true that simple seeming actions that are not criminal (in the worldly sense of the word) can be grave matter. Missing mass on a holy day of obligation (without cause, etcetera) is grave matter. I think some people get frustrated with the teaching that this is grave matter specifically because it seems so simple and easy to do.
 
Would someone with a mortal sin on their soul really want to wait a whole year to go to confession?:confused:

Suppose you were in an automobile accident; suppose you had a fatal heart attack; suppose, suppose, suppose.:eek:

Why is going to frequent confession such a hardship for some Catholics?🤷

:harp:
 
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