Is It a Mortal Sin to Almost Commit a Mortal Sin?

[nsper7]

No. Please let me try again. If I entertain thoughts of having an adulterous affair with my neighbor’s wife and become enflamed with lust for her and in my mind take off her clothing and commit the act and would gladly take any opportunity to do so, this is the sin of adultery.

Let’s say I hate someone and intend to murder him. I plan it out in my mind and get in my car and drive toward the location with a gun in my pocket. On the way I get in an accident that prevents me from carrying out the act. Or I pull the trigger and the gun jams or I am a bad shot and miss the target. I am guilty of the sin of murder. The murder is in my heart.

I misunderstood your first post. You were tempted to engage in sin and look at pornography and by God’s grace you willed to not do it. This is a victory over sin. Alleluia!

Also I am very sorry to upset you. I would check into whether or not you may confess by doing some research into Church documents. In times of controversy and confusion that is the best approach.

God bless you.

I am sorry for getting angered earlier. I know you are trying to help and be a good counsel, but I find it hard and frustrating where I have multiple people giving me different advice. Again, sorry for taking it too personally or venting on the thread/forum.

 

[fbl9]

Hi nsper7…ok i was in a simular postion as you were (in regards to sinning) in your op…except i went through with the sin…after recieving the sacrement of reconcillation i asked my priest about the situation and i had not gone through with the “plan” if i would have been in mortal sin and his reply was no i was not in mortal sin,however i was commiting a venaill sin in thinking of committing this sin…sorry Grandfather but your scenioros(sic) did not seem to apply to the op situation,but to me they were more mortal sins in themselves…back to you nsper7…it seems that because you are not fully catholic your reception of the sacrement of reconcillation is premature,in your faith journey…imop…

 

[Sam_Maloney]

With respect, I totally disagree. That passage in no way tries to say actually committing adultery and thinking about committing adultery is the same level of evil. He is just saying that they’re both evil.

The OP’s priest didn’t deny that lustful thoughts are evil, but that they do not reach the levels of mortal sins. I suffer from the same weaknesses as the OP and have often found myself starting the deed and stopping before completion, either through grace, will, prayer, or some combination.

My priests, who are all very orthodox, all have made distinctions between thinking about the road, starting down the road and turning back, and going all the way down the road to completion.

I’m with you: commiting adultry in your heart is a lesser sin than commiting it in a sleezy hotel.

I feel a little bad for people who can’t see that distinction.

 

[Ruthie]

Grandfather,

Most of the time I find you very wise, to the point where I see your name and think, “Oh, good! Let’s see what he says!”

I’m going to disagree with you about RCIA and Reconciliation.

I’m not up on the Church documents, and too fuzzy today to try to search for them, so I’m just going on logic.

Since Nsper is a candidate, he is already validly baptized. I know RCIA has a schedule for the Sacraments.

Waiting for the scheduled First Reconciliation is generally a good thing. For most of us, the sins we committed before entering RCIA are not mortal due to lack of sufficient knowledge. And it’s a whole lot easier on Father to have a time slot dedicated to hearing our first confessions.

What about the person who formerly did not, but now does know that one of their habitual sins is mortal? And they commit it again due to strong habit?

Are we going to risk having this candidate die in mortal sin, because we have a schedule to adhere to?

I think not. It offends against charity.

I know we can say that the strong force of habit can mitigate it. But that’s something to be discerned case by case, and by a priest, and (IMO) should be done in the confessional.

God bless us all,

Ruthie

 

[JPUSC]

I confessed it yesterday to a Priest. By the way, the Priest advised that for the most part thoughts are not mortal sins, whether it’s anger/hatred/violent thoughts or lustful thoughts. It becomes mortal if you act on them.

That’s good to know. I thought I heard somewhere that “unpure thoughts” were sins.

Here’s what the Catechism says about gravity of masturbation:

“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.” (2352)

This thread got me curious. Is looking at pornography as serious a sin as masturbation?

 

[padre_k]

Well, the Priest was addressing mortal vs. venial sin, not whether it is sinful or not. Also, every Priest at the parish I am going through RCIA at allows me to receive Pennance/Reconciliation.

While you can tell the Priest your confession anytime you wish to, it is not Sacramentally valid until you have been accepted into the Catechumenate preceeding full Initiation.

However, if you do not commit a sinful action due to your call to conscience, then good for you! Restraint is a wonderful principle when one is considering sin of any sort.

Ponder, rather, upon the call which you experienced, to refrain from sin. It is a beautiful and noble calling to life, and it bears further examination.

HTH,

Padre K

 

[JPUSC]

If you haven’t been baptized yet, then you probably don’t have that much to worry about because during baptism, all your sins get wiped away and you have a clean slate.

It sounds great that you are so committed.

 

[nsper7]

I am already validly Baptized. I am a CANDIDATE, not a CATECHUMEN.

 

[Shlomey]

Homosexual desires, however, are not in themselves sinful. People are subject to a wide variety of sinful desires over which they have little direct control, but these do not **become sinful **until a person acts upon them, either by acting out the desire or by encouraging the desire and deliberately engaging in fantasies about acting it out. People tempted by homosexual desires, like people tempted by improper heterosexual desires, are not sinning until they act upon those desires in some manner.

May be taken from another field of orientation, but the sin is still lust. On this one, the Church clearly teaches that the fantasy itself is a sin. Any sexual desire that is actively entertained, whether by thought, deed or both, is thereby sinful.
As we know this, those of us that still do it are indeed guilty of mortal sin.

 

[padre_k]

I am already validly Baptized. I am a CANDIDATE, not a CATECHUMEN.

You’re right. Please don’t crucify me. You’re a Candidate, and that’s fantastic.

I also erred in my earlier response.

Those to be baptized become the Elect, at the Rite of Election, at which point they can be sacramentally married.

At that point they more often than not go to first reconciliation prior to Initiation.

While that is ‘what’s done’, to be honest I need to read through the Rites and catechesis in a higher fashion.

 

[nsper7]

You’re right. Please don’t crucify me. You’re a Candidate, and that’s fantastic.

I also erred in my earlier response.

Those to be baptized become the Elect, at the Rite of Election, at which point they can be sacramentally married.

At that point they more often than not go to first reconciliation prior to Initiation.

While that is ‘what’s done’, to be honest I need to read through the Rites and catechesis in a higher fashion.

I did not mean to sound angry. I was using capital letters to better differentiate. I know I can sometimes read something quickly and substitute one word for another or something. Sorry if I sounded angry/irritated, I was definitely not.