Is masturbation venial if you tried to fight it and is it ok if I can receive communion if it is venial?

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ChristianSh20

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Hi, my name is Christian, I am 15 years old and I am a catholic. Earlier this year I found out that masturbation is a mortal sin and I did masturbate before then but I didn’t know it was a sin but when I found out I promised I wouldn’t do it again but the worst got to me and I committed masturbation, BUT that doesn’t mean I did it because I didn’t care I tried my best to not do it but for some reason I couldn’t but I wanted to stop and I fought my way out of not doing it. I confessed this sin 7 times and they all helped me a lot, but today I had an urge to do it and I said no to myself so many times but that eventually lead me to doing it and I regret it very much. I know that tomorrow is Ash Wednesday and I really want to receive communion and I think it’s wrong if I don’t receive Christ on the start of lent. I am a catholic who wants to follow Jesus’ word and I want to be with him in eternal life but I don’t want this sin getting in the way of that. So my question is, even though I tried to not masturbate, is it considered mortal or venial and if it’s venial could I still receive communion on Ash Wednesday?
 
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Confess before receiving. Some Churches have Confession on Ash Wednesday. Check in your area.
 
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Yea I understand that but my* church doesn’t
 
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Are there other Churches nearby that might have Confession? If not you could maybe talk to your pastor about Confessing tomorrow to him or one of the other priests and explain that you want to receive Communion for Ash Wednesday.
 
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Well the thing is, I go to a catholic high school, and tomorrow we have an all school mass for Ash Wednesday at 12pm so i don’t know how to go if I am in school
 
I hate to say it but i wouldn’t go to communion tomorrow. You don’t want to go down the road of getting into the habit of convincing yourself that the sin isn’t serious when it really is! Believe me, being a teen boy, i struggle with this sin too, and I know it isn’t easy! I will pray for you to overcome this sin! God Bless 🙂
 
Not the same, but the same: Suppose you needed cash very badly and very quickly. You thought about stealing from work, but you would be caught. You are then strongly tempted to rob a bank, wearing a disguise. After fighting that urge for days on end, you give in and rob the bank.

Does that sound venial? Should you receive communion?
 
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Some theologians interpret that so-called quasi-compulsive sins don’t have full consent, so they were not always mortal sins. Particularly addictive sins, dealing with alcohol, drugs or sexual disorders, could be quasi-compulsive, even if there are not compulsive in the strict sense that is no freedom of will at all. However, this concept is still controversial, and the safest option is to seek confession if you know you committed sins of grave matter.
 
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And truth be told most priests will be run ragged tomorrow.

Maybe in a very small rural parish where a priest has no other parishes to serve or if one lives near a monastery they could schedule a Confession on Ash Wednesday.

If your parish has not scheduled a Confession time, remember Ash Wed is not a holy day of obligation. Consider it a penance to forego communion until Confession
 
ChristianSh20 said:
So my question is, even though I tried to not masturbate, is it considered mortal or venial and if it’s venial could I still receive communion on Ash Wednesday?
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Para 2352 of the Catechism (which talks about masturbation) goes on to say (my emphasis):
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.
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So if your freedom is impaired by force of acquired habit then this reduces your moral responsibility for your actions (essentially, you’re not in full control). There’s nothing controversial about this - it’s perfectly orthodox theology. That doesn’t however mean that mastubration isn’t a sin, or that it isn’t serious, or that you don’t need to go to confession. As I always tell people who confess this (and believe me I hear it a lot) - as soon as it happens, as many times as it happens, go to confession. You can though still receive the eucharist (whcih si, after all a healing remedy for body and soul).
TheLittleLady said:
And truth be told most priests will be run ragged tomorrow.
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I’ve just finished my second mass for the day, have an eucmenical service in the evening (after confessions) and really need to get started on my homily. Despite this, I will happily and readily make time for hearing confessions. A priest has a duty to hear your confession at any reasonable time. So while 5 minutes before mass might not work, most priests can find five minutes after mass.
 
Hi Father did you mean that someone could still receive the Eucharist as long as they mention that sin the next time they go to confession ?
 
That’s a completely different situation isn’t it? It makes sense but besides masturbation and robbing being sins they are differences between the two? But thanks for the help
 
I can’t tell you whether you’re in a state of Mortal Sin, or not.

However I can give you some tips. I struggled with it, as well (really badly). It sounds to me like if you fought the urge, but fell you may benefit from them.

Here are some tips that helped me;
  • Say short prayers, or ask God to help you cast away temptations.
  • Completely remove the source of the impure content. You will not regret it in the long run at all.
  • Know that the cons, far outweigh the short bit of stimulated pleasure you get.
  • When the temptations are really strong move to a populated area like around family or friends.
  • Check this article out:
    Practical Freedom from Porn - LifeTeen.com for Catholic Youth
  • Say any prayer
There are also many other websites, support groups, and other sources that will aid you.
Those were just a few tips that helped me. I hope they help you.

I know it may seem hard to fight the temptations, sometimes even impossible. But it is not, at all. And eventually after a while, the feeling of obeying God, and knowing that you fought off temptation will feel a million times better than impure actions ever did.

It does get easier with time, it did with me and I thought I could never quit, but God delivered me from my addiction. God loves you so much, keep fighting the good fight and know that you are not fighting it alone. God will alway be there for you.

Again, I hope this help and God Bless.
 
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halogirl said:
Hi Father did you mean that someone could still receive the Eucharist as long as they mention that sin the next time they go to confession ?
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Yes. They should go to confession first, but where that’s not possible then they can still receive the Eucharist but still need to go confession as soon as possible.
 
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