+JMJ+
All the more to go to confession then. In such cases, the affected individual is too engaged in his sin to determine the mortality of each individual sin, so he would need the guidance of his confessor. However, a lack in action to kick his habit of illicit sexual gratification IS a mortal sin.
God bless!
I agree with you that a **lack of action to kick the habit **of illicit sexual gratification would constitute a mortal sin.
Implicit in that very statement, however, is the conclusion that the act may in fact happen
without a mortal sin (as opposed to a venial sin) being committed. In other words it may happen within the context of a person who is in fact doing everything possible to eliminate the habit. He (she) may have prayed intensely about it for many months. He (she) may be deliberately avoiding any situations that might trigger sexual thoughts. A person may be taking all kinds of steps to avoid falling into that sin, yet, as is so often the case with our weak human nature, may still fall short - perhaps even for a couple of minutes at a time.
So if a person is constantly fighting this battle, irrespective of whether they be half-asleep or wide awake, and for a second or two their mind veers towards thoughts of a sexual nature, but they then immediately try to switch away from those thoughts, have they committed a mortal sin? Their overall intention surely has been to avoid the thoughts.
Does just one second of weakness followed by an immediate telling off constitue a mortal sin? What if it takes 5 seconds to pull one’s mind away? 10 seconds? A minute? Are we now going to determine a mortal sin by how long the thought is considered for? I think we would surely agree that this would be absurd and would not be the way God looks at it.
Again, I would argue that God would likely look at the entire state of mind and heart of the person concerned (as he does with every sin). I believe God would recognise the efforts a person is going to to rid themselves of the habit, and yes, I believe that sins themselves may be mitigated when considering the entire context within which the act occurs (intention, culpability etc).
This is a complex sliding scale issue, not a black and white issue.
I believe that there are many people out there who fight a very genuine battle to keep their minds clear of illicit sexual thoughts, but who find themselves falling short to differing degrees of regularity.
Does a weak moment of the mind within the context of this battle constitute full consent (ie purposely agreeing to commit the sin)? I would humbly submit that there are most certainly occasions when it does not…
