Is this a mortal sin? Promises

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JohnathanE

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So I made a promise to God because I was searching for a job, so I thought to myself “God I promise I will go and turn in these job applications today” because I thought if I did that then I would be well motivated to do it.

But then I was told that it’s Friday and that I shouldn’t try to turn in a job application today because I’m less likely to get interviewed. People are busy on Friday’s and the best time is a Tuesday afternoon. I was told this by my Mom. So I was confused and I ended up not going.

Now I’ve been feeling super guilty and this week I wanted to go to confession but I overslept, and I’ll go to confession on Saturday but I’m just really distraught. I said an act of contrition and I plan to go to confession as soon as I can, am I in a state of mortal sin? I feel like I am and it feels awful.
 
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It’s only mortal if it is something you did knowing it was wrong and knew it would separate you from God and did it anyway
 
Well I knew that making a promise to God is a serious matter. But I got really confused when I learned that Fridays are a bad time for it. I made excuses in my head as to why I should wait until tuesday, but once I did wait I felt so super guilty.

It’s mortal then yeah?
 
Do you struggle with scrupulosity? It’s not a good idea to make promises to God like this, and could potentially become compulsive. You need to speak with a priest about this offline, and not ask strangers on the internet, who are not trained to deal with such issues.

-Fr ACEGC
 
It’s not a mortal sin. Having to change plans for logical reasons is not a sin. To meet the criteria of a mortal sin, it has to be a “grave matter”. In the early church, there were three things people confessed: Apostasy, adultery and murder. Those are grave sins. Changing your plans about the day you turn in a job application doesn’t even come close to a “grave” matter.
 
Your answer feels relieving. But I know that it’s not a mortal sin to change plans for logical reasons.

But the problem is that I told God that I would go that day and I promised it. Does the fact that it was logical to alter plans change things?
 
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I understand you feel bad about promising something to God and not keeping that promise. I’m sure God understands that when you made that promise, you didn’t have all the facts necessary to make a truly informed decision. Just be honest with Him. You can talk to our Lord as you would a friend. He knows you changed your plans for a legitimate reason and you weren’t just blowing Him off.

Once at confession, I told my priest that I wanted to become more holy. He told me to come back to confession again in one month. I tried and tried to get to confession month after month, but something always came up to thwart my plans. Finally six months later, I made it to confession. I just told the priest (and God), “Hey, I tried!” I really did, but sometimes life gets in the way.

God knows your heart and your intentions. If He loved you enough to die for you, He’s not going to be upset because you turned in your application on Tuesday instead of Friday! He knows you tried, but life gets in the way sometimes.
 
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