Mechanism of Loss of Sanctifying Grace by Mortal Sin

[Neil_Anthony]

I would like to know more about the mechanism that leads to loss of sanctifying grace when a mortal sin is committed.

As I undestand it, when we are in a state of sanctifying grace, God lives in us. Through mortal sin, we lose sanctifying grace, and God no longer lives in us. Is that correct?

And if that is correct, what is the exact mechanism? Do we force God out in order to commit the sin? Or does God leave because we committed the sin? Is God incapable of remaining in a soul that committed a sin? Presumably a soul may still want God to stay in him even as he commits a sin.

Take for example the case of the mortal sin of missing mass without a good reason. Someone with sanctifying grace somehow decides to not attend Sunday mass. It is hard to understand how someone with God living in them would want to miss Sunday mass. Is it possible that God left their soul during the process of their decision-making, which made it possible for them to actually go through with the mortal sin? Because it seems to me that someone who made a decision to commit a mortal sin must already be alienated from God in some way?

 

[Beth_Cecilia]

When you sin you turn away from God. The distance between you and God is self-imposed. You can push him further and further away, or you can invite him into every aspect of your life. We are called to the latter. Most of us are somewhere in between.

The rationalization of sin, before or after the act, is done by the sinner. None of us are perfect, we are all susceptible to temptation. In your example, the decision to skip mass, the sinner stops listening to the voice of the Lord in his heart. All sins are this way. All sins offend our Lord, and if we were constantly thinking about Him who loves us and whom we love, we would not sin. The mortal sin is worse because it does more damage to our relationship with Him. But it is the same in that we are tempted and we subvert our conscience.

Sins often progress, especially if we do not confess. One sin seems to small, but we do it more often and it grows. Soon, without a flinch, we are sinning mortally. Food is an easy example. One day you take a second helping, though it is more than you need. Then every day you take a second helping, and the serving size grows. Eventually, what you eat is completely disassociated from what you need- and portions are not a consideration. Gluttony is a mortal sin.

Other sins likewise. When we allow even small evils to be rationalized or trivialized, we are ignoring conscience. In time, we will silence our conscience on the subject and the sin grows.

It may be hard for you to imagine missing Mass, but surely you can think of a sin which you are prone to. Something which it is easy for you to do and hard to avoid. That sin, no matter how big or small, is the devil’s foot in the door of your heart.

Your last sentence, about how the sinner must already be alienated in some way from God, is partly true. We, none of us, have perfect union with our Father. We desire it; that is Heaven. We are sinners. It is through the grace offered in the sacraments that we keep returning and grow ever closer to our Lord. So, I am not sure that I would say we are alienated, but we are certainly not perfectly unified. As the Catechism says:

“1426 Conversion to Christ, the new birth of Baptism, the gift of the Holy Spirit and the Body and Blood of Christ received as food have made us “holy and without blemish,” just as the Church herself, the Bride of Christ, is “holy and without blemish.” Nevertheless the new life received in Christian initiation has not abolished the frailty and weakness of human nature, nor the inclination to sin that tradition calls concupiscence, which remains in the baptized such that with the help of the grace of Christ they may prove themselves in the struggle of Christian life. This is the struggle of conversion directed toward holiness and eternal life to which the Lord never ceases to call us.”

 

[Vico]

I would like to know more about the mechanism that leads to loss of sanctifying grace when a mortal sin is committed.

As I undestand it, when we are in a state of sanctifying grace, God lives in us. Through mortal sin, we lose sanctifying grace, and God no longer lives in us. Is that correct?

And if that is correct, what is the exact mechanism? Do we force God out in order to commit the sin? Or does God leave because we committed the sin? Is God incapable of remaining in a soul that committed a sin? Presumably a soul may still want God to stay in him even as he commits a sin.

Take for example the case of the mortal sin of missing mass without a good reason. Someone with sanctifying grace somehow decides to not attend Sunday mass. It is hard to understand how someone with God living in them would want to miss Sunday mass. Is it possible that God left their soul during the process of their decision-making, which made it possible for them to actually go through with the mortal sin? Because it seems to me that someone who made a decision to commit a mortal sin must already be alienated from God in some way?

When we are baptised we receive actual grace as faith, hope, and charity, and sanctifying grace specific to baptism. Through choosing serious sin rather than keeping the commandments we loose our charity but retain the gifts of faith and hope. That charity, a gift of God, is restored upon our reception of the actual grace and sacramental grace of penance. Holy Penance requires our contrition with a genuine spirit of ammendment, acceptance of the penance to be preformed, and endurance of the effects of sin that we will incur as a result of comission. (Each sacrament has a specific action in it’s sacramental grace that pertains to the sacrament.) See: The Faith Explained by Leo J. Trese.