Mortal sins

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I rejoined the Catholic church about a month ago after about a 7 year absence. I went to confession before I started again and have been going for around a month. I really cannot grasp the idea of mortal sins no matter how hard I try. A couple of weeks ago they dedicated the mass to a teenager in the parish who recently died from cancer. He was in a wheelchair and it was very sad. The only thing that I could think about the whole entire mass was what if that boy committed a mortal sin at some point in his life like missing church or eating meat on Friday and didn’t confess to a priest? I almost started to cry during church. The church would believe that boy is in hell if he did one of those sins and met the three criteria for it being a mortal sin. I just don’t think I can ever understand how a sin can be comitted that you are truly sorry for can automatically sever your relationship with God and make you go straight to hell. I try really hard to understand it but I just can’t. I know the Catholic Church has doctrine and laws about mortal sins but how can they really know what God will do on judgement day? Is it wrong to be a Catholic and believe that Christ died for all your sins and if you pray to him on your knees and beg for forgiveness that you have a chance at going to heaven? What if you committed a mortal sin and didn’t know it so you didn’t confess? Would you know in your heart that you comitted a mortal sin?

The three conditions to meet a mortal sin according to the church are:

1.Its subject must be a grave (or serious) matter.
2.It must be committed with full knowledge, both of the sin and of the gravity of the offense (no one is considered ignorant of the principles of the moral law, which are inborn as part of human knowledge, but these principles can be misunderstood in a particular context).
3.It must be committed with deliberate and complete consent, enough for it to have been a personal decision to commit the sin.

Are you supposed to try to answer these questions yourself to the best of your ability?
How can anyone possibly have full knowlege of comitting a mortal sin? A mortal or serious sin leads to immediate hell without confession. God is the only one that can judge if you had full knowledge? Right? His judgement is perfect and a person’s is not. You can try to judge yourself or have a priest try to judge yourself but we are humans and humans make mistakes. Full knowledge of the offense of a mortal sin is hell if confession is not had. How could a person possibly have full knowledge while they are here on earth? They would have to be 100% certain that they will go to hell without confession. What if you honestly don’t believe that is a given. Maybe I don’t understand the “moral law” as it’s called. It seems that number 2 could never be satisfied. I’m not trying to twist the words around or find loopholes. I just have so many questions that I don’t know where to begin.

Let’s say you are going to church on Sunday to fufill your weekly obligation for example. Let’s say there are 3 inches of snow on the ground and you see an old lady starting to shovel her driveway while on the way to church? You stop and help her for an hour and miss church? Is that a mortal sin? It wasn’t necessary to do but it was a good deed. How would you ever know if it was a mortal sin unless you didn’t confess and you found out it was because you went to hell? As humans we don’t have the intellect to truly know if we satisfied all 3 of these points 100% I don’t believe.

This is kind of a messy post. Sorry but thanks for reading. I appreciate any comments on any parts.
 
You can’t commit a mortal sin and not know it, full knowledge of the sinner is requiered for it to be a mortal sin. If you commmit a mortal sin, you are 1000% making the choice to do wrong and separate yourself from God. If you reject what the church says, than you’re not really a catholic, it means you just go cherry picking what you like about the church and what you don’t.

Also there is biblical back up for mortal sin, like Hebrews 10:26.
 
I don’t quite understand what your saying but thanks for replying. So if there is any question about full knowledge then number 2 is not satisfied so it is not a mortal sin? Is that what your saying? I understand what you mean when you say it is 1000% a delibrete choice to comitt the sin but don’t all 3 conditions have to be met in order for it to be a mortal sin?
 
xyz1234 said:
The only thing that I could think about the whole entire mass was what if that boy committed a mortal sin at some point in his life like missing church or eating meat on Friday and didn’t confess to a priest?
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Your examples are poorly chosen. Eating meat on a Friday, to be a mortal sin, you would need to elevate eating meat to a grave offense. I don’t think that could happen in this country where meat is so readily available. And missing mass, to be a grave offense it would need to be done where the oportunity for mass is readily available or it would not be grave matter.

Even if it becomes grave matter, the two other requirements are needed.
 
What ever the young persons status, its entirely up to God. Our best bet is to pray for his soul.

Never presume to know what God’s will is for that person. Just pray for his soul.
 
xyz1234 said:
I don’t quite understand what your saying but thanks for replying. So if there is any question about full knowledge then number 2 is not satisfied so it is not a mortal sin? Is that what your saying? I understand what you mean when you say it is 1000% a delibrete choice to comitt the sin but don’t all 3 conditions have to be met in order for it to be a mortal sin?
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Well first of all i meant 100% lol, second of all, yes if there is question than it is not a mortal sin. the thought that what they are abou to do is wrong has to cross their mind before they commmit the sin, and then they freely chose to do it anyway, or it is not a mortal sin.
 
Here’s my understanding: No one knows for sure what God will do on judgment day. So we do our best here to follow God’s way, we pray for others both living and dead, and we leave the judgment to God. Even the priest in confession does not know what God knows–God alone sees our heart completely (a priest said this to me recently.) We also discussed that really no one ever knows for absolute certain if they are in a state of grace or not (so again, we do our best to follow God and the guidelines the church gives us because that is the way we are taught).

The church puts rules and language around issues to guide us and help us understand our faith but it is sometimes hard for us to grasp because it has to be explained through the limited constraints of rules and doctrines. I’m no theologian, but this helps me in my understanding some, that perhaps things aren’t quite as literal as I take them to be reading the words and it encourages me to look for the deeper truth behind the absolutes/rules.

There are a lot of people here who know a lot of Catholicism and theology, so I’m sure someone else will be able to help with your very valid questions. Above all, I know God to be far more merciful, just, and compassionate than we are and He will do what is right for all of us. So if you have compassion on this young boy, imagine how much more compassionate God will be.
 
xyz1234 said:
The only thing that I could think about the whole entire mass was what if that boy committed a mortal sin at some point in his life like missing church or eating meat on Friday and didn’t confess to a priest? I almost started to cry during church. The church would believe that boy is in hell if he did one of those sins and met the three criteria for it being a mortal sin. I just don’t think I can ever understand how a sin can be comitted that you are truly sorry for can automatically sever your relationship with God and make you go straight to hell. I try really hard to understand it but I just can’t. I know the Catholic Church has doctrine and laws about mortal sins but how can they really know what God will do on judgement day? Is it wrong to be a Catholic and believe that Christ died for all your sins and if you pray to him on your knees and beg for forgiveness that you have a chance at going to heaven? What if you committed a mortal sin and didn’t know it so you didn’t confess? Would you know in your heart that you comitted a mortal sin?
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Hi there.

First of all, we do not know if a person will go to hell or not. The Church does not know too. She only knows what it takes to go to hell. However the final judgment belongs to God and God alone. In between committing the sin and death there are plenty that could have happened; not necessarily going for the Sacrament of Confession, but any other things that the person does or thinks, all of these can have mitigating effect on the final judgment. Always remember the loving mercy and forgiveness of God.

The concept of repentance is sufficient for God to forgive us. The Sacrament of Confession is a grace, an outward sign, which we have to go through for the sin to be absolved. We have this Sacrament because we are church; we have to live a certain way of life. Nevertheless it is the heart that counts when we repent, and nobody knows what’s in the heart of another person. In the case when church is not available, the priest not available or Confession is out of reach, God will still understand our hearts. He looks at the hearts.

Yes, you have a chance to go to heaven eventually if you believe and fall on your knees and ask Jesus for forgiveness. But you have a Church - Jesus wants you to use his Church, he wants you as a part of his flock, his people. Our relationship with God is both vertical and horizontal - with him and with his people. Forsaking his Church that he founded is like forsaking him.

God bless.
 
Catechism of the Catholic Church:

vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P6C.HTM

Compendium of the Catechism (issued by Pope Benedict XVI):
  1. When does one commit a mortal sin?
1855-1861
1874

One commits a mortal sin when there are simultaneously present: grave matter, full knowledge, and deliberate consent. This sin destroys charity in us, deprives us of sanctifying grace, and, if unrepented, leads us to the eternal death of hell. It can be forgiven in the ordinary way by means of the sacraments of Baptism and of Penance or Reconciliation.
  1. When does one commit a venial sin?
1862-1864
1875

One commits a venial sin, which is essentially different from a mortal sin, when the matter involved is less serious or, even if it is grave, when full knowledge or complete consent are absent. Venial sin does not break the covenant with God but it weakens charity and manifests a disordered affection for created goods. It impedes the progress of a soul in the exercise of the virtues and in the practice of moral good. It merits temporal punishment which purifies.
Remember that the Good Shepherd came to bring us life …in Him is true life. Mortal sin is a very particular thing…a very serious thing where we misuse our freedom in a way that is with full knowledge and compete consent…we know what we are doing is grave… and we go ahead with that full knowledge and do it any way. God for his part though…desires us to have true life. Jesus desires us to have that life again. He can seek out is lost sheep …with grace and one can even have perfect contrition long before one can make it to confession. Mortal sin is to be a very very “unnatural state” for a Christian.

Our “natural state” is to be living in Christ…

As to if one has committed such…one must make an honest judgment with out laxity on the one side or scruples on the other. Ones confessor can help in this. And of course unless one is having scruples…one can confess it “as it is before God” if one is not sure it was mortal…asking the confessors help. “I did X -1times but I am not sure I gave full consent…”(if we are not sure…we need to say so). And if one has tried to make a good confession and by mistake missed a mortal sin…one is sorry for all mortal sins…then one need not worry. For such can be absolved indirectly. (of course if one remembers later a mortal sin…one is obliged to confess it in the next confession)…

As to some of your questions…get a regular confessor…some can be scruples of a revert/convert…and need to be answered. As to the Snow question…she does not need some serious help there…so one goes to Mass…if she was having heart attack or something…then one stops to help. One can always say…"hey I can come do this for you in an hour…running to Mass right now…but I will be back in an hour. Please let me do for you…

Jesus loves us…loves you and desires you to have life…life in abundance. Confession is a great gift…not only for mortal sins but for venial…(which need not be confessed but can be forgiven in other ways…but it is good to confess at least some) and for a kind of renewal of Christian life…

It is a great joy…and source of joy and Christian life.

Keep living in Christ!
 
First - welcome back. The important thing to remember is in Confession if we truly do forget something because we forget to include it in our confession than we will be forgiven.

Many of your examples - it is not a grave matter. A grave matter would be one of the ten commandments.

God is the only one that can judge Heaven and Hell.

As far as the teenage example - a teenager would have a different degree of culpability because they would have a dfferent degree of understanding.
 
As I understand it, in order for it to be a mortal sin, it must meet those three criteria that you listed. In order to go to hell for it, you would have to die unrepentant of your sin. That is to say, you committed it, and then just didn’t care (which is a pretty big disownment of God). You go to a preist and confess your sins to be forgiven, but if you happen to die before you get that chance, but had every intention of doing so, then you wouldn’t go to hell.
 
Simply put: Confess any sins you know you committed. Your Father-Confessor will sort them out for you.
 
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