My confessor told me masturbation is only venial

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scapularkid8

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…and that I should keep taking the Eucharist while still attempting to stop because it’s a serious and spiritually harmful venial sin…do I listen to him after I’ve known for years that the Church defines this as a mortal sin?!
 
2352 By masturbation is to be understood the deliberate stimulation of the genital organs in order to derive sexual pleasure. “Both the Magisterium of the Church in the course of a constant tradition, and the moral sense of the faithful have been in no doubt and have firmly maintained that masturbation is an intrinsically and gravely disordered action.”-CCC 624

It may be venial if full knowledge or consent is lacking but it is always grave matter.
 
scapularkid8 said:
…and that I should keep taking the Eucharist while still attempting to stop because it’s a serious and spiritually harmful venial sin…do I listen to him after I’ve known for years that the Church defines this as a mortal sin?!
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The Church ALSO, as you probably know, lists many factors, however, that may lessen or remove your particular culpability for the sin.

And your mere telling of your confessor that, for example, you masturbated frequently, together with your being young (assuming you are) and other things about your manner of confessing, might in itself indicate to him that you have one of these mitigating factors.

Maybe he’s deduced that it’s a deeply ingrained habit, or that psychologically you might not be as mature as one needs to be to completely conquer it and so on.

So he might have meant to tell you, in a very shorthand sort of way, that in YOUR circumstances your personal culpability (though not the objective gravity of the sin) is reduced to the equivalent culpability you’d have for a venial sin (albeit a serious venial sin, as he indicated).
 
Trust your priest. It is a mortal sin, but like the others said, due to the force of aquired habit and so forth you can be allowed to still recieve Holy Communion. It is still a grave matter so you should do all you can to stop and confess often, weekly if necessary. Also, the graces you recieve from Holy Commuinion can help you overcome anything. You will be in my prayers!🙂
 
scapularkid8 said:
…and that I should keep taking the Eucharist while still attempting to stop because it’s a serious and spiritually harmful venial sin…do I listen to him after I’ve known for years that the Church defines this as a mortal sin?!
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Do not fuel this habit with pornography. Even immodest images from television can be the jet fuel of this habit. If you are currently doing that, stop immediately. Purify your eyes and mind by resolving to living a G-Rated lifestyle. Keep a good catholic prayerbook at your nightstand and read it right before you go to sleep every night. Be patient with yourself. Purity is a process. Make prayer and regular confession a top priority and this habit will start to fade from your life.

👍 👍 👍
 
You should listen to your regular confessor and keep working toward eliminating this.
As you grow you may begin to make discernment as to whether you have crossed the boundary into mortal sin, which might happen from time to time.
 
scapularkid8 said:
…and that I should keep taking the Eucharist while still attempting to stop because it’s a serious and spiritually harmful venial sin…do I listen to him after I’ve known for years that the Church defines this as a mortal sin?!
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The Church does not define it as a mortal sin. It defines it as a grave matter, which is one of the 3 main requirements of mortal sin. If even one of the other two are “missing,” then the sin is not mortal.
After hearing your specific trials with masturbation, your confessor probably determined that you are not fully morally culpable with regards to masturbation, so for you it was venial.

Also note, that you are called to avoid even venial sins.
 
LilyM said:
The Church ALSO, as you probably know, lists many factors, however, that may lessen or remove your particular culpability for the sin.

And your mere telling of your confessor that, for example, you masturbated frequently, together with your being young (assuming you are) and other things about your manner of confessing, might in itself indicate to him that you have one of these mitigating factors.

Maybe he’s deduced that it’s a deeply ingrained habit, or that psychologically you might not be as mature as one needs to be to completely conquer it and so on.

So he might have meant to tell you, in a very shorthand sort of way, that in YOUR circumstances your personal culpability (though not the objective gravity of the sin) is reduced to the equivalent culpability you’d have for a venial sin (albeit a serious venial sin, as he indicated).
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Reply: Perhaps? A very wise post!

We are not permitted to judge (understanding full well that is not what was intended in your post.)

Your Confessor is permitted, indeed is required to judge your actions.

He is telling you that by yourself the “habit” cannot be broken, and that only God can do this. He is telling you cooperate with God’s grace.

Having said this the issue is a Grave matter, and you are correctly informed of such being the case. Thus you become obligated to make every effort to accept and cooperate with the graces being granted you. God will help, but so must you.

Listen to your Confessor and keep praying.🙂

May God continue to bless and assist you,

PJM m.c.
 
dg5887 said:
Trust your priest. It is a mortal sin, but like the others said, due to the force of aquired habit and so forth you can be allowed to still recieve Holy Communion. It is still a grave matter so you should do all you can to stop and confess often, weekly if necessary. Also, the graces you recieve from Holy Commuinion can help you overcome anything. You will be in my prayers!🙂
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NO! It is not a mortal sin! An act by itself cannot be a mortal sin, no matter how grave it is! If an act by itself were a mortal sin that would imply that we do not have free will, because we might be rejecting God without our knowledge.

Recipe for mortal sin:
1- Grave matter
2- Knowledge of it
3- Full consent
 
scapularkid8 said:
…and that I should keep taking the Eucharist while still attempting to stop because it’s a serious and spiritually harmful venial sin…do I listen to him after I’ve known for years that the Church defines this as a mortal sin?!
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He apparently was mistaken here. Masturbation is objectively a mortal sin, although for some people it may be venial (because of habit)- those who do it habitually should break the habit (and everyone should go to confession whenever they mess up- even if that means going before every Mass).
 
Not being a Catholic, I can’t tell you whether masturbation is a mortal sin or not according to the church, but I can say that I don’t believe masturbation to be harmful in the slightest.

It’s a sexual release, people. Every once in a while, the evolutionary directive in your subconscious demands that you go and “spread your seed”. Given that this isn’t always possible, many turn to masturbation to give themselves that release. It’s a personal thing, part of many sexually healthy lifestyles, and it does nothing to increase suffering in this world. Given this, I cannot fathom how it could be morally objectionable. As far as sins go, it has to be a relatively minor one.
 
Jefe_Wyatt said:
Not being a Catholic, I can’t tell you whether masturbation is a mortal sin or not according to the church, but I can say that I don’t believe masturbation to be harmful in the slightest.

It’s a sexual release, people. Every once in a while, the evolutionary directive in your subconscious demands that you go and “spread your seed”. Given that this isn’t always possible, many turn to masturbation to give themselves that release. It’s a personal thing, part of many sexually healthy lifestyles, and it does nothing to increase suffering in this world. Given this, I cannot fathom how it could be morally objectionable. As far as sins go, it has to be a relatively minor one.
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Of course you don’t believe that because you don’t believe in anything!
 
thistle said:
Of course you don’t believe that because you don’t believe in anything!
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I do believe in something. I believe that masturbation isn’t morally wrong, for example. I believe in math and science. I have faith that if I work towards my goals, that I will find happiness. I even believe in a higher power. I just don’t believe that this higher power is a deity. I believe in many things, but I admit that Christianity isn’t one of them.
 
It has pretty much been excepted that this is a mortal sin. I suggest reading up on what Aquinas had to say on the matter.

And no, you shouldn’t receive Communion before confessing this sin.
 
Jefe_Wyatt said:
I do believe in something. I believe that masturbation isn’t morally wrong, for example. I believe in math and science. I have faith that if I work towards my goals, that I will find happiness. I even believe in a higher power. I just don’t believe that this higher power is a deity. I believe in many things, but I admit that Christianity isn’t one of them.
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Without an absolute moral truth how can you conclude what is moral and what is not? In other word’s, how would you ever know that a line is crooked if you never saw a straight line? God is the absolute moral Truth. Anything less is only relative to whatever is it that one would believe is morally sound.

So, since you have not yet come to know God and his purpose for our gift of sexuality you will not see masturbation as morally offensive. How could you since you are basing your conclusion on mere human ideas? You say that you believe in many things and that Christianity is not one of them. So, without God, basically you merely believe in yourself and whatever manifestations your beliefs may have. Therefore, if you justify the “fact” that masturbation is morally acceptable to what would you contrast the belief? How would you contest it since it is derived from you alone?

I will pray for you, even though you think that I am talking to no one. But remember that it is that “no one” who gave you the free will. The free will that you use to ignore Him with…teachccd 🙂

P.S. I am not trying to be harsh here but since you are stating advice on a Catholic Christian forum I feel it my duty to present our beliefs…
 
teachccd said:
Without an absolute moral truth how can you conclude what is moral and what is not? In other word’s, how would you ever know that a line is crooked if you never saw a straight line? God is the absolute moral Truth. Anything less is only relative to whatever is it that one would believe is morally sound.

So, since you have not yet come to know God and his purpose for our gift of sexuality you will not see masturbation as morally offensive. How could you since you are basing your conclusion on mere human ideas? You say that you believe in many things and that Christianity is not one of them. So, without God, basically you merely believe in yourself and whatever manifestations your beliefs may have. Therefore, if you justify the “fact” that masturbation is morally acceptable to what would you contrast the belief? How would you contest it since it is derived from you alone?

I will pray for you, even though you think that I am talking to no one. But remember that it is that “no one” who gave you the free will. The free will that you use to ignore Him with…teachccd 🙂

P.S. I am not trying to be harsh here but since you are stating advice on a Catholic Christian forum I feel it my duty to present our beliefs…
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Please, by all means. I know where I am and who my general audience is. It’s my desire to have an open and honest communication with Catholics, and I’ve visited many Christian internet forums, and this is the first one that stated explicitly that non-Christians were perfectly welcome, and I very much appreciate that. You don’t sound harsh at all, on the contrary, you sound very accepting of my personal philosophy, even if you don’t condone it.

My feelings on masturbation haven’t been derived on entirely my own values, but the values of those around me that I’ve grown up with, my friends and my family. I do believe in an absolute moral truth, in a certain sense, but I don’t believe that the Bible constitutes this moral truth. My morality stems from the belief that I own my body, and you own yours. I can do anything with my body, as long as I’m not directly infringing on your right to live your life.
 
Jefe_Wyatt said:
Please, by all means. I know where I am and who my general audience is. It’s my desire to have an open and honest communication with Catholics, and I’ve visited many Christian internet forums, and this is the first one that stated explicitly that non-Christians were perfectly welcome, and I very much appreciate that. You don’t sound harsh at all, on the contrary, you sound very accepting of my personal philosophy, even if you don’t condone it.

My feelings on masturbation haven’t been derived on entirely my own values, but the values of those around me that I’ve grown up with, my friends and my family. I do believe in an absolute moral truth, in a certain sense, but I don’t believe that the Bible constitutes this moral truth. My morality stems from the belief that I own my body, and you own yours. I can do anything with my body, as long as I’m not directly infringing on your right to live your life.
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Are all of your friends and family members atheists, as well? I ask this because if you derived some of their values and they believe in God then you may be incorporating God’s law in your beliefs. Do I make sense? And please know that I am not here to offend you or anyone else. This type of platform makes it difficult at times since there are no visible personality traits available. Thank you…teachccd
 
teachccd said:
Are all of your friends and family members atheists, as well? I ask this because if you derived some of their values and they believe in God then you may be incorporating God’s law in your beliefs. Do I make sense? And please know that I am not here to offend you or anyone else. This type of platform makes it difficult at times since there are no visible personality traits available. Thank you…teachccd
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Trust me, I don’t offend easily, and I’m here because I want to share my viewpoints and hear yours.

No, all of my friends and family are not atheists. I have several Protestant friends, a good Muslim friend. My mom was raised Catholic, she does not belong to the Catholic Church but she still believes in God, my dad has always described himself as “more spiritual than religious”, and my brother is an atheist.

I incorporate God’s law into my beliefs as far as not killing, stealing, and some things of that nature. I’m not denying that my moral views don’t align with Christianity in some regards. But they don’t align with this one.
 
The Church tells us explicity that it is a grave matter. Thus knowing this, you are responsible for using this knowledge and are willingly consenting to it of your free will. The CCC says that certain factors may reduce culpability, but that is for God to judge, and Him only. Do not hide behind this reduced culpability to justify your actions. I would advise in the future that since you know it is grave matter and it would put you in grave danger, don’t receive until confessed if you should fall.

Culpability stated in the dictionary is equivalent to blamefullness. That does not reduce the action to a venial sin, it just means that perhaps judgement and punishment will take this into account. It is a GRAVE MATTER!
 
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