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Bluebright
Guest
Sorry, my misunderstanding of what we are always told.
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QuD
Guest
I think that susceptibility to commit a (mortal) sin does not diminish with age. The human nature is inclined towards evil as a result of the original sin. Of course, a character of temptations is totally different as for the younger people, but still very present. Surely, older people might be less tempted to steal, or to commit sins against the 6th commandment, but they are open to whole variety of other sins, like envy, calumny, lie, wrath, gluttony, sins against the 1st three commandments, despair, etc. Even the Church precept mandating a confession once per year implicitly assumes improbability of not committing a mortal sin in a year-long time period.
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TrumpTrain
Guest
Its possible but highly unlikely. Has he lied to anyone? Gotten overly angry? Has he failed to forgive anyone (thats a big one, Matt 6:14,15)? Has he missed Mass on purpose? I can think of lots of things that might be commonly done and need confessing. Perhaps, like many older Catholics, he does not fully understand Catholic doctrines, including the the doctrine of mortal sin. At the very least he should go just because he hit the one-year mark.
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TK421
Guest
The default life of a Christian is that they aren’t suppose to ever commit mortal sin.
Venial sin is exceedingly more difficult to purge because this also includes innumerable sins of omission committed through pride or sloth or neglect or vanity. It’s possible that not going to Confession on a long-term basis (even if one doesn’t need to) when the opportunity is readily available is in itself a venial sin of pride or sloth, but it’s more difficult to p(name removed by moderator)oint venial sins than mortal sins, because this can all depend on the intentions of the person, which is only known to God. God always looks at the intentions.
Because sin desensitizes a person to the reality of sin (it makes a person blind to their own condition,) as a person purges themselves of greater sins, they become conscious for the first time of lesser sins that they were previously blind to. Once these sins are purged, they then become conscious of lesser sins that they were previously blind to, and so on and so forth.
Because sin distances us from perfect joy and love with God, all sin is great, however small it might appear to us.
Venial sin is exceedingly more difficult to purge because this also includes innumerable sins of omission committed through pride or sloth or neglect or vanity. It’s possible that not going to Confession on a long-term basis (even if one doesn’t need to) when the opportunity is readily available is in itself a venial sin of pride or sloth, but it’s more difficult to p(name removed by moderator)oint venial sins than mortal sins, because this can all depend on the intentions of the person, which is only known to God. God always looks at the intentions.
Because sin desensitizes a person to the reality of sin (it makes a person blind to their own condition,) as a person purges themselves of greater sins, they become conscious for the first time of lesser sins that they were previously blind to. Once these sins are purged, they then become conscious of lesser sins that they were previously blind to, and so on and so forth.
Because sin distances us from perfect joy and love with God, all sin is great, however small it might appear to us.
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TrumpTrain
Guest
True, but the reality is that most do. And I do not mean murder and rape and all that, I mean sins like lies, anger, failure to forgive others, purposely missing mass… …these to are technically mortal sins.
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Sirach2
Guest
You may be misleading people - the only mortal sin is purposely missing mass without good cause.
Scripture teaches, be angry and sin not. Jesus was angry and He certainly did not sin. See Mark 3:5.
A lie is withholding truth from one who has a right to know. If a robber asks if you have any money and you say “no.” Is he lying to one who has a right to know the truth? Some lies may be mortal, like perjury, etc., but many are not grave matter and mortal sins.
Jesus also told us that when a person repents, we are to forgive. What does one do when there is no repentance? It may not be a mortal sin, as you imply. See Luke 17:4 Generally, yes, even if one does not repent, we ought to forgive them.
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Mi_Rose
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Nothing is always a mortal sin. It have to be grave matter. You have to know it is grave matter. You have to do it anyway and not be coerced.
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QuD
Guest
There are three conditions for a sin to be mortal:
Consent means an act of will directed towards a deed - that means a person acts willfully and is not coerced (various degrees of coercion influence a culpability)
Knowledge - a person must have functioning faculty of reason and must recognize at least that the deed is not good.
Please note that a full knowledge doesn’t mean a person must know the gravity of the deed. Just knowledge of the deed being not good suffices. Moreover having a badly formed conscience does not diminish culpability.
- Gravity of a matter
- Consent
- Knowledge
Consent means an act of will directed towards a deed - that means a person acts willfully and is not coerced (various degrees of coercion influence a culpability)
Knowledge - a person must have functioning faculty of reason and must recognize at least that the deed is not good.
Please note that a full knowledge doesn’t mean a person must know the gravity of the deed. Just knowledge of the deed being not good suffices. Moreover having a badly formed conscience does not diminish culpability.
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twf
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I’m not saying that this is the case here, especially if the man suffers from physical sickness/disability…but people often forget about sins of OMISSION. In Matthew 25, when describing the Last Judgment, the Lord does not use sexual sin or theft or skipping Mass as examples of why people are damned but rather “I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, etc.”
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Sirach2
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@twf
You have seriously misinterpreted Mt. 25 and given the members here cause for alarm, needlessly.
Yes, it is good to do corporal works of mercy, but in the elderly, especially those who are impaired, they may well be doing far more in the way of spiritual works of mercy.
St.Therese is named Co-patroness of Missions along with St.Francis Xavior, yet she never left her cloister. Her very life of prayer and sacrifice earned her that title.
It is not good to enter into judgment about another’s soul and whether or not they are committing sins of omission.
You have seriously misinterpreted Mt. 25 and given the members here cause for alarm, needlessly.
Yes, it is good to do corporal works of mercy, but in the elderly, especially those who are impaired, they may well be doing far more in the way of spiritual works of mercy.
St.Therese is named Co-patroness of Missions along with St.Francis Xavior, yet she never left her cloister. Her very life of prayer and sacrifice earned her that title.
It is not good to enter into judgment about another’s soul and whether or not they are committing sins of omission.
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twf
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Who’s soul did I judge? I spoke in terms of hypotheticals. Does not Matthew 25, and the Church, teach that sins of omission in regards to works of mercy are something to be aware of? I explicitly stated in my post that I was not judging the invidiual and made reference to physical disability etc.
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TheLittleLady
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An attack is not a mortal sin. In fact, Christ promises there will never be a temptation that we cannot avoid.
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Sirach2
Guest
My comment was not meant that YOU were judging. Rather, it was a general caution to anyone reading who may have believed that not fulfilling Mt. 25 would be cause for sins of omission resulting in damnation. And remember, we are talking about mortal sin in this thread concerning an elderly gentleman who suffers physically. He is most unlikely to be committing sins of omission, as you alluded to.
Many are the folks who are unable to actually do corporal acts mercy, such as religious who never leave the monastery. It is best not to imply that any who do not fulfill Mt. 25 are going to be damned.
(And you did not “explicitly state in your post that you were not judging him.” You said, “I’m not saying that this is the case here … BUT” and then inferred that there may be sins of omission.)
Many are the folks who are unable to actually do corporal acts mercy, such as religious who never leave the monastery. It is best not to imply that any who do not fulfill Mt. 25 are going to be damned.
(And you did not “explicitly state in your post that you were not judging him.” You said, “I’m not saying that this is the case here … BUT” and then inferred that there may be sins of omission.)
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twf
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I just intended to remind people, as a general statement, that we can be gravely guilty by omission…
I would hazard a guess that 95+% of the discussions on this forum about “is this a sin?” “did I mortally sin?” “how do I avoid sin?” are in regards to sins of commission - and generally of a sexual nature. I was, perhaps, do broad / strong in how I approached the topic.
I would hazard a guess that 95+% of the discussions on this forum about “is this a sin?” “did I mortally sin?” “how do I avoid sin?” are in regards to sins of commission - and generally of a sexual nature. I was, perhaps, do broad / strong in how I approached the topic.
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otjm
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Why do you question it? Or, why do you think it is not possible?
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Jehu2077
Guest
Confession isn’t JUST for mortal sins though! There are real sacramental graces given by God at confession, no matter what you’re confessing. That’s why I cannot believe that this person is a “wizened saint.” Wizened saints go to confession more than most!
Sincerely, I ask the OP to please speak to this friend in Love and Charity and encourage at least monthly confession. Yes, yearly is the minimum but I’ve never met any priest who counseled yearly confession (maybe that’s because every priest I speak to knows I probably need to be there daily).
It’s just…I can’t even. Confession, even when Im certain I’ve not gravely sinned, still has a way of humbling me, showing me my many other sins while simultaneously washing them clean. It’s such a gift that venial sins are forgiven at Mass but confession draws me into that forgiveness, where our Lord, through His priest, loves me personally and forgives me, even for the sins I forget or don’t even know to acknowledge. The same miracle is certainly present at Mass but in confession it’s like i’m the focus of God’s attention. I have so many more bad analogies but suffice to say that I love confession (i’m blessed with two parishes in driving distance that offer it daily) and can’t see why anyone would only go when they have to.
Sincerely, I ask the OP to please speak to this friend in Love and Charity and encourage at least monthly confession. Yes, yearly is the minimum but I’ve never met any priest who counseled yearly confession (maybe that’s because every priest I speak to knows I probably need to be there daily).
It’s just…I can’t even. Confession, even when Im certain I’ve not gravely sinned, still has a way of humbling me, showing me my many other sins while simultaneously washing them clean. It’s such a gift that venial sins are forgiven at Mass but confession draws me into that forgiveness, where our Lord, through His priest, loves me personally and forgives me, even for the sins I forget or don’t even know to acknowledge. The same miracle is certainly present at Mass but in confession it’s like i’m the focus of God’s attention. I have so many more bad analogies but suffice to say that I love confession (i’m blessed with two parishes in driving distance that offer it daily) and can’t see why anyone would only go when they have to.
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Sirach2
Guest
Who are you addressing, and what do you mean by “it”?
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paperwight
Guest
Well, actually no, to be strictly accurate, yearly isn’t the minimum for everyone.
See Canon Law 989 - annual confession is required for those conscious of mortal sin. It is not a blanket requirement for everyone.
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otjm
Guest
Ah, sorry,. Should have made my reply to the OP.
Addressing OP
“it” being someone who has not committed a mortal sin in the last year. As in, “why do you think it is not possible that someone could go a year without committing a mortal sin?”
Addressing OP
“it” being someone who has not committed a mortal sin in the last year. As in, “why do you think it is not possible that someone could go a year without committing a mortal sin?”
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