Praying for another's sins

[jacobaer]

1 John 5:16

“If anyone sees his brother commit a sin that does not lead to death, he should pray and God will give him life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that he should pray about that.”

Any comments on the meaning of this verse?

Peace,
Gene

 

[Belloc_Fan]

1 John 5:16

“If anyone sees his brother commit a sin that does not lead to death, he should pray and God will give him life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that he should pray about that.”

Any comments on the meaning of this verse?

Peace,
Gene

The Church, if I’m not mistaken, uses this to justify the difference between mortal and venial sin. Mortal sin needs specific contrition and repentance, in the form of confession. You can’t just ask God to forgive someone of a mortal sin which they’re not sorry for. Venial sins, however, are too numerous for us to be aware of in some cases, and certainly to have proper contrition for (at least, this is often the case). So I think that our prayers can cover one another’s sins. It seems to be the foundation for intercessory prayer in the first place. It’s a strangely written passage, though, for sure.

 

[Hlafdige]

This is from “PRAYER - The Great Means of Salvation and of Perfection” by St. Alphonsus Liguori:

“Pray one for another, that you may be saved; for the continual prayer of the just man availeth much.” [James 5: 16] “Pray for them that persecute and calumniate you.” [Luke 6: 28]

And better still, on the text of St. John: “He that knoweth his brother to sin a sin which is not to death, let him ask, and life shall be given to him who sinneth and not unto death. There is a sin unto death; for that I say not that any man ask.” [1 John 5: 16] St. Ambrose, St. Augustine, the Ven. Bede, and others, [Apud. Calm. in loc. cit.] explain the words “who sinneth not unto death” to mean, provided the sinner is not one who intends to remain obstinate till death; since for such a one a very extra-ordinary grace would be required. But for other sinners, who are not guilty of such malice, the Apostle promises their conversion to him who prays for them: “Let him ask, and life shall be given him for him that sinneth.” 

… True it is that God has not promised to grant our requests, when those for whom we pray put a positive impediment in the way of their conversion; but still, God of His goodness has often deigned, at the prayer of His servants, to bring back the most blinded and obstinate sinners to a state of salvation, by means of extraordinary graces.
Therefore, let us never omit, when we say or hear Mass, when we receive Holy Communion, when we make our meditation or our visit to the Blessed Sacrament, to recommend poor sinners to God.

catholictreasury.info/books/prayer/index.php

 

[CentralFLJames]

The above are correct. This vs is a differentiation of venial and mortal sin. Venial sins can be forgiven by contrite prayer - even just going to mass or blessing oneself with holy water. But mortal sins require sacramental confession and real contrite repentance with genuine tears of sorrow and regret. Such a person has lost their innocence and has cut themselves off from God and is mortally wounded in sin. Even if they pray and say they are sorry it normally requires the infusion of sacramental grace of repentance to overcome the damages caused by mortal sin. Even with sacramental confession mortal sin can take a lot of private penance to overcome the temporal consequences of that forgiven sin and to regain a state of full holiness (no attachment or desire to that forgiven sin) to compensate for the loss of innocence.

James