Sins, Mortal or Venial?

[SavedbyHisBlood]

Good Morning All!!

I have a bit of confusion; I know that when someone goes to confessions they are supposed to confess all their sins, especially their Mortal sins. And I know that you are not supposed to take the Eucharist in a state of Mortal sin or at least until you go to confession for the sin. So my questions is this, how do you know the difference between a Mortal Sin and a venial sin? I understand the obvious like the difference between Murder in the 1st and telling a white lie. But there seems to be a grey area and I just was looking for some clarification.

Thanks and God Bless.

 

[teachccd]

There really is no exact answer to your question and that is why the Sacrament of reconciliation is so vital. To commit a mortal sin one must adhere to grave matter in either word, thought or deed. The matter must be grave and one must know that it is grave. (Grave matter can be found on the Catechism of the Catholic Church and many other resources including an examination of conscience) Once one KNOWS that it is grave matter one must FULLY consent to the act of commission or ommission.

So, if you know that you chose to move to a disordered act and that you knew that doing it would offend God then you might be in the state of mortal sin and you should refrain from the Eucharist. Your question would best be answered by a priest in the confessional since he can tailor it to your concerns…teachccd

 

[kristie_m]

May I piggyback on your thread?

What if you are pretty sure you’ve committed a mortal sin, iow…the catechism defines your sin as grave, and you did it anyway with full knowledge and consent, but your confessor tells you it’s venial. Does this change the validity of your confession or absolution? Also, if the priest tells you that this particular sin is venial…if you do it again, can you receive communion prior to confessing it again?

 

[Tezza]

May I piggyback on your thread?

What if you are pretty sure you’ve committed a mortal sin, iow…the catechism defines your sin as grave, and you did it anyway with full knowledge and consent, but your confessor tells you it’s venial. Does this change the validity of your confession or absolution? Also, if the priest tells you that this particular sin is venial…if you do it again, can you receive communion prior to confessing it again?

It doesn’t sound like you trust your confessor. Can you ask another priest and compare answers?

 

[Liraco]

It’s good to confess ALL your sins and if you’re not sure on whether it’s mortal or venial then go to confession when you can.

Remember that the act of contrition at the start of mass absolves any venial sins. When you go to the Eucharist, make sure there aren’t any big sins you haven’t confessed lately so that you receive worthily.

One more thing, remember that you must complete your penance **before **receiving the Eucharist.

 

[Don9of11]

Good Morning All!!

I have a bit of confusion; I know that when someone goes to confessions they are supposed to confess all their sins, especially their Mortal sins. And I know that you are not supposed to take the Eucharist in a state of Mortal sin or at least until you go to confession for the sin. So my questions is this, how do you know the difference between a Mortal Sin and a venial sin? I understand the obvious like the difference between Murder in the 1st and telling a white lie. But there seems to be a grey area and I just was looking for some clarification.

Thanks and God Bless.

#1857 - from the Catechism: For a sin to be mortal, three conditions must together be met: "Mortal sin is sin whose object is grave matter and which is also committed with full knowledge and deliberate consent.

#1858 - Grave matter is specified by the Ten Commandments, corresponding to the answer of Jesus to the rich young man: “Do not kill, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and your mother.” The gravity of sins is more or less great: murder is graver than theft. One must also take into account who is wronged: violence against parents is in itself graver than violence against a stranger.

#1862 - One commits venial sin when, in a less serious matter, he does not observe the standard prescribed by the moral law, or when he disobeys the moral law in a grave matter, but without full knowledge or without complete consent.

Check out this link Catechism of the Catholic Church for more details.

Hope this is helpful.

 

[SavedbyHisBlood]

It doesn’t sound like you trust your confessor. Can you ask another priest and compare answers?

So if the priest forgives you for your sins and you pay your pentance, does that mean that if he were wrong about a sin being venial when it was actually mortal that it wasnt forgiven?

 

[kristie_m]

It doesn’t sound like you trust your confessor. Can you ask another priest and compare answers?

I trust him implicitly…it’s just that I’m not sure he has the same definition of “grave matter” that the catechism does. He works a lot with people in prison, so he’s used to hearing some REALLY serious stuff. I think it may color his view of what is and is not a mortal sin.

 

[Tezza]

So if the priest forgives you for your sins and you pay your pentance, does that mean that if he were wrong about a sin being venial when it was actually mortal that it wasnt forgiven?

Nope. You are forgiven. Fret not. You confessed, he dispensed God’s mercy. It is a beautiful, beautiful thing. If something was amiss, it’s on him, not you.

I would encourage you to check with another priest so that the sacrament of reconciliation can be a guide in your spiritual journey, one in which you will not have to constantly doubt. It is not meant to be spiritual direction per say, but if your confessor knows you and you attended Reconcilation regularly with this priest, it can help you in your struggle for holiness.

Peace in Christ,
Teri

 

[Jesus_123]

**Father Vincent Serpa, the Dominican Priest is part of this CAF apostolate **. . . and he could probably answer your question about a priest perhaps miscategorizing a sin in choosing between mortal and venial . . . since this is specifically related to a priest’s conduct . . . You might copy your question and repost it specifically as a question to the apologists . . . attention to Father Serpa . . . he is probably more qualified than the rest of us . . . I think I know the answer . . . but I don’t have an authority to quote . . . and there may be variable I know nothing about that only a priest might be familiar with . . .

God bless . . .

. . . all for Jesus+​

 

[Tezza]

I trust him implicitly…it’s just that I’m not sure he has the same definition of “grave matter” that the catechism does. He works a lot with people in prison, so he’s used to hearing some REALLY serious stuff. I think it may color his view of what is and is not a mortal sin.

Sorry Kristie. I answered Saved thinking it was you. Ooopsy

I can see how his views might be "colored’. My motto is “when in doubt, confess.” I have told a priest specifically I thought my actions might be mortally sinful. He said it could be, depending on other circumstances. I had taken communion so I asked for forgiveness if I had offended God by receiving when I was in doubt.

I would again recommend checking another source if you are questioning. It can’t hurt:thumbsup:

Peace,
Teri

 

[Ignatius]

you pay your pentance

Dear Saved, I’m afraid you may be confused. What do you mean by paying you “pentance”? Can you give us an idea of what you think “pentance” is?

 

[paperwight]

.

One more thing, remember that you must complete your penance **before **receiving the Eucharist.

No, that isn’t so.

This question has been discussed on here in the past, and several posters quoted how they’d been given penances impossible to do in a short time, such as reading a particular book, or confession had been running late, so that Mass had started by the time they’d come out of the box.

If at all possible, it is to be completed, but there is no obligation to forgo Holy Communion if Mass has started or is about to start. The obligation is to do it as soon as reasonable. Another poster said how she was given (in my opinion, extraordinary) penance of saying something nice to five people at the local shopping mall, and obviously that would have to be when she was actually there.

The penance isn’t the payment we’re charged for absolution when going to confession, remember - we are absolved when the priest says the words of absolution. It’s not dependent on doing the penance.

 

[EasterJoy]

So if the priest forgives you for your sins and you pay your pentance, does that mean that if he were wrong about a sin being venial when it was actually mortal that it wasnt forgiven?

…The penance isn’t the payment we’re charged for absolution when going to confession, remember - we are absolved when the priest says the words of absolution. It’s not dependent on doing the penance.

Exactly, Paperwight. We do NOT “pay” for forgiveness. The penance is required of us, but not as a condition for receiving absolution. If we do not do it, then we commit a sin against the Sacrament of Penance, but the sins we confessed remain absolved.

Also, we are forgiven just the same, whether we realize exactly how serious a committed sin was. All that is required is that we are repentant when we confess, even if our contrition imperfect, and that we have the firm resolution not to repeat the sin and to do the penance given, even when we fear our resolution may not be sufficient to accomplish that.

I also agree with Tezza. I’d say that no one should have either a physician or a confessor whose competence one does not trust. If that is all that is available, you have no choice, but otherwise you should seek care from those to whom you can give your trust. A doctor or a priest who has to care for someone who won’t trust him has a difficult road to travel, indeed. Find someone that you can give a better chance of really helping you.

 

[japhy]

May What if you are pretty sure you’ve committed a mortal sin … but your confessor tells you it’s venial. Does this change the validity of your confession or absolution?

Regardless of whether the priest thinks the sin is mortal or venial, if you confess it, you’re forgiven of it, validly.

 

[SavedbyHisBlood]

Dear Saved, I’m afraid you may be confused. What do you mean by paying you “pentance”? Can you give us an idea of what you think “pentance” is?

Like after the confession the priest tells you to say some prayers i.e. 10 hail mary’s and 5 Our Fathers and meditate on what you did. or return what you stole or something along those lines.

 

[EasterJoy]

Like after the confession the priest tells you to say some prayers i.e. 10 hail mary’s and 5 Our Fathers and meditate on what you did. or return what you stole or something along those lines.

Penance is your start on mending the harm your sins have done and, really, the harm that all sin does.

Let us say you break my window. If I forgive you, you are absolved of the offense with regards to me. But the window is still broken, right? If you were really sorry about having broken it, it is natural that you would want to do something towards putting it right, or might want to do some other things to make amends. That doesn’t mean that you yourself could ever afford to get the thing fixed, necessarily. It means that an effort to mending the harm you have done is a natural part of your desire to return to a relationship with me.

Or let us say that you said something to disgrace me. You might come to me afterwards, truly contrite, and I might forgive you…but what of my reputation? Surely you would want to do what you could to mend it. And let us say that some third person, aware that you had done more harm than you could ever repair yourself, was willing to help. This is the position of those willing to do penance on behalf of others. It not only helps the others, but makes those doing the penance more like God in their habit of behavior, for they give for the sake of love, and not out of expectation of return.

This is the difference between receiving absolution and removing the temporal punishment due to sin. Absolution is God’s acceptance of your contrition, His receiving your return. When the prodigal son came back, his father rejoiced, and directed that there be a celebration with the fatted calf as the centerpiece. But come the next morning, the half of the estate that this younger son had squandered was still gone. One would hope that the returned son would have returned to work with all the more diligence and humility, because of the loss that had come from his foolishness. Because he was truly contrite, he would throw himself into doing his father’s will.

The penance you do because you are directed to by your confessor is not “payment” for your sin. It is part of the necessary work needed to mend the harm the sin did, though, and a necessary part of letting God make you into a person like himself. Like the prodigal son, we find that our forays into sin give us ground to make up, and wounds to bind up. Our confessors give us our penance in order to begin our rehabilitation.

This is just an analogy, and not a perfect one, but maybe you get the idea.

 

[Liraco]

If at all possible, it is to be completed, but there is no obligation to forgo Holy Communion if Mass has started or is about to start. The obligation is to do it as soon as reasonable.

Sorry about that, and thank you for the clarification.

To add to Easterjoy, here’s an example Fr. Serpa uses on forgiveness:
Suppose you were to drop a glass pitcher on the floor and break it. You ask your mom (in this case) to forgive you and she does. You’re now forgiven BUT there’s still a mess on the floor that needs to be cleaned up. Cleaning up that mess is the “mending” that Joy talks about: penance.

 

[peary]

Good Morning All!!

I have a bit of confusion; I know that when someone goes to confessions they are supposed to confess all their sins, especially their Mortal sins. And I know that you are not supposed to take the Eucharist in a state of Mortal sin or at least until you go to confession for the sin. So my questions is this, how do you know the difference between a Mortal Sin and a venial sin? I understand the obvious like the difference between Murder in the 1st and telling a white lie. But there seems to be a grey area and I just was looking for some clarification.

Thanks and God Bless.

Mortal sins destroy the grace of God in the heart of the sinner. By its very grave nature, a mortal sin cuts our relationship off from God and turns us away from our Creator. St. Paul’s letter to the Hebrews tell us that “if we sin willfully after having the knowledge of the truth, there is now left no sacrifice for sins” (Hebrews 10:26). The second type of sin, venial sin, that of less grave matter, does not cut us off from Christ. However, venial sin does weaken grace in the soul and damages our relationship with God.

In order for a sin to be mortal, it must meet three conditions:

Mortal sin is a sin of grave matter. It is committed with full knowledge, and it is committed with our deliberate consent.

This means that mortal sins cannot be done "accidentally." A person who commits a mortal sin is one who knows that their sin is wrong, but still deliberately commits the sin anyway. This means that mortal sins are "premeditated" by the sinner and thus are truly a rejection of God’s law and love.

In the Bible, St. Paul gives us a list of grave sins. He states that anyone who commits these sins shall not enter the kingdom of God:

“Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God” (Galatians 5:19-20).

Paul also tells the Corinthians, “know you that the unjust shall not possess the kingdom of God? Do not err: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, Nor the effeminate, nor liers with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards nor railers, nor extortioners shall possess the kingdom of God” (1 Corinthians 6:9-10). These sins constitute grave matter, and if they are committed willingly and with full consent, constitute mortal sin.

The Church also tells us that the sins of anger, blasphemy, envy, hatred, malice, murder, neglect of Sunday obligation, sins against faith, sins against hope and sins against love (indifference towards charity, ingratitude, and/or hatred of God) also constitute grave matter. This list of grave sins is based on Jesus Christ’s interpretation of the Ten Commandments.

Four other sins are considered grave also. These sins not only offend God, but men as well. Thus these four sins are called “the sins that cry to heaven for vengeance” and are likewise mortal sins. These grave sins are:

The voluntary murder (Genesis 4:10)
The sin of impurity against nature – Sodomy and homosexual relations (Genesis 18:20)
Taking advantage of the poor (Exodus 2:23)
Defrauding the workingman of his wages (James 5:4)

Finally, the capital sins are also considered grave matter. These sins are vices and are defined as contrary to the Christian virtues of holiness. They are pride, avarice, envy, wrath, lust, gluttony, and sloth.

 

[SavedbyHisBlood]

“Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God” (Galatians 5:19-20).
.

Wait so drunkenness is consitered a mortal sin? i must have missed this… So does that mean i’m not allowed to go out on weekends and drink with my friends or family? Or does that just mean in moderation or something? Like i know there is a difference in getting drunk once in a while and being an alcoholic.