Taking God’s name in vain and fraternal correction

[Ioana]

If you know a fellow Christian that says omg sometimes (in ways which could be serious or not) but probably does it out of habit. Are you obliged under pain of mortal sin to tell him to stop doing it?

I have such a friend and I half-jokingly brought it up once. Several times after she kept saying it so I wondered if I should remind her but due to a mixture of being scared of her reaction and not wanting to offend her I didn’t and waited for a more opportune moment when we were both sitting down and chatting about deeper stuff in order to tell her again and explain my reasoning. Maybe I could’ve done it earlier. I’ve heard that it’s a mortal sin not to prevent others from doing something grave. Would this fall under it?

*follow up; if it would be a mortal sin then would it be sufficent to confess it as “I did not prevent somebody from doing something grave” or would that not be specific enough?

 

[Sirach2]

Your friend is no doubt speaking omg out of a strong habit, which will be hard to break, since we hear it almost constantly from others whose vocabulary does not know how to express surprise without using it. Therefore, being habitual and perhaps not with deliberate intent to use God’s name vainly, it is not a mortal sin for you not to correct her. Gently remind her that it is something she needs to work on, so as not to offend God by a too casual use of His name. For you, it may not even be a venial sin of omission. Fraternal correction must have a likelihood of the person taking your words to heart; otherwise, we should not use it.

Here is some good advice and a general rule for fraternal correction that you may find helpful.

 

[Ioana]

I am also 99.9999999999% sure it is just a habit and not a mortal sin for her but I thought that the subjective culpability did not matter, only the grave nature of the act itself.

 

[JulianN]

Also, since God is not actually the Lord’s name, she may not see it as a violation of the Commandment.

 

[Ioana]

Tbh I think I’ll confess it anyway. Would saying “did not prevent somebody to do something grave” be too vague?