The Lord's Day

[BarberRB2015]

Happy Sunday to you!

 So I am a new Catholic as of the Easter Vigil this year.  I find it to be a continual task to discern what is sinful and not sinful, as well as venial versus mortal sin.

 Right off the bat I should say that I attend an FSSP parish, and am an avid listener of Sensus Fidelium sermons, etc.

 Concerning The Lord's Day -- straight from the beginning I wouldn't have even thought about going for coffee, getting groceries and doing house and yard work on a Sunday.  As I have continued down my short journey here, I have begun to clarify in my own mind what is acceptable on Sundays and what is not.  I have stopped grocery shopping, going to restaurants, etc. and have left it as a day of leisure without indulging in worldly matters.

 This afternoon a client texted me to see if I would be in the barbershop tomorrow.  I texted him back to let him know that I would not, and gave him my hours for Tuesday.

 So, I do have scrupulous tendencies, especially as a neophyte.  I should take this to my confessor, but was just in confession this morning.  I do not think this is grave matter, but is the reply that I made to this client by text mortally sinful?

Thank you very kindly,

RB

 

[Cor_ad_Cor]

I should take this to my confessor,

Ultimately, for any question about personal sin, this is the answer. However, there are a few things to bear in mind, the first being that you canNOT accidentally commit mortal sin. Be at ease.

 

[JRS_88]

This afternoon a client texted me to see if I would be in the barbershop tomorrow. I texted him back to let him know that I would not, and gave him my hours for Tuesday.

 So, I do have scrupulous tendencies, especially as a neophyte.  I should take this to my confessor, but was just in confession this morning.  I do not think this is grave matter, but is the reply that I made to this client by text mortally sinful?

Thank you very kindly,

RB

No it’s not a sin.
Why would you think responding to a text about work on a Sunday would be sinful?
You might want to get some assistance for the scrupulosity. Hopefully you can be at peace.

 

[BarberRB2015]

No it’s not a sin.
Why would you think responding to a text about work on a Sunday would be sinful?
You might want to get some assistance for the scrupulosity. Hopefully you can be at peace.

I was thinking that responding to his text might be part of “working” on Sunday.

I thank you so so much.

 

[PaulfromIowa]

Scrupulosity. God does not want us to be anxious and fearful over trivial things.

 

[Crusaderbear]

Happy Sunday to you!

 So I am a new Catholic as of the Easter Vigil this year.  I find it to be a continual task to discern what is sinful and not sinful, as well as venial versus mortal...

RB

My wife became catholic this past Easter as well, and has had the same problem expressed by the OP…RCIA does not do a good job of defining what I call everyday sins.

I attended about half the sessions and they did a lot of ministry, what heaven will be like, but not a lot on venial vs mortal sin. I don’t think the RCIA folks realize the differences in the Catholic view and other christian views.

Do protestants even believe in the concept of mortal sin? Is there something that covers the whole sin thing?

My view has always been it’s only a mortal sin if you intend to violate God. Example, attending mass on Sunday is a catholic requirement. If you say I’m not going because I don’t care what God wants…bingo! Mortsl Sin! If you say, my child is sick, I need to stay home and take care of him…no Mortal Sin!

 

[BarberRB2015]

My view has always been it’s only a mortal sin if you intend to violate God. Example, attending mass on Sunday is a catholic requirement. If you say I’m not going because I don’t care what God wants…bingo! Mortsl Sin! If you say, my child is sick, I need to stay home and take care of him…no Mortal Sin!

Hi Crusader,

 Actually I was not Christian in any sense.  I had quite the radical conversion, and even used to be a Freemason.  Thankfully, our Chaplain will be doing a Catechsim class this year based on the Baltimore Catechism.  So I may very well attend.

 I guess I'll just ask tomorrow morning, in the confessional, if such was mortal sin.  For some reason I cannot get past this thought that it is part of my work to respond to clients needing a haircut.

Thanks again to everyone.

 

[The_Reginator]

.

 So, I do have scrupulous tendencies,

This may help a bit from Fr. Hardon’s Examination of Conscience as he refers to scrupulosity in the introduction.

As we read the Spiritual Exercises, we may be overwhelmed by the minute detail of St. Ignatius’ treatment of what he calls the particular examination of conscience. At the same time, he is careful to provide, “Some Notes on Scruples.”
It is very important, therefore, that we form a clear and correct conscience.
… “The enemy,” says St. Ignatius, "considers carefully whether one has a lax or a delicate conscience. …

Please read more at http://www.catholiceducation.org/en/culture/catholic-contributions/examination-of-conscience.html

 

[The_Reginator]

Oh, and a happy Sunday to you too!

 

[jcrichton]

Happy Sunday to you!

 So I am a new Catholic as of the Easter Vigil this year.  I find it to be a continual task to discern what is sinful and not sinful, as well as venial versus mortal sin.

 Right off the bat I should say that I attend an FSSP parish, and am an avid listener of Sensus Fidelium sermons, etc.

 Concerning The Lord's Day -- straight from the beginning I wouldn't have even thought about going for coffee, getting groceries and doing house and yard work on a Sunday.  As I have continued down my short journey here, I have begun to clarify in my own mind what is acceptable on Sundays and what is not.  I have stopped grocery shopping, going to restaurants, etc. and have left it as a day of leisure without indulging in worldly matters.

 This afternoon a client texted me to see if I would be in the barbershop tomorrow.  I texted him back to let him know that I would not, and gave him my hours for Tuesday.

 So, I do have scrupulous tendencies, especially as a neophyte.  I should take this to my confessor, but was just in confession this morning.  I do not think this is grave matter, but is the reply that I made to this client by text mortally sinful?

Thank you very kindly,

RB

Hi, RB!

Welcome Home!

…yeah, them rules… them rules…

I think that the major concern for Sunday is that you do not work on Sundays; there are things that you could do that are not a problem… going to restaurants or shopping… not problem as long as you are not missing Mass in lieu of doing a task or couch potating…

…say there’s an emergency and you spend a few hours resolving the issue (driving someone to the airport; boarding up a broken window, draining a flood from a basement… no problem); though this is “work” you are actually resolving an emergency situation and you are not seeking any type of compensation.

…about the text… If the text you received was not during Mass (everyone’s telephone should be off during Mass, unless that person is a surgeon who’s patient/s is in critical condition or unless he/she is a maternity ward physician and is on call) there’s no harm committed.

Here’s where a grievous sin would take place–say I call/text you for an emergency cut… it’s Sunday and you either forgo Mass or rush it so that you can go make the “big money” I offered… you’ve just traded your special time with God and the Community for some dough!

Now, hold on to your trimmer kit… you know when people go wrong? It’s when they forget that Sunday is a Day of Obligation because it is our Day to Hold for God as a Special Day (the Lord’s Day). We have six days to get all of our things done… Sunday is a Rest Day–a day to enter into special Communion with God.

Grave and venial sin… they come at us from left and right:

Mortal versus Venial Sin (ewtn.com/expert/answers/mortal_versus_venial.htm

)

The thing with sin is that they can come in multiple layers (one offense upon another) and they can produce hidden sins (one sin could well have associated sins)… say I’m visiting your home and at an opportune moment I steal money which is meant to cover your rent/mortgage… not only did I commit the sin of robbery but I put you and those in your household at risk of being homeless… the sin is greater because of the additional damage/potential or actual which I would have inflicted upon you. Now, say I stole a few apples from a supermarket because I did not have money or food; it is still a sin but there are mitigating factors (not as bad as the first example).

The best is to practice not to sin… so all these complicated nuances can be avoided altogether. Here are a couple of vs:

Mortal (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mortal_sin

) vs Deadly (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_deadly_sins)
Maran atha!

Angel

 

[jcrichton]

My wife became catholic this past Easter as well, and has had the same problem expressed by the OP…RCIA does not do a good job of defining what I call everyday sins.

I attended about half the sessions and they did a lot of ministry, what heaven will be like, but not a lot on venial vs mortal sin. I don’t think the RCIA folks realize the differences in the Catholic view and other christian views.

Do protestants even believe in the concept of mortal sin? Is there something that covers the whole sin thing?

My view has always been it’s only a mortal sin if you intend to violate God. Example, attending mass on Sunday is a catholic requirement. If you say I’m not going because I don’t care what God wants…bingo! Mortsl Sin! If you say, my child is sick, I need to stay home and take care of him…no Mortal Sin!

Hi!

If the child is actually sick there’s no sin at all… however, if mom stays to care for the child and dad stays 'cause he sees an opportunity to miss Mass: mom does not sin; dad is down in the gutters!

Maran atha!

Angel

 

[jcrichton]

Hi Crusader,

 Actually I was not Christian in any sense.  I had quite the radical conversion, and even used to be a Freemason.  Thankfully, our Chaplain will be doing a Catechsim class this year based on the Baltimore Catechism.  So I may very well attend.

 I guess I'll just ask tomorrow morning, in the confessional, if such was mortal sin.  For some reason I cannot get past this thought that it is part of my work to respond to clients needing a haircut.

Thanks again to everyone.

Hi, RB!

…if it is not during Mass there’s no problem… unless you are using Sunday as a day to schedule your week’s load… say I were to call you about a clambake… you would take the call/text… no problem; say I were to refer someone to you; you make the call/text no problem… it would be a problem if you use Sunday as a work day; yet, there are rules and then there are exceptions… say your wife were a nurse and part of her job requirements would be that she worked on Sunday–as long as she speaks to her local Priest and explained the matter; he would most likely ask her to transfer the “obligation” of Sunday to another day of the week… so “x” day would be the day of her Obligation to God.

Maran atha!

Angel