Was this a mortal sin?

[PiousTemplar]

I was called a hypocrite today, I thought unfairly. It was to do with bigotry.

I was hurt and annoyed, and when I was washing my face before going to bed I was thinking about the situation and ways I could ‘get him back’, or things I should of said to hurt him back. I dwelled on what ‘I should of done’ (not really) for a few minutes before stopping. Was this a mortal sin for wishing ill against someone?

 

[agnes_therese]

Oh, I hope not!

But seriously, I really don’t think so. If you had acted on those thoughts, that could be a different matter. But you stopped, and didn’t give in to the urge for revenge. That’s a good thing, IMO.

 

[followingtheway]

Yeah, it is . I would confess it and say the Act of Contrition.

God bless :byzsoc:

David

 

[Pfaffenhoffen]

I was called a hypocrite today, I thought unfairly. It was to do with bigotry.

I was hurt and annoyed, and when I was washing my face before going to bed I was thinking about the situation and ways I could ‘get him back’, or things I should of said to hurt him back. I dwelled on what ‘I should of done’ (not really) for a few minutes before stopping. Was this a mortal sin for wishing ill against someone?

Mortal Sin? No. You were just counting on the answers or responses (there a nice way to say this in English but I do not remember). Of course, the first one is to get even. It is simply a question of justice.

Then, you think twice, thrice and so on and finally, you arrive to the conclusion that the best is to forgive.

Anything wrong ? No.

Thinking at another level. Why was it a WWII? Because Chamberlain was too soft on Hitler. Had they followed Churchill’s advice and put a hat of bombs on the top of him and we had saved 80 million deaths.

Today’s society is not made of doves only. You never know if at the turn of a street you find someone with a machine gun. Or if in your office, some co-worker is preparing a thorn bed for you.

Jesus said us to be peaceful as doves but smart as snakes. Jesus said to offer the other face but beaten, he answered back.

So, Christian reactions must not be univocal only.

 

[liturgylady]

ARGGGH Why do we worry so much about classifying sins??? A priest once told me a sin is anything that separates us from God…if you feel separated and feel the need to confess, then by all means do so…God has more important things to do than keep a running tally of our laundry lists of sins…he wants nothing more than for us to seek Him out and spend time in relationship…he is eagerly awaiting our prayers…like any parent who is waiting for their child to spend time with them.

 

[JRKH]

ARGGGH Why do we worry so much about classifying sins??? A priest once told me a sin is anything that separates us from God…if you feel separated and feel the need to confess, then by all means do so…God has more important things to do than keep a running tally of our laundry lists of sins…he wants nothing more than for us to seek Him out and spend time in relationship…he is eagerly awaiting our prayers…like any parent who is waiting for their child to spend time with them.

COMRADE…:thumbsup:

Peace
James

 

[JRKH]

I was called a hypocrite today, I thought unfairly. It was to do with bigotry.

I was hurt and annoyed, and when I was washing my face before going to bed I was thinking about the situation and ways I could ‘get him back’, or things I should of said to hurt him back. I dwelled on what ‘I should of done’ (not really) for a few minutes before stopping. Was this a mortal sin for wishing ill against someone?

Ask yourself these two questions…
Did you know it was wrong to think these thoughts? (I’m assuming you did)
Knowing this did you choose to dwell on them anyway? (seems the answer to this is yes)

If yes - then go and confess.
If no, but it still bothers you that you did it, then go and confess.

Peace
James

 

[OrangeOwl]

How would you classify this as a sin? Anger? Hatred? Both are covered in the CCC )):

2302 By recalling the commandment, "You shall not kill,"our Lord asked for peace of heart and denounced murderous anger and hatred as immoral.

Anger is a desire for revenge… If anger reaches the point of a deliberate desire to kill or seriously wound a neighbor, it is gravely against charity; it is a mortal sin. …

2303 Deliberate hatred is contrary to charity. Hatred of the neighbor is a sin when one deliberately wishes him evil. Hatred of the neighbor is a grave sin when one deliberately desires him grave harm.

So, mortal sin requires more than just wishing him evil; it requires wishing him grave harm. I assume this includes grave emotional harm?

When you were thinking these thoughts, were you desiring to kill, seriously wound, or gravely harm the person who upset you? Were you desiring to tell him off with words that would gravely hurt him?

I would also ask you to think about whether – when you were having these thoughts – you were thinking something along the lines of “This is a mortal sin, and I’m going to do it anyway,” or if you were just so caught up in the moment you weren’t even considering whether such thoughts were sinful.

Contrary to some other posts here, I think it’s important to classify sins. Otherwise you will end up with a laundry list every Saturday afternoon.

On the other hand, it is Saturday. If you end up in Confession, confess it. And let me know what the priest thinks.

 

[PiousTemplar]

Oh comon. I took communion this morning. I had the hopes this wasn’t a mortal sin.

I was called a hypocrite and I was pondering on what I should of said back, something alone the lines of: ‘Your an idiot, I’m not a hypocrite and atleast I don’t spend all weekend in bed with my girlfriend’. It was uncharitable, I know, but I was angry/hurt at what was said. I stopped after I realized I was going too far. (I hope I didn’t sin again by trying to re-enact the situation to think what I would of said)

Fr. is trying to get me to take regular Communion as I was abstaining for weeks at a time. I don’t think I can meet his demands if it is that easy to commit a mortal sin, I only go to confession once a week. This happened several hours after getting back from confession.

 

[PiousTemplar]

**or if you were just so caught up in the moment you weren’t even considering whether such thoughts were sinful. **

I think you are correct here, I stopped after thinking it might be mortally sinful.

 

[PiousTemplar]

It will really ruin my day if I find out I made a sacreligious Communion, as I was abstaining for weeks to avoid it. I was thinking of mean things I wanted to say back as sort of ‘payback’ but stopped when I grasped that it was sinful. When I think about it, that was really mean and somewhat uncommon of me. I will mention it in the confessional.

 

[JRKH]

Dear Friend in Christ.

It is obvious that you, like all of us, struggle with certain sin. Likewise it is obvious that you tend toward scrupulosity and that you have a regular confessor advising you.

For this reason it is my advice that you not ask us here whether something is a mortal sin. Seek the council of your confessor and be guided by that. He knows you far better than we do.

As for the possibility of your taking communion this morning being sacrilegious, - poppycock!!!

1. Your confessor has instructed you to take communion at least weekly.
2. You need to be guided by him and not by the opinion of people half-way around the world.
3. It is obvious that, even though you struggle with sin, you are sincerely trying to follow Christ.

So my dear Friend. Be at peace.

Peace
James

 

[JRKH]

Oh comon. I took communion this morning. I had the hopes this wasn’t a mortal sin.

I was not.

I was called a hypocrite and I was pondering on what I should of said back, something alone the lines of: ‘Your an idiot, I’m not a hypocrite and atleast I don’t spend all weekend in bed with my girlfriend’. It was uncharitable, I know, but I was angry/hurt at what was said. I stopped after I realized I was going too far. (I hope I didn’t sin again by trying to re-enact the situation to think what I would of said)

Far more important than what you thought is that you now recognize it for what it truly is - uncharitable. The thing to do now is to consider what “charitable” thing(s) you might have said back. In this way you have not only repented of your angry thoughts but have sought to replace that “wrong thinking” with “right thinking”. In this way you start to break the hold that habit has on us. You begin to tear down the old and build up the new.

Fr. is trying to get me to take regular Communion as I was abstaining for weeks at a time. I don’t think I can meet his demands if it is that easy to commit a mortal sin, I only go to confession once a week. This happened several hours after getting back from confession.

It is obvious that you, like all of us, struggle with certain sin. Likewise it is obvious that you tend toward scrupulosity and that you have a regular confessor advising you.

For this reason it is my advice that you not ask us here whether something is a mortal sin. Seek the council of your confessor and be guided by that. He knows you far better than we do.

In summary:

1. Your confessor has instructed you to take communion at least weekly.
2. You need to be guided by him and not by the opinion of people half-way around the world.
3. It is obvious that, even though you struggle with sin, you are sincerely trying to follow Christ.

So my dear Friend. Be at peace.

Peace
James

 

[PiousTemplar]

I was not.

Far more important than what you thought is that you now recognize it for what it truly is - uncharitable. The thing to do now is to consider what “charitable” thing(s) you might have said back. In this way you have not only repented of your angry thoughts but have sought to replace that “wrong thinking” with “right thinking”. In this way you start to break the hold that habit has on us. You begin to tear down the old and build up the new.

It is obvious that you, like all of us, struggle with certain sin. Likewise it is obvious that you tend toward scrupulosity and that you have a regular confessor advising you.

For this reason it is my advice that you not ask us here whether something is a mortal sin. Seek the council of your confessor and be guided by that. He knows you far better than we do.

In summary:

1. Your confessor has instructed you to take communion at least weekly.
2. You need to be guided by him and not by the opinion of people half-way around the world.
3. It is obvious that, even though you struggle with sin, you are sincerely trying to follow Christ.

So my dear Friend. Be at peace.

Peace
James

Thankyou friend.

 

[AlanFromWichita]

Without ever having felt revengeful toward others, I never would know the peace and freedom that letting it go brings me. I thank God for the gift of both ends of that experience. Blowing off a little steam IMO can actually be helpful. Once I was so upset at certain fellow members of parish council, that I wrote a letter telling them what I thought in no uncertain terms. Then I tore up the letter. In this case, the others were clearly wrong for what they had done and said, and it was useful for me to put my feelings into words. If you realized it was wrong to think these things and continued to focus on them, then I might agree it was a sin. As you’ve described it, it doesn’t sound like a problem. As always, if you still are concerned about it, consult a priest rather than take Internet advice from someone who knows you only through a few posts on a forum.

I agree with the business of always having to classify sins as being counterproductive, and I for one would like to see less emphasis on that. I honestly think that Catholics in general are too hung up on this or that specific act, while they are preached to about true spiritual transformation, born in the spirit and all, but all too often given no real tools to bring it about. Don’t get me wrong; there’s nothing wrong with teaching right and wrong, but let’s not go around worrying about stepping on cracks; that keeps us looking down all the time so that we can’t look ahead. Like a runner looks at the finish line – if he looked at the clock it would be distracting and he would never win. St. Paul tells us to go for the win.

Jesus showed over and over that He was more concerned with our attitudes toward other people, than with always following the written rules of the church of which He was a member. This sort of statement draws fire at times, but nobody has yet to show that I am wrong.

Alan

 

[JRKH]

(SNIP)

I agree with the business of always having to classify sins as being counterproductive, and I for one would like to see less emphasis on that. I honestly think that Catholics in general are too hung up on this or that specific act, while they are preached to about true spiritual transformation, born in the spirit and all, but all too often given no real tools to bring it about. Don’t get me wrong; there’s nothing wrong with teaching right and wrong, but let’s not go around worrying about stepping on cracks; that keeps us looking down all the time so that we can’t look ahead. Like a runner looks at the finish line – if he looked at the clock it would be distracting and he would never win. St. Paul tells us to go for the win.

Jesus showed over and over that He was more concerned with our attitudes toward other people, than with always following the written rules of the church of which He was a member. This sort of statement draws fire at times, but nobody has yet to show that I am wrong.

Alan

I Love this. Especially the image of always looking down lest we step on a crack.

It’s really about focus. learning to “follow the rules” is great when a person is young - a “spiritual child” in faith but as we grow in the faith we need to focus on the goal, An archer isn’t worried about what is NOT the target, only what is, and how to hit it.

Peace
James

 

[Monica4316]

I think it depends on whether you consented to the thoughts. As in: when you were aware of the thoughts, did you push them away, or agree to them.

But if you’re not sure in this particular case, you can ask a priest in Confession…

God bless