Why can’t you pray to God for a mortal sin? What if you are unable to get to a priest in time, can you “go over the priest’s head”?Venial sins, yes, mortal sins, no. God forgives through the priest, who is sitting in the person of Christ, in that sacrament of confession. Easiest way to understand it is the priest is like a telephone to God.
With respect to mortal sin, whether or not Jesus grants us forgiveness if we don’t confess to a priest depends on the quality of our contrition. If our contrition is perfect, motivated by love of God, then Jesus grants us forgiveness, even if we don’t confess to a priest. (Whenever possible, Catholics are also obliged by church law to confess mortal sins to a priest at least once a year.) However, if our contrition is imperfect, motivated by another reason, such as the fear of hell, then Jesus does not grant us forgiveness if we don’t confess to a priest. Since it is sometimes difficult to judge the quality of our own contrition, to be on the safe side, it is always best to confess our mortal sins to a priest.Jesus grants us forgiveness, even if we don’t confess to a priest, right?
It is always a good idea to pray to Jesus, the Big Guy Upstairs, regardless.Isn’t it fine to directly pray to Jesus also? We pray to saints too but the Big Guy Upstairs doesn’t mind a call from us as well?
By giving his Church the power to forgive sins, Jesus makes it easier for us to obtain forgiveness of our sins than would otherwise be possible. Ordinarily, perfect contrition is required for us to obtain forgiveness of our mortal sins but through his Church we can obtain forgiveness even with imperfect contrition.Why can’t you pray to God for a mortal sin? What if you are unable to get to a priest in time, can you “go over the priest’s head”?
A telephone to God is a good way of putting it. It seems to me that a lot of the reasoning behind the sacrament of confession is that it’s so ‘two-way’, as it were. For one thing, it saves people from wondering if they’re actually forgiven - hearing the priest say ‘I absolve you from your sins’ is so comforting! Not to mention that the priest can give you the proper penance too, so that the lax don’t do too little and the scrupulous too much (though that’s not necessarily a bad thing), advice on how to avoid the sins in future if necessary, and even a pep-talk sometimes. As far as I can see, it’s a lot more like Jesus’ ministry on earth this way.God forgives through the priest, who is sitting in the person of Christ, in that sacrament of confession. Easiest way to understand it is the priest is like a telephone to God.
I don’t fully follow your question, but Jesus wants you to pray to him all the time. All prayers are through him.Jesus grants us forgiveness, even if we don’t confess to a priest, right?
Isn’t it fine to directly pray to Jesus also? We pray to saints too but the Big Guy Upstairs doesn’t mind a call from us as well?
Thanks!
Kat
That’s not quite true. Mortal sin can be forgiven either by confessing our sins to a priest with sufficient contrition. Or it can be forgiven by making an act of perfect condition directly to God.Venial sins, yes, mortal sins, no. God forgives through the priest, who is sitting in the person of Christ, in that sacrament of confession. Easiest way to understand it is the priest is like a telephone to God.
An Act of Perfect contrition is ONLY acceptable if the sin is normally mortal, but in this case not. For example, masturbation if it is addictive. If you are psychologically addicted it may not be a mortal sin, but it is still VERY serious, and an act of Perfect Contrition would suffice.That’s not quite true. Mortal sin can be forgiven either by confessing our sins to a priest with sufficient contrition. Or it can be forgiven by making an act of perfect condition directly to God.
The difference between the two types of contritions is the primary motivation.
An act of perfect condition is primarily based on the love of God and not wanting to offend God because He is all-good and deserving of all of our love.
An act of sufficient condition may simply be a fear of Hell, a fear of losing Heaven, or some other regret for sinning not directly based on the love of God.
That said, even if mortal sins are forgiven outside of Confession, the other sacraments should not be received until the person in mortal sin goes to Confession first. I’m assuming this is partly to avoid scandalizing others, and partly to avoid scandalizing yourself, but there may be more to it than these.
Someone please correct me of I’m wrong here. But I think this is what the Church teaches.
Are you sure about that? That’s not what I learned. Can you cite some definitive source on this teaching?An Act of Perfect contrition is ONLY acceptable if the sin is normally mortal, but in this case not. For example, masturbation if it is addictive. If you are psychologically addicted it may not be a mortal sin, but it is still VERY serious, and an act of Perfect Contrition would suffice.
From the Catechism:My question is what would be a venial sin and what would be a mortal sin?
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.
1859 Mortal sin requires full knowledge and complete consent. It presupposes knowledge of the sinful character of the act, of its opposition to God’s law. It also implies a consent sufficiently deliberate to be a personal choice. Feigned ignorance and hardness of heart do not diminish, but rather increase, the voluntary character of a sin.
Hope that answers your question.1860 Unintentional ignorance can diminish or even remove the imputability of a grave offense. But no one is deemed to be ignorant of the principles of the moral law, which are written in the conscience of every man. The promptings of feelings and passions can also diminish the voluntary and free character of the offense, as can external pressures or pathological disorders. Sin committed through malice, by deliberate choice of evil, is the gravest.
If we’re talking about a way to avoid the confessional, no. Of course, if you are a solider in the field, you can pray directly for fear of death or something, That would be a legitimate reason for not “getting there in time” as has been said.Jesus grants us forgiveness, even if we don’t confess to a priest, right?
Isn’t it fine to directly pray to Jesus also? We pray to saints too but the Big Guy Upstairs doesn’t mind a call from us as well?
Thanks!
Kat
Only God forgives sin
Because Jesus gave power to men[priests] to forgive sin, does not mean forgiveness of mortal sin from God is not possible unless confessed to a priest.1441 Only God forgives sins. Since he is the Son of God, Jesus says of himself, “The Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins” and exercises this divine power: "Your sins are forgiven."40 Further, by virtue of his divine authority he gives this power to men to exercise in his name.
Which is why only contrition is acceptable, and confessing before Communion is not always a necessity. So what I said is still true, I just worded it badly.Are you sure about that? That’s not what I learned. Can you cite some definitive source on this teaching?
From what I understand, what you’re describing would make it not a mortal sin, but simply venial, although still grave, because three qualities are needed for a sin to be mortal, gravity being only one, sufficient consent of the will and sufficient knowledge of its sinfulness to be the other two. Therefore in your example, it would be a venial sin because gravity and sufficient knowledge are involved, but sufficient consent is not.