Which mortal sins would be a surprise to most Catholics?

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According to our pastor’s sermon this morning the most unconsidered mortal sin on the part of most modern Catholics is presumption. “I’m a good person, Jesus loves me, God would never send me to hell.”
 
Hi. Me again. I ask that everyone pray for me as I have truly entered the desert for Lent. I have given up political commentary shows but only to give up my greater sin of sexual self-satisfaction. My spiritual director, who has assured me that my past falls have fallen into the venial category, is aware that I am quite serious about my spiritual direction. Of course, this is been my intent all along so this just goes to show the power of prayer, even mine. I will need to limit my posting on these forums to certain topics and you may hear less of me. This is my desire.

I am no longer taking life as a joke. I have paid attention through the years, even though it hasn’t appeared so. I will still keep my natural jovial sense about me, but with the death of Sr. Lucia this past Sunday, I now answer the call that God has been giving me.

Again, pray for me. I will be hanging around on other forum topics but will ask the Holy Spirit and St. Michael to guide me as to which ones to participate in. As always I will be praying for all of you. God is calling and I can not ignore His voice.

Peace.
 
What does it mean that there is a certain amount of kids your called to have?
 
Jesus Freak2000:
What does it mean that there is a certain amount of kids your called to have?
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My interpretation is that every time you have marital relations, you should leave it up to God whether or not the woman bears a child. Since we don’t know how many we are supposed to have, we leave it up to God and let Him decide.
 
What surprises me is how ready people are to make sins of signs of affection.
 
Re: sending kids to public school a sin. That is crazy! With any school you need to be there for your kids, monitor what’s going on in their lives, ask them questions and yes TEACH them! I don’t think any school is meant to be your moral babysitter!
 
As I understand mortal sin, three conditions must exist:

l. Grave matter
  1. Full knowledge
  2. Full consent
If any of these conditions are absent, there is no mortal sin.
 
Adam Costanzo said:
My interpretation is that every time you have marital relations, you should leave it up to God whether or not the woman bears a child. Since we don’t know how many we are supposed to have, we leave it up to God and let Him decide.
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So, with that interpretation, is conceiving children using artificial insemination and fertility drugs a mortal sin even if you are still engaging in marital relations? Did God decide I shouldn’t have children, and instead gave me a condition to prevent conception in the “normal” way?
 
To Sarcophagus - having the number of children God intends for you to have means not using birth control to prevent “unwanted” pregnancies and also not having abortions.

Additionally, and this is one that most Catholics don’t knowe about but is covered in the Encyclical Letter Evangelium Vitae, mortal sins in this category include using any methods to get pregnant other than normal intercourse. This includes in vitro fertilization, surrogacy, and so forth.
 
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moderngirl:
So, with that interpretation, is conceiving children using artificial insemination and fertility drugs a mortal sin even if you are still engaging in marital relations? Did God decide I shouldn’t have children, and instead gave me a condition to prevent conception in the “normal” way?
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In my limited understanding of the Church’s teachings, we cannot use means to conceive that do not allow for natural intercourse. (check out the book: “the good news about sex and marriage” by Christopher West… it helped me understand the Church’s teachings a lot better)

Artificial insemination seperates sex from conception and is morally wrong.

Fertility drugs are not wrong per se, but generally women who take them have multiple fertilized eggs and the docs push to abort most of them, which is morally wrong.

NFP seems to be the best most natural way to figure out why a woman is not conceiving. A lot of the time she actually is conceiving, but do to hormones is having very early miscarriages. I hear it is a simple problem to fix once it is known.

If a woman cannot conceive naturally (or her husband is not capable of fertilizing her egg) maybe the couple is being called to adopt or provide foster care… or maybe they are called to do something entirely different?

Malia
 
Guys, don’t forget that mortal sins are incredibly serious offenses against God. Unless something is intrinsically evil, we can really only classify them as sins. There are tons of other conditions that come into play when determining the seriousness of each sin towards each individual person. Some of the sins that we are discussing here are IMO leaning much more towards the venially sinful side. :rolleyes:
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FelixBlue:
not teaching your children the faith yourself is a mortal sin?
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I would say that not ensuring that you children are learning the true faith (and how to defend it) is, objectively, a sin of neglect. But not necessarily mortal, unless perhaps under very specific conditions. When the children are young, parents should really be building most of the primary foundation for their faith at home…but as the children get older, the responsibility of the parents shifts more towards simply making sure that the children are continuing to receive the proper education that they need. I think most parents do try to look out for their children – and it’s unfortunate that most of the time they have absolutely no idea what they and their children are missing out on. If the parents were not raised properly in the Catholic faith, then they might not honestly know what’s out there, and what their kids should/should not be learning. In which case, I believe most of these parents would simply be commiting venial sins.

I don’t quite see how this one could even become a mortal sin anyway, unless of course the parents were deliberately witholding the proper information from their children, in an active attempt to malform their consciences and lead them directly into a corrupt life of sin. In which case, that would be no less than diabolical on the part of the parents. But thankfully, I really don’t think that’s what we’re dealing with here most of the time. :rolleyes:
 
Wow… Where did you get this list? Don’t forget, it is not mortal if you don’t know it is a grave wrong!

God Bless–JMJ
Laura 🙂
 
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chevalier:
What surprises me is how ready people are to make sins of signs of affection.
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Sorry for the late reply, I gave up posting for lent.

chevalier 🙂

Would you mind providing more information so I can respond to your post.

Thank you.
 
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moderngirl:
is conceiving children using artificial insemination and fertility drugs a mortal sin even if you are still engaging in marital relations? Did God decide I shouldn’t have children, and instead gave me a condition to prevent conception in the “normal” way?
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Hi moderngirl,

I am sorry to hear about your infertility. My family will pray for you as we have similar issues.

Please check out these Natural Family Planning websites as they address infertility issues within the teaching of the Church.

ccli.org/images/ccltitle_gr.gif
CREIGHTON MODEL FertilityCare System

Please listen to a free CD of Christopher West’s CD “Marriage and the Eucharist.” You will love it.

*Catholicity.com *

Here are the official related church teachings from the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

2376 Techniques that entail the dissociation of husband and wife, by the intrusion of a person other than the couple (donation of sperm or ovum, surrogate uterus), are gravely immoral. These techniques (heterologous artificial insemination and fertilization) infringe the child’s right to be born of a father and mother known to him and bound to each other by marriage. They betray the spouses’ “right to become a father and a mother only through each other.” 167

2377 Techniques involving only the married couple (homologous artificial insemination and fertilization) are perhaps less reprehensible, yet remain morally unacceptable. They dissociate the sexual act from the procreative act. The act which brings the child into existence is no longer an act by which two persons give themselves to one another, but one that “entrusts the life and identity of the embryo into the power of doctors and biologists and establishes the domination of technology over the origin and destiny of the human person. Such a relationship of domination is in itself contrary to the dignity and equality that must be common to parents and children.” 168 “Under the moral aspect procreation is deprived of its proper perfection when it is not willed as the fruit of the conjugal act, that is to say, of the specific act of the spouses’ union … Only respect for the link between the meanings of the conjugal act and respect for the unity of the human being make possible procreation in conformity with the dignity of the person.” 169

St. Gerard Majella, Patron of expectant mothers, pray for us.

May God :blessyou:
 
I know that my parents are thoroughly convinced that vacation means dispensation from attending Mass. Basically, they seem to think that being 50 miles from home allows them not to attend. I have told them that they are incorrect, but I don’t think they want to believe me (and thus, on vacations, we don’t go to Mass. I go alone whenever I’m with friends, but pretty much Mass on family vacations doesn’t happen for me :mad: )

Eamon
 
Not having the # of children you are called to have. My husband and I are unable to conceive, so I guess that’s a hint for us. We have adopted 3 children. However, in my heart, I would love more (through adoption or otherwise), but financially it is just not possible at this time. So, I guess I’m not sure how to determine this one.

God Bless
Giannawannabe
 
I can’t vote for there is no “all of the above” or “part of the above” available for selection.
 
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Giannawannabe:
Not having the # of children you are called to have. My husband and I are unable to conceive, so I guess that’s a hint for us. We have adopted 3 children. However, in my heart, I would love more (through adoption or otherwise), but financially it is just not possible at this time. So, I guess I’m not sure how to determine this one.

God Bless
Giannawannabe
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This is a tough one for my husband and me as well. Our first child was born with major complications, and we are now pregnant with our second (and with trepidation!). I am only 23 and have many childbearing years left, but I worry about the medical problems that may result from having an unlimited number of children.

Finances are a whole different problem!
 
One time I confessed to a priest that I missed mass while on vacation and he laughed at me. He said it’s not a sin.
 
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