Worried about being in mortal sin...?

  • Thread starter Thread starter pm2222
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
P

pm2222

Guest
Lately i have been worried about sinning, like asking myself questions such as is this a mortal sin etc… I wanted to know if this would constitute a mortal sin. I was with someone, another guy, and he asked me a question about woman that was bad. Kind of relating to devaluing woman and looking at them as objects. I wouldnt answer his question. He told me to look at this picture he had, and he put it in front of me. I knew it was probably something bad as in a pornographic picture, but i looked at it anyway for a second and then turned my eyes away from it and wouldnt look at it again. I am worried that this is a mortal sin, and I worry if I should receive the Eucharist on Sunday at Mass, or if I should wait until after confession. Thanks for any answers.
 
Sounds like you might need some regular spiritual guidance from your priest if you are frequently concerned, thinking about, and asking yourself about whether or not you are sinning mortally.
 
Compedium issued by Pope Benedict XVI
  1. When does one commit a mortal sin?
1855-1861
1874

One commits a mortal sin when there are simultaneously present: grave matter, full knowledge, and deliberate consent. This sin destroys charity in us, deprives us of sanctifying grace, and, if unrepented, leads us to the eternal death of hell. It can be forgiven in the ordinary way by means of the sacraments of Baptism and of Penance or Reconciliation.
  1. When does one commit a venial sin?
1862-1864
1875

One commits a venial sin, which is essentially different from a mortal sin, when the matter involved is less serious or, even if it is grave, when full knowledge or complete consent are absent. Venial sin does not break the covenant with God but it weakens charity and manifests a disordered affection for created goods. It impedes the progress of a soul in the exercise of the virtues and in the practice of moral good. It merits temporal punishment which purifies.

vatican.va/archive/compendium_ccc/documents/archive_2005_compendium-ccc_en.html
 
I just dont know if i should recieve the Eucharist at Mass on Sunday or if i should wait to go to confession. The next Confession that I think i am able to go to is on Tuesday.
 
Put your mind to rest : take spiritual Communion on Sunday if Confession is unavailable before Mass and go to confession on Tuesday. I think God would much rather someone abstain from Communion out of reverence for Christ than to partake it unworthily, which I am not saying you are as I’m not qualified to judge your situation.
 
The same thing happened to me tonight. I rent a room out for college and was eating dinner at our landlord’s mother’s house when out of nowhere he shows me a picture on his phone of a naked women he just started talking too. I saw the picture for it was thrown right in my face but it wasn’t to my consent. It all depends on how you handled the situation afterwards. In my case I am still going to receive the Eucharist on Sunday because I didn’t dwell on the picture and did not let it have any power over me. Like you I realized what it was and immediately FLED. That’s all we can do when the devil tempts us, a test of the Lord. Do not let the picture have any power of you…the devil wants you to feel like you are not worthy. YOU are worthy!! You’d be in mortal sin if you saw the picture, lusted after it, engaged more in the conversation, and let it control you. Luckily the graces of God are in you, try not to be so scrupulous. You didn’t answer his question in respect for the Lord and you looked away, there is nothing else you could have done.
 
I didnt dwell on the picture no, but I did have a pretty good feeling, actually i was pretty certain, that the picture the person was showing me was a pornographic picture. Yet when he put it in front of me, I looked at it for a second and then moved my eyes away and wouldnt look at it again. But I knew it was bad to look at it cus chances are it was going to be pornographic, and then i still did, but only after that did i move my eyes quickly away and told him to move it. Thats why im worried
 
He told me to look at this picture he had, and he put it in front of me.

Well I dunno if one is just looking is enough…I suppose it would depend on the “coveting” factor.

As far as your worrying about being in mortal sin I’m thinking ‘no’. Because you made the conscious decision to turn around and not engage the behavior any further.

As a rule of thumb, if you have to ask if something is sinful, it probably is.
 
As a rule of thumb, if you have to ask if something is sinful, it probably is
Click to expand...
Actually, for the scrupulous, this is not true. A scrupulous person sees sin where there is no sin. And if the scrupulous person were to wait until he felt worthy to receive communion, he would never receive communion at all. The scrupulous person NEVER feels entirely right about himself or his spiritual state…That’s the nature of the disorder. A person who suffers from scrupulosity must entrust himself to a competent spiritual director/confessor and follow that person’s advice. He cannot act on what he feels.

Eventually, with time, experience, and good counsel, the scrupulous can begin to discern when he is truly in the state of sin.

The people at “Scrupulous Anonymous” give this counsel about mortal sin : If there is doubt (about whether I have sinned) then there is no doubt…(that is, I am not in a state of mortal sin…) This is just another way of saying that full knowledge and full consent were not present if you doubt whether you have sinned or not.

But again,( and I feel like I’ve posted this on these forums till I’m blue in the face!)–a forum like this is not the best place to hash out these kinds of questions…Get Thee to a Good Confessor—and follow his advice and direction…
 
Let me use a few analogies:

You are in a store looking through the magazine rack. You come across a magazine that has a blank cover. You open it up and discover that it’s pornographic. You close the magazine, place it back on the rack, and don’t give it a second thought.

That would not be a sinful act. Even though you deliberately opened the magazine, you did not initially know that it was pornographic nor did you continue to look at it.

You are in the same store looking through the same magazine rack. You come across a magazine that has a blank cover. You open it up only to discover that it’s pornographic. You continue to look through the magazine - in fact, you spend a considerable amount of time looking at all the different pictures.

That would be a sinful act of a grave (perhaps even mortal) nature, because even though you initially didn’t know that the magazine was pornographic, once you discovered that it was, you deliberately continued to look at the pictures for an extended period of time.

You are back in the same store; same magazine rack. You come across a magazine that has a picture of a scantily clad woman on the cover with the words “Sizzling Hot Naked Chicks” written beneath it. You grab the magazine (like there was no tomorrow), and start going through all the pages (all the while salivating like a mad man). Whether or not you choose to do so for a short time or a long time is irrelevant.

If you even have to think about whether or not you committed a grave/mortal sin under THOSE circumstances, you definitely need to “get right with God”.

Insofar as your friend is concerned… since you already know that the pictures he will show you will most likely be of a pornographic nature, you have a responsibility to ask him to stop. If he is really your friend, he will respect your wishes and do as you ask. Under the circumstances, however, it’s all pretty much on you at this point. God holds us accountable for the company we keep.

If he is persistent and refuses to comply, he isn’t being a friend at all.

My mother is a devout Catholic, and is friends with a Presbyterian family that she has known throughout her lifetime. They have ALWAYS had the utmost respect for my mother’s views, religious beliefs and traditions. That’s what real friends do.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top