Would this be mortal sin?

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You go to the cook out and you fix a plate of veggies and salads and bread. You eat that plate. If grandpa insists on inspecting your plate and says “why are you not eating ribs” you smile and say “grandpa, I am a big boy/girl and I wanted to eat these things”.

You do not have to explain every detail of what you do.
 
kage_ar said:
You go to the cook out and you fix a plate of veggies and salads and bread. You eat that plate. If grandpa insists on inspecting your plate and says “why are you not eating ribs” you smile and say “grandpa, I am a big boy/girl and I wanted to eat these things”.

You do not have to explain every detail of what you do.
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This is the most sensible option, if it works, and most of the time it will. After all, it is no failure in faith to avoid quarrels with those who are only spoiling for a fight.
 
Hey All,

There is another thread which Moo started a few months ago in which it is revealed that he/she is 15 years old and apparently dependent upon devout non-denominational parents who have been misled as to the nature of the Catholic faith. If it is even possible for Moo to convert, it would seem like there are many dispensations for a minor child in this situation. If parents forbid outward adherence to the truths and practices of the faith, it seems like a protest might be in order, but Moo cannot make them fix her special meals in Lent or even take him/her to Mass.

Moo, for a sin to be mortal there are conditions which must be met which would seem to me to be lacking in your case. I am willing to be corrected, but I am thinking that only after you have formally joined the Catholic Church, would you be accountable for the Church’s law of fast and abstinence anyway. I exhort you though, to NEVER consider any act merely because you think it is venially sinful. We must abhor venial sins as the gate by which mortal sins take hold. I suggest it is possible that the omission of confessing your interior adherence to the Catholic faith while you are under the authority of anti-Catholic parents is perhaps no sin at all. Note I said “perhaps”. I don’t know. You must pray and look for opportune moments. Your parents probably care about you very much. Love God, love your parents, and make interior acts of love and repentance to the good God Who has kindled this desire in your heart for the true faith and ask Him to lead you.

God’s yoke is easy. The Evil One would love to discourage you and make you think that Holy Mother Church or our Lord places burdensome rules on such an one as cannot possibly follow them. Never. Do not believe that liar who spares not the most helpless little soul who is most precious to the good God. God is infinitely greater than our potent enemy. He loves you, and will protect you if you place your confidence in Him.
 
I would change something I wrote just above on venial sin. Sure, it is the gate to mortal sin. But that motive still smells of a desire to all the bad we can and still make it to heaven. Venial sin is not to be confused with “trivial” sin. Compared to the gigantic falling away in a deliberate act of rebellion against God, venial sin is less weighty upon our conscience and before God’s justice. But it is not for that reason acceptable. Love seeks to please the beloved by all means, and especially by avoiding that which without severing relations, interrupts perfect peace and creates the slightest dischord.
 
=moo5009;5677884]I’m becoming Catholic soon, and to make a long story short I have to hide this fact from a certain person for their own good. Now, I’m going to tell you about a situation that I’m very concerned about. If I were in a situation such as a barbecue around that person, where of course meat is the main dish, and it was a period during lent which I couldn’t eat meat, what would I do? 🤷 This person just couldn’t handle the fact that I’m becoming/became a Catholic. He’s VERY prejudice about our faith and sees it as heresy and betrayal of God and everything he stands for. So, if I were in this situation or something similar to it, would it be mortal sin to just eat the meat to prevent an unstoppable drama fest? :confused:
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***First breaking a “fast” is seldom [if ever] a Mortal sin. We “fast” for our sake not to benefit God.

Second. If this were to occour, simply deprive yourself of someting elese in place of the meat. [Ash Wedsday and GOOD FRIDAY would be an exception these are day’s of “STRICT FAST”] so don’t agree to attend the Bar B Que on these two day’s.

Of greater signifiance is the need to live our faith as Jesus would have us, knowing that in doing so, we all will face a certain amount of persecutation.[Mt. 5:11:13] Certainly Christ does not desire us to be unnecrssarly confrontational, however, He did not hide, conceal or conform his beliefs to simply please someone else. Nor should we.

God first, then family then work should be our priorities. The “bible” most read by others, is how we live out our faith beliefs. This is an issue you should pray about and ask for God’s Wisdom and understanding of what He desires you to do.

May I respectfully suggest you discuss this issue with your priest Confessor, before it happens.***
1 Cor. 8: 7 "However, not all possess this knowledge. But some, through being hitherto accustomed to idols, eat food as really offered to an idol; and their conscience, being weak, is defiled.Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. Only take care lest this liberty of yours somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. For if any one sees you, a man of knowledge, at table in an idol’s temple, might he not be encouraged, if his conscience is weak, to eat food offered to idols? And so by your knowledge this weak man is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died. Thus, sinning against your brethren and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food is a cause of my brother’s falling, I will never eat meat, lest I cause my brother to fall"
 
If this person is going to cause drama over your conversion, maybe you need to reassess the friendship. Real friends accept you for who you are, no matter how you may change something in your life, and if they can’t agree to disagree about matters of faith, and especially if they make a needless amount of fuss, maybe you need to slowly distance yourself from them. I wouldn’t just cut them off, but if somehow they find out you became Catholic and they threw a fit of some kind over it, then that would be the time to tell them something like, “This is something that means a lot to me. I did not become Catholic just to annoy you, and if you can’t act like a reasonable adult because of this, maybe we should spend some time apart.”
 
RoryMcKenzie56 said:
Hey All,

There is another thread which Moo started a few months ago in which it is revealed that he/she is 15 years old and apparently dependent upon devout non-denominational parents who have been misled as to the nature of the Catholic faith. If it is even possible for Moo to convert, it would seem like there are many dispensations for a minor child in this situation. If parents forbid outward adherence to the truths and practices of the faith, it seems like a protest might be in order, but Moo cannot make them fix her special meals in Lent or even take him/her to Mass.

Moo, for a sin to be mortal there are conditions which must be met which would seem to me to be lacking in your case. I am willing to be corrected, but I am thinking that only after you have formally joined the Catholic Church, would you be accountable for the Church’s law of fast and abstinence anyway. I exhort you though, to NEVER consider any act merely because you think it is venially sinful. We must abhor venial sins as the gate by which mortal sins take hold. I suggest it is possible that the omission of confessing your interior adherence to the Catholic faith while you are under the authority of anti-Catholic parents is perhaps no sin at all. Note I said “perhaps”. I don’t know. You must pray and look for opportune moments. Your parents probably care about you very much. Love God, love your parents, and make interior acts of love and repentance to the good God Who has kindled this desire in your heart for the true faith and ask Him to lead you.

God’s yoke is easy. The Evil One would love to discourage you and make you think that Holy Mother Church or our Lord places burdensome rules on such an one as cannot possibly follow them. Never. Do not believe that liar who spares not the most helpless little soul who is most precious to the good God. God is infinitely greater than our potent enemy. He loves you, and will protect you if you place your confidence in Him.
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You are right…I, at least, was assuming that the OP was an adult, and a catechumen. If the person is a minor, that is a horse of a different color.

If the OP is prevented through no fault of his or her own from converting to the faith or even entering the catechumenate, then he or she is not bound by canon law and commits no sin at all if he or she fails to observe edicts that are only binding upon Roman Catholics. He or she is bound only to do what he or she can…and I would caution against becoming scrupulous about that. Scrupulosity is a difficult spiritual fault to throw off, once it is taken on. I say that with the same caution I would give a promising pitcher while still in Little League. Do not overreach, OP, lest you do yourself some damage. Be diligent within your current boundaries only, and be patient. Your day will come.

Moreover, someone in the OP’s position may do what is necessary to preserve peace in his or her home, until such a time as he or she is free to join the Church. Preaching the truth is good, but it is not necessary to put one’s parents’ house in an uproar, when the strife is unlikely to result in anyone’s conversion.

You are being made to wait, OP, prevented from joining the Church when you ardently desire it, which must be more difficult than I can imagine. That is itself a great penance. It is quite OK to offer that to Heaven as your penance, in place of what you would rather be doing. Offer it on behalf of those who are living in countries in which the law prevents them from openly practicing our faith…and yes, you are allowed to call it “our faith”, even though you are being made to wait to enter formally. You can be sure that none of us here would trade places with you in order to dig into the steaks on a Friday of Lent. If you can abstain, that is great; if you cannot, do what you can do.
 
***Moo,

Are you aware of the conditions that must be present in order for something to be “a Mortal Sin”?
  1. It must be a serious matter
  2. One must know before they commit this act that it is and will be a Mortal sin.
  3. One must with out pressure desire of there own freewill to commit the act anyhow.
Love and prayers,***
 
moo5009 said:
I’m becoming Catholic soon, and to make a long story short I have to hide this fact from a certain person for their own good. Now, I’m going to tell you about a situation that I’m very concerned about. If I were in a situation such as a barbecue around that person, where of course meat is the main dish, and it was a period during lent which I couldn’t eat meat, what would I do? 🤷 This person just couldn’t handle the fact that I’m becoming/became a Catholic. He’s VERY prejudice about our faith and sees it as heresy and betrayal of God and everything he stands for. So, if I were in this situation or something similar to it, would it be mortal sin to just eat the meat to prevent an unstoppable drama fest? :confused:
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Eventually, won’t the issue come out - that you are becoming a Catholic? Is a barbecue that important? I agree with another poster - if this person is prejudiced against the Catholic Faith, it’s their issue. Your issue is to defend the Faith you have chosen - or else why choose it ? I think the question is - what’s more important to you: your Catholic Faith or your friend’s opinion?
 
Don’t live in fear. Either confront the person and tell them your beliefs ahead of time or let them find out when you refuse to eat meat. Either way, if they chose to disrespect your beliefs it is their problem, not yours.

I would be more afraid of judgement day and answering to the Lord about why you denied him, than I would be of the wrath of a bigot.

“Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

John Marie Philomena
 
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