Transcript

Sin is evil, but not all sins are equally bad.

Some are worse than others.

We learn this from sacred scripture.

In the first letter of John, we read that there are two kinds of sin.

Some sins deal death to the soul, destroying its spiritual life, which is why scripture calls them mortal.

They kill.

Other sins are less serious and are more easily forgiven, and that's why the church has come to call them venial, which comes from the word for pardon.

But how can you tell which is which?

Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners.

That means he came into the world to save you and me, because if we're honest, we each say when we look into our hearts, I too am a sinner.

Jesus really offers you, really offers every sinner the possibility of being forgiven and of being strengthened by God's grace so that we'd be able to resist sin and to live in newness of life.

But in seeking forgiveness, how can you tell the difference between mortal and venial sins?

Broadly speaking, there are two ways.

The first is theological, while the second is practical.

Let's start with the theological explanation.

Saint Thomas Aquinas teaches that the heart of the Christian life is love or charity.

God infuses into our hearts a divine love by which we begin to love him as our Father.

This supernatural gift makes us his adopted sons and daughters.

It gives us friendship with God, and by it, we begin to love God for his own sake, and above all other things, as the ultimate end of our lives.

This gift of charity must be given to us from above, Aquinas thinks, because it surpasses what we're capable of doing by our nature.

And so as long as we're in a state of grace, Aquinas thinks God is constantly pouring this love into our hearts.

The theological account of mortal sin then is that it's a word, deed, or desire by which someone turns away from God and prefers some lower good more than god.

Even if the person isn't aiming at disrupting his relationship with God, if he in fact loves a creature more than God in a serious matter, that necessarily means that he isn't loving God above all things.

And intentionally disobeying God's commandments in a serious matter is not something you can do while loving God above all things as your final end, because if you really loved him, you would obey his commandments.

Mortal sin, therefore, is an act contrary to the love of God, and it kills the supernatural life that God infuses in our hearts by grace.

And that means that it destroys sanctifying grace in the soul.

Aquinas puts it this way: God is the cause of supernatural charity in our souls like the way the sun causes light in the air.

Mortal sin is like an obstacle that blocks the infusion of charity, and so it makes the soul dark, just like the air becomes dark when something blocks the light of the sun.

Here's how the catechism of the Catholic Church explains the significance of mortal sin, quote, If it's not redeemed by repentance and God's forgiveness, it causes exclusion from Christ's kingdom and the eternal death of hell, for our freedom has the power to make choices forever with no turning back.

However, although we can judge that an act is in itself a grave offense, we must entrust judgment of persons to the justice and mercy of God.

That's why if you've committed a mortal sin, it's imperative that you go to confession as soon as possible.

Your eternal soul is at risk.

Venial sin, in contrast, is an act that does not observe the right rule and measure, but isn't directly opposed to loving God above all things.

So for example, eating a little bit too much or telling a small lie as part of a joke, these are small acts contrary to temperance or to justice.

They don't follow the right rule and measure of human acts, and they're bad.

They're sins.

But they're not contrary to charity, because they're compatible with loving God above all things as your final end.

Now let's talk about the second, more practical way to explain the difference between mortal and venial sins.

On this approach, there are three conditions that have to be met for a sin to be mortal.

The sin's object must be grave matter and it must be committed with full knowledge and deliberate consent.

So first, the object of the act must be grave matter.

In other words, it has to be about something serious.

Jesus says, for example, If you would enter life, keep the commandments.

When the rich young man in the gospels asks Jesus, Which?

Jesus replies by citing the Ten Commandments.

You shall not kill, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness, honor your father and mother.

This is all grave matter.

There are some sins which always have grave matter, like blasphemy, lust, or murder.

With other sins though, it's possible for the matter sometimes to be light.

For example, a joking lie or the theft of a pencil, and in other cases, to be grave, like lying in a serious manner or stealing a day's wages.

The second condition is that the sin must be committed with full knowledge.

This doesn't mean that you have to know that what you're doing is a mortal sin.But you do have to know what you're doing.

That is, you're not acting by accident, you're not half asleep or ignorant of what you're doing, and you have to know that what you're doing is wrong.

The third condition is, you have to give deliberate consent to the act.

This means that your will is engaged, you're making a choice.

Now, fear and passion can certainly diminish your consent, but normally, they don't keep a sin from being mortal unless you're not able to control your action or are not fully in possession of yourself.

For example, because of a psychological condition.

When you know what you're doing is wrong and there's no external constraint, consent of the will is usually presumed.

Now in practice, there may sometimes be reasonable doubt about whether these three conditions were all met in a particular case.

If you have a doubt when you go to confession, you should tell the priest about it and he'll do his best to make a judgment.

The sacrament of confession is the normal way for mortal sins to be forgiven.

If you've committed a mortal sin, even if you already feel deeply sorry for it, you still must bring it to confession because this is the means instituted by Jesus himself for serious sins to be forgiven after baptism.

But it's also very helpful and strongly recommended by the church for you to confess venial sins too, and to do so regularly.

In previous generations, confession once a week was common.

I would certainly recommend that you go at least as often as you get a haircut, but really every one to two weeks would be better.

That's because even though they don't kill the life of the soul, venial sins are still dangerous.

They cause the fervor of your charity to grow cold.

They're like weeds that keep coming up.

If you don't uproot them, they'll start to take over and will choke out the good seed of the gospel in your life.But thanks be to God for the gift of mercy that he has given us through Jesus Christ who instituted the sacrament of confession so that we could be freed from slavery to sin and could be filled with the peace and joy that comes from his love.

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