Published in the bulletin of Holy Ghost Catholic Church in Knoxville, TN, on the 4th Sunday of Advent.
My dear Parishioners,
Peace! There are twenty-three (23) passages in the *Catechism of the Catholic Church8 and five (5) canons in the Code of Canon Law which can help us to appreciate the Sacrament of Penance. The following is a reflection on CCC 1856 and 1957.
“For a sin to be mortal three conditions are required together: A mortal sin is every sin which has for its object a grave matter and which is committed in full knowledge and deliberately done.”
How do we know what is a mortal sin? Holy Mother Church teaches us that there are three criteria which must be present together in order for a sin to be a mortal sin, namely: grave matter, full knowledge, deliberately done. We will consider each of these.
In order for a sin to be a “mortal sin” that which is done or omitted must be “grave matter.” Grave Matter is made precise by the Ten Commandments or Decalogue. While all theft is sinful, it should be obvious that to steal a pin used for sewing is not as serious a crime as stealing an automobile. While it is bad to abuse the pets it is worse to abuse the children or the defenseless. Another way to say “grave” is “serious.” There is nothing frivolous about mortal sin.
In order for a sin to be a “mortal sin” we must have “full knowledge” knowing what we are doing. Normally, if we have reached the age of reason (about seven years old) and are not mentally impaired we are responsible for the good we do (or fail to do) or the evil we commit.
In order for a sin to be a “mortal sin” the deed or omission must be done deliberately. This is not to say that if you burn someone’s home down, (itself grave matter of which we should be aware as a subset of Seventh Commandment: Thou shall not steal, insofar as one’s property rights are infringed upon), but the people were inside unknown to you, the deaths of the people, further grave matter (Fifth Commandment: Thou shall not kill), while obviously serious were not intended. Sometimes coercion has been mentioned as affecting the quality of our deliberateness. Imagine an employer threatening to fire the employee if reports are not falsified. The employee who is normally an honest person might be coerced to lie in order to remain employed. While it would be heroic to resist such an employer, the personal culpability would be lessened in such a circumstance. Regardless, the falsification of the reports remain a grave matter (Eighth Commandment: Thou shall not bear false witness).
One sad consequences of Original Sin is the difficulty we have knowing the truth about ourselves, about God, about good and evil. Thankfully God has revealed the Decalogue or Ten Commandments to us as an expression of the Natural Law which we are able to know thanks to the light of natural human reason.
God bless you!
Father John Arthur Orr