What Are You Looking For? Part 2: The Liturgy and the Sacraments

Reconciliation: Venial Sin

Reconciliation: Venial Sin

                Not all sin sends us to hell.  Some do, and those are mortal sins. Some don’t.  Those sins are called venial sins.  As I said previously, for a sin to be mortal, it must first be a grave matter, you have to know it’s a grave matter, and then you have to deliberately decide to do it anyway.  “Mortal sin destroys charity in the heart of man by a grave violation of God’s law; it turns man away from God who is his ultimate end and his beatitude, by preferring an inferior good to him.

                “Venial sin allows charity to subsist, even though it offends and wounds it.” (CCC 1855)  So venial sins are all those other sins we commit that don’t destroy our relationship with God.  It’s important for those from certain Protestant traditions to note here that sins are not character imperfections.  Sin, mortal or venial, is something you do.  Not something you are.

                In the Catholic Mass, during the Penitential Act there is a prayer that is prayed by everyone that expresses it beautifully: “I confess to almighty God, and to you my brothers and sisters, that I have greatly sinned in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done, and what I have failed to do, through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault; therefore I ask blessed Mary ever-Virgin, all the Angels and Saints, and you, my brothers and sisters, to pray for me to the Lord our God.”  Then the priest concludes, “May almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins, and bring us to everlasting life.”  And the people respond, “Amen.”  This is followed by the triple plea for mercy: Kyrie, eleison. (Lord, have mercy.) Christe, eleison. (Christ, have mercy.)  Kyrie, eleison.  (Lord, have mercy.)

                Now if what you have said or done was a mortal sin, just praying that prayer isn’t enough for you to be in a state of grace to receive the Eucharist.  That relationship with God and the Church is still broken, so you still need the Sacrament of Reconciliation to restore the relationship.  However, if your sins are not mortal, that prayer accomplishes exactly what is asked for.  God forgives us our sins.

                This may lead you to wonder what are some examples of venial sins.  One example would be calling another driver a blithering idiot.  Or not doing something we know we should do.  Neither of these things are going to send us to hell, but if left unchecked, they could lead to mortal sin.  Getting angry at a bad driver could lead to road rage.  Road rage could lead to assault.  Assault could lead to murder.  Stopping the venial sin while it’s a venial sin prevents it from gaining a life of its own.

                To stop venial sin from becoming mortal sin, there are a few things we can do.  First, is to avail ourselves of the Sacrament of Reconciliation at least once a month, even if we don’t have any mortal sins to confess.  Doing this makes us aware of the venial sins we struggle with.  And once a month is often enough that we can have some time to work on our venial sins without it being so long that we forget what we are trying to overcome.

                Another thing we can do is to try to avoid what the Church calls “occasions of sin”.  And what could be an occasion of sin?  An obvious example would be a young man having his lady over for dinner.  Nothing is going to happen, in their minds, except dinner and a nice glass of wine (they are over 21).  They sit down to watch a movie.  It’s the latest rated “R” chick flick.  Next thing they know, one thing leads to another. 

                That’s an occasion of sin.  If the couple had gone out to dinner and a movie instead of being alone, things wouldn’t have gotten out of hand.  Basically, avoiding occasions of sin means not putting ourselves into situations where sin, venial, or especially mortal, can happen.  It means guarding our behavior and our minds.  However, if things do go a little wrong (venial sin), or even way wrong (mortal sin), God has mercifully provided the Sacrament of Reconciliation for that.  All we have to do is swallow our pride and use it.