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Common Mortal Sins
Sins are called mortal sins if they fulfill three conditions:
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A seriously sinful matter or something we think is a seriously sinful matter.
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We know that it is a serious matter.
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We fully consent to do it.
I.
Mortal sins are indicated by the Sacred Scripture:
John 5: 17. "There is sin unto death."
Apocalypse 3: 1. "I know thy works: thou hast the name of being alive,
and thou artdead."
Galatians5:19-21. "Now the works of the flesh are manifest: which are
fornication,uncleanness, immodesty, luxury , idolatry, witchcrafts, enmities,
contentions,emulations, wraths, quarrels, dissensions, sects, envies, murders,
drunkenness,revellings, and such like. Of the which I foretell you, as I have
foretold to you,that they who do such things shall not obtain the kingdom of
God."
If aperson does not know something is a mortal sin, although he did it, it is a
faulty knowledge,he is not guilty of a mortal sin before God. However, it is a
mortal sinmaterially or objectively speaking, although formally speaking, it is
not. Formalmortal sin requires the person that he knows and fully consents to
it. But Godrequires the person to find out what the law requires. We have to
evaluateeverything in our lives to see if it complies with the law.
II. Certain sins are always mortal sins.
For example,
(1)sins against God: blasphemy, rejecting the gift of the Catholic Faith,apostasy, heresy, schism;
(2)all sins of impurity (adultery, fornication, masturbation, homosexual acts,
willfully takingpleasure in impure thoughts, coveting someone's spouse, etc.;
(3)certain other sins, e.g. willful murder, suicide, abortion, tubal ligations,
vasectomy (forbirth control reasons), artificial birth control.
III. Other sins can be venial or mortal depending on degree of seriousness of the act:
stealing, lying, anger, neglect of one's obligations.
IV. Common mortal sins:
1.Idolatry,both real idolatry and subtle idolatry such as pursuing
things of thisworld at the exclusion of the love and service of God.
2.Failureto pursue the knowledge, love and service of God [due to the
mode of life thatlives only for this world, only for comfort and pleasure of
this world] (Mark12: 30)
3.Livingonly for this world (100%) or primarily for this world (Luke 12:
19-20; James 4:4;Apocalypse 3: 15.)
4.Failureto seek the True Faith. If one suspects that the Catholic Faith
is a true faithand fails to do so is a mortal sin.
5.MissingSunday Masses.
6.Unnecessary work on Sundays and Holy Days of obligation when work is
unnecessary andwillfully habitual.
7.Shoppingon Sundays (if it is frequent and long hours).
8.Usurpingthe headship of the family without a good reason. (Husband
allows himself toact so irresponsibly and childishly that his wife must run the
family, wouldalso commit a mortal sin.) This comes from the primacy of husband
and father withrespect to his wife and children. (Ephesians 5: 22-23).
9.Suicide.
10.Artificialbirth control.
11.Abortion.
12.Tuballigation and vasectomy.
13.Adultery.
14.Fornication(sexual intercourse between unmarried heterosexual partners).
15.Incest.
16.Rape.
17.Concubinageor "living together" (Romans 13: 13-14, "not chambering").
18.Masturbation.
19.Homosexual acts.
20.Impurethoughts and desire.
21.Immodestyin dress (Matthew 5: 28)
Clothingshould tend to conceal rather than to reveal.
itshould not be transparent.
itshould cover the knees.
itshould cover the elbows.
avoidtight clothing.
necklineshould be less than 2 finger's width below the pit of the throat.
22.Prolongedkissing and holding hands if it arouses sexual desire.
23.Readingpornographic books and materials; watching pornographic movies
and TV shows.
24.Grandtheft harming the property of others.
25.Covetingother people's spouses.
26.Divorcewithout a good reason. Good reasons include one of the following:
oneside commits adultery;
dangerto one's life;
theother side prevents children from learning the Catholic Faith;
theother side prevents one to follow God.
27.Remarriageafter a divorce (even divorce with a good reason).
28.Wifeabuse.
29. Childabuse.
30.Childneglect.
31.Drunkenness.
32.Drugtaking
33.Wastingtime (doing nothing, watching TV too much, neglecting one's duty).
34.Profligacy.
35.Lackof charity or selfishness.
36.SacrilegiousCommunion.
37.Heresy.
38.Apostasy.Apostasy stems from 3 sources:
livingin mortal sins.
failureto study the faith.
failureto pray.
39.Agnosticismwhich says that God is unknowable to man or unknowable by man. (Psalms 14: 1)
40.Artificial insemination (test-tube fertilization, surrogate motherhood).
41.Euthanasia(mercy-killing).
V. Dogmas of the Church concerning the consequences of unconfessed mortal sins.
Pope Gregory X who chaired the Council of Lyons II in 1274declared ex-cathedra that:
"The souls ofthose who die in mortal sin or with original sin only, however,
immediatelydescend to hell, yet to be punished with different punishments."
(Denzinger,Sources of Catholic Dogma, 30th Edition, # 464, p. 184)
Pope John XXII in a letter "Nequaquam sine dolore" to theArmenians on
November 21, 1321repeated this declaration: "It (The Roman Church) teaches . . . that the souls. . . of those who die in mortal sin, or with only original sin descendimmediately into hell; however, to be punished with different penalties and indifferent places." (Denzinger, Op. Cit., 30th Edition, # 493a, p. 193)
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