Lesson Sixteen - Sin and the Sacrament of Penance

Text by Pat Austin, Transcribed to HTML by L. Robert Ochs. Errors by Satan.

Jesus taught that the "root of sin" is the heart of man. That is, in a person's free will -- choice.

There are two kinds of sin -- original and actual. We already covered Original Sin in connection with Adam and Eve, so these lessons deal with actual sin.

Definition of Actual Sin -- Any willful thought, word, action or omission against God's laws.

An action is either right or wrong. What determines right or wrong? Not society, not civil law, not presidents, not the Pope. Right and wrong depends on what God wants -- His will. An action is right if it is something that God wants us to do, wrong if it is something that God does not want us to do. References: Gal. 5:16-21, Rom. 1:18-32, 1Tim. 1:8-10.

Wrong actions can be classed in to Mortal Sin and Venial Sin. Scripture, 1Jn. 5:14, tells us this. Reference: Catechism page 222.

Venial sin (the word venial means forgiveness) -- never cuts a person off from God's Life - Sanctifying Grace. Venial sin can never add up to a mortal sin, however, it is still no small matter. Every venial sin lessens a little the love of God in our hearts and weakens our will to resist temptation. Small drops of water make up a river, tiny grains of sand make up a beach. The drops and grains are no small matter.

Mortal Sin -- Cuts us off from God's grace (Sanctifying Grace). If at the moment of death, the soul finds itself cut off from God's Grace it cannot enter heaven. This soul will enter Hell for all eternity. This soul (person) made a serious choice against God. Death "freezes" the soul forever in the condition that death "finds" the soul.

There are three conditions necessary for a sin to be mortal:

Material sin and formal sin

Material sin - an outward sin with no evil intention. An example would be to forget a Holy Day of Obligation resulting in missing Mass. To miss Mass is wrong but it was truly unintentional - therefore it is not a sin of guilt. Material sin does not have to be confessed.

Formal sin - you don't have to do anything wrong, but you commit a sin. Interior sin/evil intention. For example it is not a Holy Day of Obligation but you think it is a Holy day of Obligation and miss Mass. To miss Mass is a sin but it wasn't a Holy day but you thought it was. You are guilty because of intention. Formal sin always has to be confessed.

Don't be fooled by a good intention that needs evil means to be accomplished. To put it another way, the end never justifies the means.

Don't make the mistake of thinking that the outward action doesn't matter. To think, "Well, I've decided to do it. I might as well go ahead and do it." Wrong thinking. By doing it you add to the gravity of the sin, especially if it is harmful to another or involves another's purity.

Your intention in your mind and will determines the malice of a sin.

Fault versus sin

Everyone has faults - weaknesses in our character - they are more or less permanent flaws - the imperfections from Original Sin.

Sin is a transient action -- one shot deal which usually flows from our faults. Certain sins will be repeated by us

Certain sins will be repeated by us until we dig out of the fault(s) causing the sin(s)

We have seven principal faults/flaws/weaknesses which just about all sin can be traced back to. These are called the seven capital sins:

Therefore, when examining your conscience for confession, not only do we ask "what sin/how many times" but "why?" This attitude will help you to root out the cause of your sin; band-aid treatment isn't enough.

Chapter 29 and Chapter 30

Sacrament of Penance -- Penance is a Sacrament in which the priest, as the agent of God, forgives sins committed after baptism, when the sinner is heartily sorry for them, sincerely confesses them, and is willing to make satisfaction for them.

Jesus instituted the Sacrament of Penance Easter Sunday evening when Jesus appeared to the Apostles -- Jn. 20:19-23 ... Peace be with you.

Jesus gave the power to forgive sins to His Apostles not for just that time in history but for all time until the end of the world. Jesus didn't come just to save the people on Earth at His time, He came to save all souls.

This power is passed on from the Bishop to Priests through the Sacrament of Holy Orders. A priest never loses this power even if he is not a good priest or leaves the priesthood. A priest can never reveal a person's confession, give a hint, or a clue. A priest must give his life if necessary to maintain this secrecy. This secrecy is called the "seal of confession." Also the priest needs "jurisdiction" to hear confessions. Just as a civil judge cannot sit on the bench in another state without an appointment, neither can the priest spiritually judge without the permission of the Bishop of the Diocese.

Handout:

All actual sin (personal) may be venial (less serious) or mortal (serious). In all creation there is no evil so great as a venial sin, excepting only a mortal sin.

Mortal Sin - an actual sin that destroys sanctifying grace and causes the supernatural death of the soul. If we die in the state of mortal sin we enter eternal death (Hell). The terms modal, grave and serious, applied to sin, are synonyms.

Mortal sins include:
1. Receiving Holy Communion in the state of modal sin.
2. Deliberately missing Mass on Sundays or Holy Days of Obligation.
3. Abortion, or encouraging/condoning anyone to have an abortion.
4. Abuse of drugs or alcohol.
5. Sterilization or encouraging/condoning sterilization.
6. Sexual activity outside of marriage.
7. Contraception.
8. Masturbation.
9. Homosexual activity.
10. Stealing a significant amount of money/property from another person.

The Ten Commandments
     / Person
God      Name
     \ Day

     / Authority
     / Life
Neighbor      Act which transmits human life
     \ Property
     Truth

Fourth Commandment
Authority - the right to command the will of another. All authority comes from God. Jesus said to Pilate, You would have no authority were it not given you from above.” Parental, State and Church Authority are delegated by God. If I am commanded to do something wrong (contrary to the law of God), I do not obey. I follow the higher authority which is God. If someone does not respect God’s authority, then I do not respect their authority.

Fifth Commandment
The intentional taking of an innocent human life is always seriously wrong. (murder) Human life is sacred (“belongs to God”). “Traditional teaching of the Church has acknowledged as well-founded the right and duty of legitimate public authority to punish malefactors by means of penalties commensurate with the gravity of the crime, not excluding, in cases of extreme gravity the death penalty Catechism of the Catholic Church , paragraph 2266 Actions which may be taken in defense of life: Individual - Self-defense Society - Capital Punishment International - Just War

Seventh Commandment
God is the Absolute Owner of everything. He created it out of nothing. We are stewards of the gifts which God has entrusted to us. Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 2408: The seventh commandment forbids theft, that is, the usurping another’s property against the reasonable will of the owner. There is no theft if consent can be presumed or if refusal is contrary to reason and the universal destination of goods. This is the case in obvious and urgent necessity when the only way to provide for immediate. essential needs (food, shelter, clothing ...~ is to put at one’s disposal and use the property of another. God is the Absolute Owner of everything. He created it out of nothing. We are the stewards of the gifts God has entrusted to us.

Assignment: Continue Chapters 29, 30 and 31