<---September feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael.
From the beginning, humanity rejected God's love and lost all interest of being in communion with Him. Man chose to build a kingdom without God, and instead of worshipping the true God, they worshipped idols.The word has strong negative connotations. Maybe you associate sin with especially heinous crimes like rape. Maybe it calls to mind memories of a televangelist ranting about damnation. Or maybe you think the whole idea of sin is irrelevant.
Which perspective is true?
Whatever your take, our modern understanding of sin comes from the Bible.
The Bible describes sin as any thought or activity that goes against God's will. That covers obvious, awful crimes like murder—but it also covers the little ways that we hurt others in our everyday lives.
Even the holiest person you can think of messes up from time to time.
But there's more to sin than good old-fashioned bad behavior.
The Bible teaches us that sin is so ingrained in the human experience that it marks even our most beautiful accomplishments.
The Bible takes sin very seriously and also the Catholic Church. Unlike so many modern writers including theologians and philosophers, the authors of Sacred Scripture consider sin the only real evil in the world, and they measure all other suffering or misfortune in their relationship to sin.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church(CCC)says:
"Sin is an offense against reason, truth and right conscience; it is failure in genuine love for God and neighbor caused by a perverse attachment to certain goods. It wounds the nature of man and injures human solidarity.
It has been defined as "an utterance, a deed, or a desire contrary to the eternal law." (C.C.C. # 1849)
"Sin is an offense against God: "Against you, you alone, have I sinned, and done that which is evil in your sight."
All sin begins inside. Sin sets itself against God's love for us and turns our hearts away from it.
Like the first sin, it is disobedience, a revolt of satan and his angel against God through the will to become 'like gods, knowing and determining good and evil.
Sin is thus 'love of oneself even to contempt of God.
In this proud self- exaltation, sin is diametrically opposed to the obedience of Jesus, which achieves our salvation. (C.C.C. # 1850)
The sin of Adam and Eve is described in Genesis as an act of disobedience. Our first parents consciously placed themselves in opposition to God by violating his explicit precept.
Consequently, fear, shame, hate, violence, and death entered the world.
Humans are profoundly divided within themselves. Their individual and collective lives portray the dramatic battle between good and evil and light and darkness.
By taking a deeper look at the human heart and contemplating his/her life, we can see that they find themselves not only disposed toward evil but truly submerged within a multitude of evils. Mankind feels chained while evil triumphs.
God's love is revealed in creation, and it is also revealed in our salvation.
God is always faithful in all his words and show us his love constantly.
But... we cannot experience the love of God and the salvation in Jesus because sin separates and alienates us from God, the only fountain of life.
The Word of God affirms this: "They have forsaken me, the source of living waters; They have dug themselves cisterns, broken cisterns, that hold no water" Jer 2:13, "...all have sinned and are deprived of the glory of God Rrn 3:23.
There is a wall that separates us from God, and an impassable abyss that keeps us from the fountain of life. The result of this is death. "For the wage paid by sin is death." It is losing and missing the only true Life.
Man and woman scorned and rejected the tree of life and preferred the nourishment of the tree of knowledge. They did not want God's guidance and elected to walk alone with their own strengths and to build their own lives. They felt autonomous and rejected all dependence on God, believing themselves to be the only creator and author of their own destiny.
WHAT DOES THE WORD SIN MEAN?
A sin (also called peccancy) is an act that violates a known moral rule.
The term sin may also refer to the state of having committed such a violation.
Commonly, the moral code of conduct is decreed by a divine entity[citation needed], i.e. divine law.
Sin may also refer to refraining from action or simply desiring to act violation of a moral norm.
Fundamentally, sin is rebellion against, or resistance to, the direction of supreme authority, and enmity toward, avoidance of, or hatred of the good things.
Sin may also refer to something within human nature that has a proclivity to sin (see concupiscence).
Sin" is often used to mean an action that is prohibited or considered wrong.
In some religions (notably in Christianity), sin can refer not only to physical actions taken, but also to thoughts and internalized motivations and feelings.
Colloquially, any thought, word, or act considered immoral, selfish, shameful, harmful, or alienating might be termed "sinful".
An elementary concept of "sin" concerns acts and elements of mundane earthly living that one cannot take into transcendental living.
A more complex concept of "sin," elaborated from Catholicism, deals with a distinction between destructive (deadly) sins (mortal sin) and the merely dishonorable (harmful) sins of careless human living (venial sin) frequently tolerated by societies as a whole, or even encouraged by various cultures.
In that context, mortal sins (sacrilege, murder, mortal violence, devastating calumny, hatred) are said to have the dire consequence of mortal penalty, while sins of careless living (gluttony, casual or informal sexuality, constant play, inebriation, gambling) have been philosophically regarded by some as essential spice for "transcendent" living, even though these may be destructive in the context of human living (obesity, drunkenness, vagrancy, infidelity, child abandonment, criminal negligence).
Common ideas surrounding sin in various religions include:
Punishment for sins, from other people, from God either in life or in afterlife, or from the Universe in general.
The question of whether an act must be intentional to be sinful.
The idea that one's conscience should produce guilt for a conscious act of sin.
A scheme for determining the seriousness of the sin and the importance of responsibility.
Repentance from (expressing regret for and determining not to commit) sin, and atonement (repayment) for past deeds.
The possibility of forgiveness of sins, often through communication with a deity or intermediary; in Christianity often referred to as salvation.
Crime and justice are related secular concepts.
HOW MANY KIND OF SIN ARE THERE?
According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC), are divided into two categories: venial sins, in which guilt is relatively minor, and the more severe mortal sins.
WHAT IS A VENIAL SIN?
The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines a venial sin as follows:
"Venial sin allows charity to subsist, even though it offends and wounds it." (To "subsist" means to "exist.")
"Venial sin constitutes a moral disorder that is reparable by charity, which it allows to subsist in us."
"One commits venial sin when, in a less serious matter, he does not observe the standard prescribed by the moral law, or when he disobeys the moral law in a grave matter, but without full knowledge or without complete consent."
"Venial sin weakens charity; it manifests a disordered affection for created goods; it impedes the soul's progress in the exercise of the virtues and the practice of the moral good; it merits temporal punishment.
Deliberate and unrepented venial sin disposes us little by little to commit mortal sin.
However venial sin does not set us in direct opposition to the will and friendship of God; it does not break the covenant with God.
With God's grace it is humanly reparable.
'Venial sin does not deprive the sinner of sanctifying grace, friendship with God, charity, and consequently eternal happiness.'" (C.C.C. # 1863)
A venial sin meets at least one of the following criteria:
1.It does not concern a "grave matter",
2.It is not committed with full knowledge, or
3.It is not committed with both deliberate and complete consent.
As the above criteria are the three criteria for mortal sin stated negatively, a sin which met none of these extenuating conditions would necessarily be considered mortal.
Each venial sin that one commits adds to the penance that one must do. Penance left undone during life converts to punishment in purgatory. A venial sin can be left unconfessed, though (so long as there is some purpose of amendment) it is helpful to confess, for one receives from the sacrament grace to help overcome it.
According to the Magisterium, venial sins usually remain venial no matter how many one commits.
They cannot "add up" to collectively constitute a mortal sin, but their accumulation does lead to mortal sin.
There are cases where repeat offenses may become a grave matter.
For instance, if one were to steal small amounts of property from a particular person, over time one would have stolen enough that it would become a serious theft from that person.
Furthermore, the Magisterium clearly expresses that deliberate and unrepented venial sin can lead to eternal loss.
In all this, one ought not to take venial sin lightly, especially when committed deliberately.
No one without a special grace (according to the Magisterium, given only to the Blessed Virgin Mary.) can avoid even semi-deliberate venial sins entirely (according to the definition of Trent).
But one must, even to avoid mortal sins, seek as far as possible to overcome venial sin.
The Magisterium teaches that although a number of venial sins do not themselves add up to a mortal sin, each venial sin weakens the will further, and the more willing one becomes in allowing such falls, the more one is inclined towards, and will inevitably fall into (if one continues along this path), mortal sin.
WHAT IS A MORTAL SIN?
In the theology of some Christian denominations, a mortal sin is wrongful act that condemns a person to Hell after death.
These sins are considered "mortal" because they constitute a rupture in a person's link to God's saving grace: the person's soul becomes "dead", not merely weakened. The phrase is used in First John 5.16-17.
Roman Catholicism. In Roman Catholic moral theology, a mortal sin, as distinct from a venial sin, must meet all of the following conditions:
1. Its subject must be a grave (or serious) matter.
2. It must be committed with full knowledge, both of the sin and of the gravity of the offense (no one is considered ignorant of the principles of the moral law, which are inborn as part of human knowledge, but these principles can be misunderstood in a particular context).
3. It must be committed with deliberate and complete consent,[full consent means to do it "voluntarily."] enough for it to have been a personal decision to commit the sin.
For a sin to be mortal, three conditions must exist at the same time.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines grave matter as:
Grave matter is specified by the Ten Commandments, corresponding to the answer of Jesus to the rich young man:
"Do not kill,
Do not commit adultery,
Do not steal,
Do not bear false witness,
Do not defraud,
Honor your father and your mother."
The gravity of sins is more or less great: murder is graver than theft.
One must also take into account who is wronged: violence against parents is in itself graver than violence against a stranger.
This would also include:
worshiping other gods,
not respecting the Sunday,(not to attend Mass on Sunday)
covetous behaviour;
and the Catechism quotes the Biblical prohibition against blasphemy.
The Church itself does not provide a precise list of sins, subdivided into the mortal and venial categories.
However, many sins are described as "grave sins" or "grave offenses" in the Catechism such as extramarital sex, divorce and masturbation.
These sins must be specifically confessed and named, giving details about the context of each sin: what sin, why, against what or whom, the number and type of occurrences, and any other factors that may exacerbate or lessen one's responsibility and culpability that the person confessing remembers.
Roman Catholic belief holds that mortal sin can vary somewhat in seriousness, and thus canon law only lists some of those that are more serious.
Some acts cause automatic excommunication by the very deed itself e.g. renunciation of faith and religion, known as apostasy, a person who desecrates the Eucharist and "a person who procures a completed abortion".
The eternal punishment due to the sinner is not the same as that resulting from excommunication or penalties like it, which result when a Catholic commits certain mortal sins that are so serious that the Church through law has made them crimes, like abortion or heresy.
Because commission of these offenses is so serious, the Church forbids the excommunicated from receiving any sacrament (not just the Eucharist) and also severely restricts the person's participation in other Church liturgical acts and offices.
However, even if excommunicated, a Catholic who has not been juridically absolved is still, due to the irrevocable nature of baptism, a member of the Church in the sense that they are still considered members of Catholic Church, albeit their communion with the Christ and the Church is gravely impaired.
Some of these crimes are so serious that they merit not imposed, but automatic, excommunication from the Catholic Church.
Mortal sins are not to be confused with the deadly sins.
The latter are not sins but rather categories of sin or vice, corresponding to weaknesses in human nature.
Mortal sins may also be called "grave", "eternal", "grievous" or "serious" sins.
The Roman Catholic teaching on mortal sin was called into question by some within the Church in the late 20th century after the Second Vatican Council.
In response to these doubts, Pope John Paul II reaffirmed the basic teaching in his encyclical Veritatis Splendor.
It is also maintained in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which states: "Immediately after death the souls of those who die in a state of mortal sin descend into hell.".
However, the Catechism does not say that there is actually anyone in Hell, although it does say that "...our freedom has the power to make choices for ever, with no turning back."
Most significantly, the Catechism also proclaims that "There are no limits to the mercy of God...." and that "...although we can judge that an act is in itself a grave offence, we must entrust judgment of persons to the justice and mercy of God."
A LARGE LIST OF SINS
Evil has progressed more and more after man's initial sin. The sin of the world generates multiple and serious consequences in all areas.
And according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church;
"There are a great many kinds of sins. Scripture provides several lists of them. The Letter to the Galatians contrasts the works of the flesh with the fruit of the Spirit: 'Now the works of the flesh are plain:
fornication,
impurity,
licentiousness,
idolatry,
sorcery,
enmity,
strife,
jealousy,
anger,
selfishness,
dissension,
factions,
envy,
drunkenness,
carousing, and the like.
I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God.'" (C.C.C. # 1852)
Other lists are:
blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven." [Lk. 12:10]"Do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the Kingdom of God?
Do not be deceived!
Fornicators,
idolaters,
adulterers,
violents,
male and female prostitutes,
sodomite prostitutions,
thieves,
the greedy,
drunkards,
revilers,
robbers - none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God." [1 Cor. 6:9-10]
"And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven:
but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven." [Lk. 12:10]
"Those who conquer will inherit these things, and I will be their God and they will be my children.
But as for the cowardly,
the faithless,
the polluted,
the murderers,
the fornicators,
the sorcerers,
the idolaters,
and all liars, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death." [Rev. 21:7-8]
"Outside (of the Kingdom of God) are the dogs and sorcerers and fornicators and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood." [Rev. 22:15]
"If anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away that person's share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book." [Rev. 22:19]
"Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be answerable for the body and blood of the Lord.
Examine yourselves, and only then eat of the bread and drink of the cup.
For all who eat and drink without discerning the body, eat and drink judgment against themselves.
For this reason many of you are weak and ill, and some have died." [1 Cor. 11:27-30]
"Sins can be distinguished according to their objects, as can every human act; or according to the virtues they oppose, by excess or defect; or according to the commandments they violate.
They can also be classed according to whether they concern God, neighbor, or oneself; they can be divided into spiritual and carnal sins, or again as sins in thought, word, deed, or omission.
The root of sin is in the heart of man, in his free will, according to the teaching of the Lord: "For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander.
These are what defile a man." But in the heart also resides charity, the source of the good and pure works, which sin wounds." (C.C.C. # 1853)
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A MORTAL SIN AND A VENIAL SIN?
"When the will sets itself upon something that is of its nature incompatible with the charity that orients man toward his ultimate end, then the sin is mortal by its very object...
whether it contradicts the love of God, such as blasphemy or perjury, or he love of neighbour, such as homicide or adultery...
But when the sinner's will is set upon something that of its nature involves a disorder, but is not opposed to the love of God and neighbour, such as thoughtless chatter or immoderate laughter and the like, such sins are venial." (C.C.C. # 1856)
WHAT IS A BLASPHEMY AGAINST THE HOLY SPIRIT?
Jesus mentions a sin that is unforgivable in Matt. 12:31-32 and calls it blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. But what exactly is this unforgivable sin? For that, we need to look at the context:
The Pharisees - who knew that Jesus' miracles validated His words and ministry (see John 11:45-48) - were attempting to discredit Jesus' Messiahship by saying that His works were by the devil and not by the Holy Spirit.
Therefore, when the Pharisees accused Jesus of casting out demons by the power of Satan, they were blaspheming the Holy Spirit by whom Jesus performed His miracles.
This is unforgivable because it struck at the very heart of the redemptive work of God in Christ.
It struck at the very nature of Jesus' ministry of redemption, testimony, and teaching.
Jesus was ministering in the power of the Holy Spirit Himself, fulfilling the divine plan of God to provide a sacrifice for our sins (John 3:16; 1 John 4:10).
The Pharisees were attributing this to demonic activity. This is a great blasphemy.
On this subject, it can be said that,
"Whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin."
Blasphemy against the Spirit: The saying about blasphemy against the Spirit has long presented difficulty, particularly in Catholic theology, which affirms the possibility of repentance up to the moment of death.
This teaching is solidly founded in the NT, and this saying of Jesus cannot be understood in a way that contradicts his invitations to repentance.
Refusal to recognize the Son of Man as Messiah can be forgiven; faith atones for previous denial of faith.
This Messianic claim is missing in Mk.
Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, however, attributes the activity of the Spirit to some other power.
The present activity of God can be attested only through the actions of the Spirit.
If these are not recognized, then there is no means by which God can reach man. The one who will not accept the work of the Spirit has made it impossible for himself to recognize the word and the work of God.
Only he can be forgiven who confesses that he has something to be forgiven."
In conclusion:
The blasphemy consists first part , not to accept the salvation of God, given by the Holy Spirit using the repentance and sincere confession of sins.
And second, do not accept change of life, follow in the wrong path, and do not accepts the convertion.
There are no limits to the mercy of God, but anyone who deliberately refuses to accept his mercy by repenting, rejects the forgiveness of his sins and the salvation offered by the Holy Spirit.
Such hardness of heart can lead to final impenitence and eternal loss." (C.C.C. # 1864)
SEVEN DEADLY SINS
The 7 Deadly Sins, also known as the Capital Vices or Cardinal Sins, is a classification of objectionable vices that have been used since early Christian times to educate and instruct followers concerning fallen humanity's tendency to sin.
The currently recognized version of the list is usually given as:
wrath, avarice, sloth, pride, lust, envy, and gluttony.
The Deadly Sins do not belong to an additional category of sin.
Rather, they are the sins that are seen as the origin ("capital" comes from the Latin caput, head) of the other sins.
A "deadly sin" can be either venial or mortal, depending on the situation; but "they are called 'capital' because they engender other sins, other vices."
Beginning in the early 14th century, the popularity of the seven deadly sins as a theme among European artists of the time eventually helped to ingrain them in many areas of Catholic culture and Catholic consciousness in general throughout the world.
One means of such ingraining was the creation of the mnemonic "SALIGIA" based on the first letters in Latin of the seven deadly sins: superbia, avaritia, luxuria, invidia, gula, ira, acedia.
PRIDE;
is excessive belief in one's own abilities, that interferes with the individual's recognition of the grace of God. This is the unwillingness to look at one's faults. It has been called the sin from which all others arise. Pride is also known as Vanity, and is often euphemistically called, 'self respect.'
Proverbs 16:18
"Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall."
This is the root cause of many other sins. The Godly virtue which this transgression wars against is Christian humility and a contrite spirit (Matthew. 5:5, Proverbs 16:19), where man has a spiritual aversion to being subject to God or His laws.
It is a hindrance to the Christian's recognition of the Sovereignty and Grace of God.
To combat this sin, we should strive to see ourselves as the sinners that we really are, and not to compare ourselves to others, that we might appear to ourselves better or more righteous.
ENVY;
is the desire for others' traits, status, abilities, or situation.
This sin is that of jealousy or perverted love because it is the love and desire to own what belongs to someone else (exodus 20:17).
This transgression is the discontentment over another's superiority over us in possessions or some good fortune. Envy is the resentment of the good others will or have received.
Matthew 27:17
"Therefore when they were gathered together, Pilate said unto them, Whom will ye that I release unto you? Barabbas, or Jesus which is called Christ?
For he knew that for envy they had delivered him."
Proverbs 23:17
"Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the LORD all the day long."
The Godly virtue which this sin wars against is Christian contentment (Hebrews 13:5, Philippians 4:11) and true loving of our neighbor as ourselves.
We combat this sin by being noble and honestly joy over our neighbor's good fortune, as if it were our own. That is loving our neighbor as ourselves (James 2:8) and being meek in spirit.
GLUTTONY;
is an inordinate desire to consume more than that which one requires.
This sin manifested in someone who indulges himself excessively in eating or drinking.
Proverbs 23:21
Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh:
For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags."
The Godly virtue which this sin wars against is Christian moderation (Philippians 4:5) and sound judgment.
We can combat the sin of gluttony by temperance in accepting the natural limits of pleasures and by praying for strength to reduce our desire to eat.
We should learn to quit eating before we are feeling stuffed or full.
LUST;
is an inordinate craving for the pleasures of the body.
This is the sin of having an inordinate and intense longing or appetite for something such as money, or sexual cravings.
It is often manifested in a self-destructive drive for some pleasure regardless of it's value, merit, or legality.
Matthew 5:28
"But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart."
1st John 2:16
"For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world."
The Godly virtue which this sin wars against is Christian self control.
The Spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak (Galatians 6:7-8, 1st Corinthians 9:27), and so to combat this sin we should seek to remove from our realm or sight all temptations or snares which we might fall into because of our weakness.
Pray a lot to the Holy Virgin Mary, which is the pure image of Sanctity.
ANGER;
is manifested in the individual who spurns love and opts instead for fury. It is also known as Wrath.
This is the transgression of anger or strong exasperation in rage at something or someone. It is often the result of our impatience or of having our pride hurt.
James 1:20
"For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God."
Colossians 3:8
"But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth."
The Godly virtue which this sin wars against is Christian Love and patience (Hosea 14:4, Luke 6:36) in dealing with the faults of others.
We combat this sin by reigning in the passion of the flesh, not neglecting charity and love, and being patient where we show kindness and compassion to others, forgiving their transgressions seven times seventy.
AVARICE;
is the desire for material wealth or gain, ignoring the realm of the spiritual. It is also called Avarice or Covetousness.
This is simply Greed. This sin is the inordinate love of possessions and desire for either material wealth, or to gain more than one needs.
Proverbs 15:27
"He that is greedy of gain troubleth his own house; but he that hateth gifts shall live."
The Godly virtue which this sin wars against is Christian charity (Matthew 10:21, Acts 20:35), and usually ignores the spiritual in favor of the temporal.
To combat this sin we should seek to understand that generosity means sacrifice, and letting others to receive credit or praise.
To give wanting nothing in return, is the true charity which combats greed.
SLOTH;
is the avoidance of physical or spiritual work.
This sin is the inclination to being lazy or to abhor the work ethic.
Man is to provide for himself and his household, and being idle is a contradiction to this command of God.
Proverbs 19:15
"Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep; and an idle soul shall suffer hunger."
Ecclesiastes 10:18
"By much slothfulness the building decayeth; and through idleness of the hands the house dropper through."
The Godly virtue which this sin wars against is Christian zeal and Work (1st Corinthians 15:58, 2nd Timothy 4:5) ethic.
We can combat this sin by repentance and in praying to God for an ardent and energetic interest or desire to respond to God's commands against our disdain for physical exertion.
summing up:
And so we see from the scriptures that these so called "seven deadly sins" are simply a small part of an extensive collection of sins or transgressions of God's law, the breaking of any of which will cause death.
1st Corinthians 15:56-57
"The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."
The true Christian who has been born from above need not fear any of the myriad of sins, all of which will bring the wages of death, for we have the victory over them through our Lord Christ Jesus.
God gave the ten commandments encapsulating the 'whole law' not the seven deadly sins.
And the true believer should understand that unless Christ has been the propitiation for all of our sins from the least to the greatest, then we will see death as the wages of such sins.
But if Christ has washed all our sins away, then no sin is deadly to us.
Romans 8:1
"There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit."
DOES THAT MEAN THAT THOSE WHO COMMIT MORTAL SIN WILL NEVER GO TO HEAVEN?
All mortal sins can be forgiven. With a conversion of heart through the Sacrament of Confession, the sinner can seek God's mercy and reinstate the state of grace that was previously obtained through the Sacrament of Baptism.
To be denied entry into the Kingdom of God, the sinner must:
1. Commit one or more sins of a grave matter;
2. Have full knowledge that the sin(s) is a mortal sin;
3. Voluntarily consent to commit the sin;
4. Reject the grace of God;
5. Reject the mercy of God by refusing to confess his sins through the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
A LIST OF MORTAL SINS
Abortion,
Anger,
Adultery,
Amending the words of the Holy Bible,
Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, (Eternal sin)
Carousing,
Cowards,
Defrauders,
Dissensions,
Disrespect towards parents,
Drunkenness,
Enmities,
Envy,
Factions,
Opposing to religion,
Faithless,
False witness (liars)
Fornicators,
Greed,
Holy Communion received while in a state of mortal sin,
Idolatry,
Impurity,
Jealousy,
Licentiousness,
Practice of falsehoods,
Male and female prostitution,
Murderers,
Polluted.
VATICAN ADDS SEVEN NEW DEADLY SINS INCLUDING DAMAGING ENVIRONMENT AND DRUG DEALING
ROME — Drug pushers, the obscenely rich, environmental polluters and “manipulative” genetic scientists beware — you may be in danger of losing your mortal soul unless you repent!
Says a newspaper warning about the new 7 deadly sins. And that is very true!
After 1,500 years the Vatican has brought the seven deadly sins up to date by adding seven new ones for the age of globalization.
The list, published yesterday in L’Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper, came as the Pope deplored the “decreasing sense of sin” in today’s “secularized world” and the falling numbers of Roman Catholics going to confession.
The new deadly sins include polluting, genetic engineering, being obscenely rich, drug dealing, abortion, pedophilia and causing social injustice.
The Catholic Church divides sins into venial, or less serious, sins and mortal sins, which threaten the soul with eternal damnation unless absolved before death through confession and penitence.
It holds mortal sins to be “grave violations of the Ten Commandments and the Beatitudes,” including murder, contraception, abortion, perjury, adultery and lust.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that "immediately after death the souls of those who die in a state of mortal sin descend into Hell."
Although there is no definitive list of mortal sins, many believers accept the broad seven deadly sins or capital vices laid down in the 6th century by Pope Gregory the Great and popularized in the Middle Ages by Dante in "The Inferno": lust, gluttony, avarice, sloth, anger, envy and pride.
Christians are exhorted instead to adhere to the seven holy virtues:
chastity, abstinence, temperance, diligence, patience, kindness and humility.
But Girotti also bemoaned that fewer and fewer Catholics go to confession at all.
He pointed to a study by Milan's Catholic University that showed that up to 60 percent of Catholic faithful in Italy stopped going to confession.
In the sacrament of Penance, Catholics confess their sins to a priest who absolves them in God's name.
But the same study by the Catholic University showed that 30 percent of Italian Catholics believed that there was no need for a priest to be God's intermediary and 20 percent felt uncomfortable talking about their sins to another person.
He said that priests must take account of "new sins which have appeared on the horizon of humanity as a corollary of the unstoppable process of globalization."
Whereas sin in the past was thought of as being an individual matter, it now has “social resonance.
“You offend God not only by stealing, blaspheming or coveting your neighbor’s wife, but also by ruining the environment, carrying out morally debatable scientific experiments, or allowing genetic manipulations which alter DNA or compromise embryos,” he said.
Bishop Girotti said that mortal sins also included taking or dealing in drugs, and social injustice which caused poverty or “the excessive accumulation of wealth by a few.”
He said that two mortal sins which continued to preoccupy the Vatican were abortion, which offended “the dignity and rights of women,” and pedophilia, which had even infected the clergy itself and so had exposed the “human and institutional fragility of the Church.”
The Vatican opposes stem cell research that involves destruction of embryos and has warned against the prospect of human cloning.
Girotti, in an interview headlined "New Forms of Social Sin," also listed "ecological" offences as modern evils.
In recent months, Pope Benedict has made several strong appeals for the protection of the environment, saying issues such as climate change had become gravely important for the entire human race.
The mass media had “blown up” the issue "to discredit the Church," but the Church itself was taking steps to deal with it, according to the Bishop Girotti.
Addressing the Apostolic Penitentiary seminar, the Pope said there was “a certain disaffection” with confession among the faithful.
Priests had to show “divine tenderness for penitent sinners” and admit their own failings.
“Those who trust in themselves and in their own merits are, as it were, blinded by their own ‘I’, and their hearts harden in sin.
Those who recognize themselves as weak and sinful entrust themselves to God, and from Him obtain grace and forgiveness.”
The Pope also complained that an increasing number of people in the secularized West were “making do without God.”
He said that hedonism and consumerism had even invaded “the bosom of the Church itself, deeply undermining the Christian faith from within, and undermining the lifestyle and daily behavior of believers.”
Eastern Catholics do not recognize the same distinction between mortal and venial sins as the Western or Latin Church does, nor do they believe that those people who die in a state of sin are condemned to automatic damnation.
The new seven deadly sins are:
1° Genetic engineering, allowing genetic manipulations which alter DNA or compromise embryos.
2° Taking drugs or being drug dealer.
3° Social injustice which caused poverty.
4° Being obscenely rich, the excessive accumulation of wealth by a few.
5° Abortion and Pedophilia.
6° Contribute to widening the social gap between rich and poor.
7° Destroy an ruining the environment, including the maker polluting.
SINS THAT CRY OUT TO HEAVEN
Is a group of sins in Catholic doctrine that cuts across mortal sins and venial sins. All of them are exemplified by a biblical sin:
1° Willful murder – Cain's murder of his brother. – Genesis 4:1-16
2° Impure sins against the order of nature. - Genesis 19:5
3° The cry of the oppressed and exploited people, as in the ancient Egypt. - [Ex. 3:7-10]
4° Oppression of the poor especially widows, orphans and strangers for which the Catechism of the Catholic Church cites. - Exodus 22:20–23.
5° Defrauding, retention and unjust exploitation of the worker and their wages. – based on Deut 24:14–15
6° The deliberate murder.
7° Sexual exploitation of children and youth.
8° Child pornography.
9° The trafficking of babies and children.
10° The drug trade: marijuana, heroin, crack and all kinds of drugs and alcohol with their disastrous consequences on people and especially young people.
Thus sin makes men accomplices of one another, reigns among them lust, violence, evil and injustice.
The sins cause social situations and institutions that are contrary to divine goodness.
The "structures of sin" are the expression and effect of personal sins.
Induce their victims to do evil.
In an analogous sense constitute a "social sin."
IMPURITY IS A GRAVE SIN AND AN ABOMINATION BEFORE GOD´S EYES.
You shall not commit impure acts, and not allow impure thoughts or desires:
The Sixth and Ninth Commandments.
These two commandments prohibid the adultery and everything what is opposite to the virtue of the chastity.
The sixth one prohibits:
1) any exterior act of impurity: speeches, looks, touching and other dishonest actions
2) the occasions that they induce to the impurity: bad companies, very free and familiar entertainments between persons of different sex, lewd dances, indecent fashions, pictures, obscene statues, spectacles, songs; newspapers, newspaper serials, books, licentious and futile romances, etc.
The ninth one prohibits:
the interior sins, that is to say, the thoughts and the desires opposite to the purity.
Any sin of impurity is mortal since there is in it full consent. The consequences of the impurity are: the relapsing, the bad habits, the sacrileges caused by the shame to confess this vice, the scandals and a multitude of other sins, as the incredulity, the hardening and the final impenitence.
The immodest one is punished often in this life with the loss of his honor, of his goods, of his health and with premature death; after the death, with the eternal fire.
To this sin, says San Alfonso of Ligorio:
there must attribute their condemnation most of the condemned (cf. F. X. Schouppe S.J., « Brief course of religion », Paris - Mexico, 1906, pp. 399-400).
The sixth commandment prohibits us any action, any look, any conversation opposite to the chastity, and the infidelity in the marriage.
The ninth commandment prohibits expressly any desire opposite to the allegiance that the spouses have pledged themselves on having married, and also it prohibits any thought or guilty desire of actions prohibited in the sixth order.
Impurity is a grave sin and an abomination before God and men debase him to the condition of brutes, drags him to many other sins and vices, and brings the most terrible punishment in this life and in the other.
The thoughts that come to mind against purity, by themselves are not sins, but sinful temptations and incentives.
Bad thoughts, although ineffective, is sin when we rise to them guiltily, acquiesced in or approaching danger we are exposed to consent to them.
The sixth commandment orders us to be chaste and modest in the actions, in the looks, in our conduct and in the words. The ninth commandment orders us to be chaste and pure even in the interior thing, to knowing: in the mind and in the heart.
To observe the sixth and ninth commandments we must to pray often and with heart to God, to be devoted to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of purity, remember that God sees us, thinking about death, in the divine punishments, in the Passion Jesus Christ, restrain our senses, to practice mortification and often receives with the proper dispositions the holy sacraments.
To keeping chaste we must flee of life of idleness, the bad companies, the reading of books and bad newspapers, the intemperance (to be moderate), to look at indecent pictures, the licentious spectacles, the dangerous conversations and all other occasions to sin (Major Catechism of St. Píous X, Ed. Spanish teaching, Vitoria, 1973, pp. 59-60).
GOD’S GOODNESS AND THE DISRESPECT OF HUMAN BEING
God being the greatest goodness, hath the greatest mildness; mildness is always the companion of true goodness, and the greater the goodness, the greater the mildness. Who so holy as Christ, and who so meek? God's slowness to anger is a branch of His mercy: "the Lord is full of compassion, slow to anger" (Ps. 145:8).
It is defined the divine patience as that power of control which God exercises over Himself, causing Him to bear with the wicked and forebear so long in punishing them. Nahum 1:3 reads, "The Lord is slow to anger and great in power,"
Stephen Charnock gives a number of points as to how "man contemns" (treats with disrespect) the goodness of God.
1. We abused His goodness in Adam, when man was first created. Man preferred to believe Satan, to act autonomously, to distrust his Maker.
Man wanted to become like God! (Genesis 3).
Original sin is no fable: its effects are still with us!
2. Since God is definitely good, to abuse His goodness is the height of folly and ingratitude. The abuse and contempt of divine goodness is base and wicked, because God is the highest goodness, pure goodness that cannot have anything in him worthy of our contempt. Such a Proprietor and Benefactor should be adored, worshipped and loved supremely.
3. God considers all human´s contempt towards his goodness as a heinous sin.
He never rebukes men with anything but with the abuse of the good things he has granted them, and the mindfulness of the duties arising from such bountifulness (1 Samuel 2:28; 2 Samuel 12:7-9).
4. We abuse His goodness and despise it when we forget it or act as if it isn't there. Or else we choose to enjoy the mercies, and forget the Giver. The Israelites "forgot God their Saviour, which hath done great things in Egypt" (Psalm 106:21).
Pastorally, it should be pointed out that we cannot think of meeting Christ as Saviour and yet disregard His Lordship over us?
5. His goodness is lightly considered when we murmur, grumble and act impatiently.
It is amazing how many Christians are discontent, depressive, and have yet to open their eyes to see the bounty of God around and in them.
6. We disrespect His goodness when we continue in unbelief and lack of repentance. His goodness is meant to lead us to repentance (Romans 2:4).
This thought is to be used much in our outreach to a lost world, who receives from God rain and sunshine and fruitful seasons (Acts 14:17).
7. We treat God's goodness lightly when we distrust His wise and powerful providence.
The Israelites thought their miraculous deliverance from Egypt, and the placing them in security in the wilderness was intended only to slaughter them (Numbers 14:3).
Do we have the same disposition of interpreting God's goodness as cruelty to us?!
Are we learning to cast our care upon Him? (1 Peter 5:7).
8. Man contemns God's goodness when proper duties are laid aside and left undone.
It was a crime of a good prophet in his passion: "This evil is of the Lord, why should I wait on the Lord any longer?" (2 Kings 6:33).
Another complaint is heard elsewhere: "Ye have said, It is vain to serve God; and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinances?" (Malachi 3:14).
Whenever we don't pray, become slack in our duties, and disregard the ways of the Lord, then professed Christians are counting God's goodness to them as cheap.
9. The goodness of God is thought of lightly when we rely upon our services to procure God's good will to us; when we think that fasting and vows and promises from our side somehow will render God of a better disposition to us, whereas in real fact God is always good to us.
Sometimes, indeed, vows may proceed from a sole desire to engage ourselves to God, binding ourselves to God by something more sacred and inviolable than a common resolution. But we must be care lest we fall into the Romanist trap of "supererogatory works."
Our fellow-Christians, to whom we minister, must be warned of this possibility, lest we think that our goodness extends to God.
10. The goodness of God is abused when we give up our souls and affections to those benefits we have from God, to such an extent that we forget the Giver, and be turned to lovers of self rather than lovers of God.
Gifts properly received are meant to cultivate in us a greater appreciation of the Giver. They are not end in themselves.
11. Finally, God's benevolence is mocked when we sin more freely on account of that goodness from above, and employ God's benefits to satisfy our own lusts. "According to the multitude of his fruit, he hath increased the altars; according to the goodness of his land, they have made goodly images" (Hosea 10:1).
God's grace is never to be turned as an excuse for riotous living; we are made free to serve Him (Romans 6:1ff.).
God is slow to anger because great in power. He has no less power over Himself than over His creatures.
The God of patience" (Ro 15:5) is one of the divine titles. Deity is thus denominated, first, because God is both the author and object of the grace of patience in the creature.
Second, because this what He is in Himself: patience is one of His perfections. Third, as a pattern for us: "Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercy, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering" (Col. 3:12).
Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect" (Mathew 5:48). In the immediate context Christ exhorts us to love our enemies, bless them that curse us, do good to them that hate us. God bears long with the wicked notwithstanding the multitude of their sin.
How wondrous God's patience is with the world today. On every side people are sinning with a high hand. The divine law is trampled under foot and God Himself openly despised.
Why does He not cause the earth to open and devour the persecutors of His people, so that, like Dathan and Abiran, they shall go down alive into the pit?
And what of apostate christendom?
Why does not the righteous wrath of heaven make an end of such abominations?
Only one answer is possible: because God bears with "much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction."
IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE SHOULD I KNOW ABOUT SIN?
Because of the complexity involved in determining the state of one's soul, it is recommended that those seeking further information should contact their local priest.
On a one-to-one contact, a local priest would be in a better position to determine the status of one's soul by identifying:
1. If the person sincerely seeks repentance;
2. The last time one received the Sacrament of Confession;
3. If you know the nature of the sin committed;
4. How many times it was committed;
5. If the person had full knowledge of the severity of the sin;
6. If the person voluntarily consented to the sin;
7. If the person assisted others to sin;
8. If the person by advised someone to sin;
9. If the person commanded someone to sin;
10. If the person provoked someone to sin;
11. If the person consented to someone's sin;
12. If the person showed someone how to sin;
13. If the person praised someone for his sin;
14. If the person concealed, remained silent or did nothing to prevent someone's sin;
15. If the person took part in or enjoyed the result of someone's sin;
16. If the person defended someone's sin.
THE PATIENCE, GOODNESS AND MERCY OF GOD TOWARDS HUMAN BEING
Slowness to anger, or admirable patience, is a characteristic of the divine nature. God is willing to defer due punishment; He keeps back from pouring forth His wrath upon sinful creatures.
Patience denotes a moderation of His provoked justice, His forbearance to revenge immediately the injuries He daily meets with in such a rebellious world.
He restrains His arm in punishing sinners according to their merits, as is seen clearly in His providential works in the world: "He suffered the nations to walk in their own way," while giving them witness of His providence towards them, "giving them rain and fruitful seasons, filling their heart with food and gladness" (Acts 14:17).
In this light, patience, goodness and mercy are closely related to each other, though they are not strictly synonymous.
Patience is a part of the divine goodness and mercy, yet is different from both. Mildness and meekness is the constant companion of goodness.
God's slowness to anger is a branch from his mercy: "The Lord is full of compassion, slow to anger" (Psalms 145:8).
The objects of God's goodness, then, is the whole creation, more extensive than that of patience. Goodness brings forth into creation, and supports every creature, while patience view man, particularly, as already created and fallen short of his duty.
Had not sin entered, there would be no occasion for patience to be exercised; but from the beginning goodness was evident.
The patience of God, being a branch of mercy, is founded in the death of Christ in its exercise.
In mercy, God comes to man who is miserable and obnoxious.
In patience, God considers him as sinful and provoking to punishment, but withholds that same punishment for a season.
In goodness, God views the whole creation as coming from His hand, pronounces it good, and in continuing to care for it, evidences His goodness.
THE LOVE OF GOD, HIS GOODNESS AND HIS MERCY ARE BOUNDLESS.
May God is infinitely good and merciful means that he forgives all sinners truly repented.
No matter how terrible and severe was the sin or sins, everything disappears in the infinite goodness of my Mercy. Merciful Jesus said.
That is, God forgives any sin or sins immediately when we truly repent, ask forgiveness and we make the firm intention of confessing as soon as possible.
"As surely as I live, word of Yahweh (God), I do not want the death of the sinner, but to give up your evil ways and live" (Ezekiel 33, 11).
God shows us his mercy in the way he looks for to the sinner, either through benefits or suffering.
He also shows his willingness to always forgive, no matter the severity or frequency of sin or the sins more heinous and unimaginable, requiring only the repentance of them (cf. Ps 50, 18-19).
Also in the Scriptures we see the many ways God shows his mercy to the sinner:
As the Good Shepherd who looks for the lost sheep until he finds it (cf. Lk. 15, 4-7).
God sent the prophet Nathan to David to reprimand him and to repent of their sins (cf. 2 Sam. 1-14 and Psalm 50).
Jesus looks for to the Samaritan woman (cf. Jn. 4, 1-30).
The prodigal son being dropped in calamities and destitute to return home (cf. 15, 11-32).
He defends the adulterous woman (cf. Jn. 8, 1-11).
He received with compassion to the sinful woman (cf. Lk. 7, 36-47).
He forgave to the good thief, repentant and crucified with him (cf. Lk. 23, 39-43).
On this case we say that God can forgive a sinner at the end of his life if he is truly repentant.
But every spiritual authors advise against leaving the repentance for the end of life of a person, as it is may fall in the hardness of heart, pride and arrogance and even to say do not need anything or anyone.
With respect to the repentant thief, this is unique case in Scripture.
Looking at other examples of repentance, they are not at the last moment of life of sinners.
As shown by these samples of sins and sinners of the Holy Scripture, God is willing to forgive the greatest sinner if he repents, no matter what the sin is as horrible:
"Come all to settle accounts. Though your sins are red, will be white as snow, though they are red and purple and white will become like wool "(Isaiah 1: 18).
The angel announced to Joseph: "You shall call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins" (Mt 1, 21).
And in the institution of the Eucharist, the sacrament of redemption, Jesus says:
"This is my blood of the covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins" (Mt 26, 28).
"A heart contrite and humbled your Lord will not despise" (Psalm 50, 19).
He is so happy with the repentance of the sinner who says:
"There is more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety and nine just persons who need no repentance" (Luke 15, 7).
No one is condemned because he has committed serious sins, but many could be condemned for committing sins of those who do not repent.
We have seen how God shows us His infinite mercy in several passages of Scripture.
Behold some other passages that show the Divine Goodness and Mercy of God:
"But you are a God of forgiveness, full of mercy and tenderness that are slow to anger and rich in kindness" (Nehemiah 9, 17b).
"What a God like You, who takest away the sins and forgive the crime, that does not withdraw his anger forever, but likes to forgive" (Micah 7, 18).
"I knew that thou art a gracious God and merciful, patient and full of kindness, always ready to forgive" (Jonah 4, 2b).
"You, Lord, good and forgiving, full of love with those who invoke you" (Ps. 86, 5).
"The Lord is tenderness and compassion, slow to anger and abounding in love, if he gets mad, not forever, if you hold a grudge, it's just for a moment.
"For the Lord is compassionate and merciful, forgives sins and saves in the day of trouble" (Si. 2, 11).
"Well how much is his greatness, such is his mercy" (Si. 2, 22b).
"How great is the Lord's mercy and forgiveness to those who turn to Him!" (Si. 17, 29).
To access his mercy, Jesus requires us to admit our sin.
If we say "we have no sin", we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.
If we confess our sins, God is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness "(1 Jn 1.8 to 9).
As a doctor who removes the bandage from the wound to be healed, God through his Word and his Spirit, casts a vivid light over our sins.
PRAYERS FOR REPENTANCE, DELIVERANCE AND CLEANSING
"Dear Lord, I pray that you will not remember the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions.
Please think of me according to Your mercy and for Your goodness' sake, O LORD.
Lord I turn from all of those sins that I committed and I ask for Your help in washing the memory and thoughts of that sin completely from my mind.
Please restore me to faithful obedience to Your Word, and fill me with Your Holy Spirit anew, so that I may keep Your commands all the days of my life." (Based on Psalm 25:7)
PRAYER TO LIVE A CHASTE LIFE.
"Lord God, we live in an age when sexuality is trivialized and when covenants are broken routinely.
We are bombarded with cultural insensitivity for the sacredness of life and what was once considered perverted is now common place and accepted.
Please help me increase my sensitivity to the Truth of Your commandments and show me where I need to amend my attitudes and my actions.
Forgive me my failures in this area and strengthen me to live a chaste life. Free me from the bondage of my passions and make me the master of my inclinations.
Heal me of past hurts and the impact of erroneous instruction and guide my relationships in purity, fidelity and love. Amen."
Blessed Jacinta Marto, said in 1920: "The sins which lead most souls to hell are those of the flesh".
"What would she say today about the bad using of television, internet, film, and other sophisticated means of immorality?"
It is must prayed a lot to flee the slavery of the flesh.
