Topic: Mortal Sin and Confession

Source of this posting: Question answered via email from CatholicQandA.org posting

Date originally posted:  February 28, 2002

Moderator who originally posted this source: P.Leach

Question:  When sin is not mortal sin, do you still confess.  If so, to whom do you confess?

Answer:

Thanks so much for your question.   

Let's make sure we remember the distinction between 'mortal' and the other kind of sin, 'venial.'   

Catholics base our understanding of these two kinds of sin on an important passage of Scripture: I John 5:14-17.  Here the Apostle distinguishes between those sins which are deadly, or "mortal," and those sins which are not deadly though still sinful.  Catholics call these other sins "venial." 

In order for a sin to be mortal, three conditions have to be met.  First, the sin must be a serious offense against God and neighbor.  Sometimes people want to say that a sin is not mortal because "it didn't hurt anybody but me" or because "nobody knew about it but God and me."  They try to say that even though it may have been serious it was "private."  But there is no such thing as "private" sin.  To be sure, sin is PERSONAL, in the sense that a particular person commits the sin.  But sin is never "private."  Every sin that any person commits has a communal implication.  Remember the poet who said that no person "is an island whole and entire unto" him or herself; that's right!  Catholics believe very strongly that though Jesus calls us into personal relationship with Him, He also and always calls us into the community of believers.  So, just as Christianity always has a "communal" dimension, in a similar way, sin always has "communal" implications.  A mortal sin, then, is a serious sin which offends God and brings harm to our neighbors. 

Second, in order for a sin to be mortal, I must know that it is a serious offense against God and neighbor.  If, somehow, I do not know -- in a way that is appropriate to my ability and circumstance -- that a particular action, thought, or word is, in fact, a serious sin against God and neighbor, then it is not a mortal sin.  Such a thought, word, or deed remains objectively wrong and does me harm, but I am not, in this case, culpable, that is, God does not account the sin against me because of my ignorance. 

Third, for a sin to be mortal, it must have the full consent of my will.  Of the three conditions for a sin to be mortal, this one is the 'trickiest.'  While full consent of the will is not premeditation exactly, full consent of the will requires that I not only understand that what I am doing, thinking, or saying is very serious but that I also give myself over to the sin in an unreserved way.  Full consent of the will means something like, "I know this is a big deal; I am aware that it's probably hurting me and others; but I'm choosing to do it anyway."   

When all three of these conditions are met, I very likely have committed a mortal sin.  Every time I am in a state of mortal sin, I need to make a good and complete sacramental confession to a (Catholic) priest.

 So, now to your question! 

Yes, even if a sin is not mortal, Catholics are encouraged to celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation.   

Developing the habit of regular confession -- say monthly or quarterly or at least in preparation for Christmas and Easter -- is good for one's spiritual life.  It helps us to take stock of the places we want to thank God for divine grace in our lives since our last Confession and to ask God for the help we need to avoid falling into sin in the future.  Not only is regular Confession good for us spiritually, it is also a help to us psychologically in that having an occasion to count our blessings and to ask for forgiveness makes keeping life "in perspective" a bit easier.

 But when a sin is not mortal, do Catholics HAVE to go to the Sacrament of Penance?  Well, the answer to that is, technically, no.  While Confession is good for us, it is only 'required' when we're in a state of mortal sin.

 But we should confess any and all sin of which we are aware.  You ask to whom we should confess.   

Whether in the Sacrament of Reconciliation or in some other context, we are always confessing to God!

 So, the answer to this part of your question is: We confess to God -- always! 

If we decide to avail ourselves of the wonderful Sacrament of Penance, then we confess to God through the agency and help of a priest.

 If we choose to confess to God outside of the Sacrament of Reconciliation, Catholics have basically two other options. 

 We can, of course, go directly to God -- praying for forgiveness in the silence of our room, getting on our knees begging God for forgiveness, talking to God as we walk or run asking for forgiveness.  In other words, Catholics always have the direct and personal connection of prayer to our loving and forgiving God.   

If a Catholic takes this personal route to God, she or he should make what is called "an act of perfect contrition."  Such a prayer is one in which the sinner expresses his or her deep remorse for the (specific) sin, asks God for the grace to amend her or his ways, begs for the grace of forgiveness, and resolves with the help of God's grace not to sin any more. 

The other choice available to Catholics is to avail her or himself of the grace which comes to us in the Liturgical celebration of the Eucharist.  Liturgically at the beginning of the Mass, we have the Pentitential Rite in which each person, as part of the community, confesses our sinfulness; we, then, hear the priest pray a prayer which asks for God's forgiveness for us, "May Almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins, and bring us to everlasting life."  Entering into the Pentitential Rite fully and unreservedly is a way that Catholics have of confessing to God and being assured of divine forgiveness for non-mortal sins. 

The Church also teaches us that receiving the Holy Eucharist with our hearts prepared well wipes away venial sin.  If we are in a state of mortal sin, we should not receive Eucharist without first going to sacramental Confession.  But assuming that we're not in mortal sin, when we approach the Eucharist with a sense of our sinfulness and hearts receptive to God's forgiveness and love, we believe that the Eucharist itself becomes the occasion for all those venial sins to be cleansed from our lives.  We are, in the language of the Church, in a state of grace after receiving Holy Communion -- that is to say, the power of the Eucharist is so great that the grace we receive there removes the stain of our (venial) sins. 

For such a short, direct, and good question, you probably got a lot more than you wanted!  But thanks for asking, and I hope this helps some.

 Blessings,

Father Phillip