Conscience Vs Church

[LouisvilleFan]

[quote name='mortify' post='1732584' date='Dec 20 2008, 01:46 PM']That's an interpretation the Catechism[i] can[/i] lead us to believe, and it would nullify the existence of mortal sin! By "complete" consent the catechism simply means [i]"a consent sufficiently deliberate to be a personal choice"[/i] (#1859) A person who freely consents to temptation, permits desire to grow, and finally freely chooses to bring the desire into fruition, certainly has the marks of personal choice.[/quote]

Any interpretation of the Catechism that contradicts another part of the Catechism is obviously wrong. I fully believe mortal sin is possible. As #1861 says, it is "a radical possibility of human freedom." If we are free to love God, we are also free to reject God. However, we are not the ones who judge the existence of mortal sin. That paragraph closes by saying, "although we can judge that an act is in itself a grave offense, we must entrust judgment of persons to the justice and mercy of God." I believe that includes judgment of ourselves. We need to live in healthy fear of God's justice while praying for and rejoicing in his mercy.

Just to be sure, #1860 says "promptings of feelings and passions [i]can[/i] also diminish the voluntary and free character of the offense, as [i]can[/i] external pressures or pathological disorders." It doesn't say "do," but they "can." Only God knows whether they do or don't. The Church only offers this explanation based on what we know about God's mercy, that he judges according to our hearts.

What it all boils down to is I believe we toss around the "mortal sin" phrase way too frequently, as if we somehow know how God is judging our sins, and thus our souls. It should be enough that a sin is grave for us to rid it from our lives while trusting its mortal or venial status to God.

[Deb]

Humans are flawed and we are sinners, therefore we need to pray always that the Lord will give us the wisdom to know when actions we want to do are inspired by Him, by ourselves or by satan.

If the Church states something is a mortal sin and your "conscience" is telling you otherwise, I think that you need to work on your discernment. It probably isn't your conscience at all that is speaking to you and it surely isn't God.

Edited February 7, 2009 by Deb