Moral Sin?

[Guest Amber]

I'm confused about mortal sin. I know what it is and everything, but I can't comprehend what would be considered a mortal sin. I know, like, murder, but that's about it. Could you guys give me as many examples as you can that are more common among Catholics?

[Theologian in Training]

[quote name='Amber' date='Apr 2 2004, 09:27 PM'] I'm confused about mortal sin. I know what it is and everything, but I can't comprehend what would be considered a mortal sin. I know, like, murder, but that's about it. Could you guys give me as many examples as you can that are more common among Catholics? [/quote]
It seems you've been reading the Catechism. However, sometimes it may be difficult in trying to fully understand what they are saying which is why, I think, this question arose.

I will try my best to decrypt some of the language in the CCC, so that you can understand it in its context.

[quote]CCC 1857 For a sin to be mortal, three conditions must together be met: "Mortal sin is sin whose object is grave matter and which is also committed with full knowledge and deliberate consent[/quote]

Ok, let's break this down. First, what is "grave matter?"

[quote]CCC 1858 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."132 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.[/quote]

Our understanding of grave matter is grounded in the Ten Commandments. However, They continue to qualify the gravity of a sin based upon the matter and circumstance. In order to better understand their line of thinking it is necessary to turn to an Apostolic Exhortation from John Paul II, entitled [i]Reconciliation and Penance[/i]. In this Exhortation JP II makes a threefold distinction of sin, “venial, grave and mortal.” Therefore, according to JP II, “This threefold distinction might illustrate the fact that there is a scale of seriousness among grave sins.” Although the seriousness is important when judging between the grievousness of a sin, suffice it say, that However, he will go on to equate grave sin with that of mortal sin, because all grave sin is mortal, insofar as it leads to a separation from God and a death of the soul.

This leads us to the statement about full knowledge and deliberate consent.

JP II attests, “mortal sin is sin whose object is grave matter and which is also committed with full knowledge and deliberate consent.” He qualifies this statement: “It must be added-as was likewise done at the synod-that some sins are intrinsically grave and mortal by reason of their matter. That is, there exist acts which, per se and in themselves, independently of circumstances, are always seriously wrong by reason of their object. These acts, if carried out with sufficient awareness and freedom, are always gravely sinful.” In other words, there are acts that are inherently evil, and therefore mortal to our eternal soul; those would qualify as mortal sins.

So, what are some mortal sins? It is those sins that fit the qualifications above. Some good guidelines to follow would be the Ten Commandments and the Seven Deadly Sins.

Hope this helps.

God Bless