As a priest was hearing confessions, a man came in who hadn’t been in over forty years. The priest inquired why had he fallen away. The man said that, oh no, he hadn’t fallen away and that he prayed all the time. The priest then asked why he had not been to confession for so long. The man said, “Well, Father, for many years I was a light house keeper on a little island far away. I had to row everywhere. I didn’t go to confession because if the sin was venial, it was too much work to row all the way in. If it was mortal, it was too dangerous of a paddle to risk dying in the state of mortal sin.”
Today we are at our last week in the series of homilies on the Sacraments. We must remember that Sacraments are the most wonderful things in the world. They save us and give us the grace to be a great saints and that is what we are called to be.
What is sin? Sin is missing the point of why we were created. God tells us not to sin because it hurts us. It is like the labels that manufacturers put on poison. They tell us not to take something and they do this to keep us alive (so we can buy more products). God acts in the same way. He tells us not to do things that are harmful to us. Each sin causes harm to us, whether we do it ourselves, or have it done to us, it hurts us emotionally, physically and spiritually. Even if we don’t know something is a sin, it will still hurt us because we are not made for sin, just as we are not made for poison. To accidentally drink poison has the same physical effect to the body as purposely drinking poison does. However, it has a different effect on the soul because one is a murder and the other is a terrible accident. It is true that if we don’t know better God won’t hold that sin against us, but it will still have an effect on us because, like poison, the body isn’t made for it. Let us take gossip for example. If one doesn’t know it is wrong they won’t be judged for it by God, however they will still experience all the effects of gossiping. They will face distrust and hurt those around them. They won’t grow in perfection while doing all that. Sin harms us and that is why we should inform our conscience to avoid harm, just as we like to know what food harms us or what is poison so we should have the same zeal for our souls.
There are two types of sin. There is “mortal sin” which severs our relationship with God and “venial sin” which damages our relationship. Unconfessed mortal sin can send us to hell. It is a very serious matter. There are three parts that make us blameworthy of a mortal sin and all three must be there for a sin to be mortal. First, it must be a serious matter. There are many things that are serious matters that we no longer take seriously so inform your conscience. Second, you have to know that it was serious. If you are unsure then you are not in the state of mortal sin. Third, you have to commit it as an act of the will. You cannot accidentally commit a mortal sin. If you are unsure you are good, and that is a good way to think however you should inform your conscience because you wouldn’t drink something if you are unsure if it is poison. Get the facts. Mortal sins are forgiven in confession. If you find yourself in that state, make an Act of Contrition and go to confession as soon as you can. You should not receive Holy Communion in this state.