Help Discerning Mortal And Venial Sin

Then perhaps your grandmother.

 

Thank you, those are very kind words Aviso. It sounds like we lived similar lives, though I was not as violent perhaps I was very worldly and committed many sins of the flesh. Wine, women and song. Then I used to literally rail at God after my marriage ended and blamed Him for everything going wrong in my life. My whole adult life was pretty much a wasteland of sin.

 

Thank you Martina, that was lovely to read
I guess the confusion right now is God directing me to get rid of everything now or is this just my anxiety making me doubt? I honestly don't know.

 

If you not sure put it aside until you are....and then at that it will be a clear concise decision or direction without any doubt as to where its coming from. So back in its box until then or if it ever arises again.
Editing.....
I also think worth saying when God directs you himself there is no doubt in what he is asking of or telling you....on all I've learned he does not beat around the bush.
Your confusion I feel comes from somewhere else. Which in one way can be looked at as a positive your doing something right. So thank it for the clarification that your on the right path....I love when a plan comes together and the black soot on its face when it backfires.
Praise be to God.

 

Lol

 

It's funny that you say that because I have found the exact opposite with God. It seems He moves so subtly in my life and I am never sure what His Will is for me except in a general way. Either that or I am so confused and I am just not getting it

 

I think again you answered it for yourself, I'm the last person that should be telling you what I believe is or isn't from God but I think this worry on what to do there is not from God. I think there are much more important things that need your concentration like a prayer, the rosary, a good deed, a hug for one who needs it and thanks giving for it all.

 

Sometimes the hardest thing for us to see is ourselves
Thank you for all of your input Martina
(And everyone else too)
I have a lot to chew on.

 

I myself struggle with this dilemma, but unfortunately don't have anything specific that can help discern between the two. Hoping someday some sort of app (or AI/machine learning tool) can be developed to assist us... until then we'll just have to manage the old-fashioned way

If I may share some thoughts.... Perhaps instead of asking whether something is sinful or not, good or bad, mortal or venial, it would be better to ask if it draws us closer to God. I'd like to think of it as a merit-based system approach: (1) Sinful acts lead us to hell, purgatory, or a lower degree of glory in heaven; (2) "neutral" acts don't lead anywhere; and (3) good acts lead to a higher degree of glory in heaven. I think the concept of the degrees of glory in heaven is lost to most Christians that we tend to overlook it, so we just amble along living a "good" non-sinful life, as opposed to living a truly holy life - completely in accordance with God's will. St. Teresa of Avila once declared that if she were given the choice she would willingly suffer all the afflictions of the world until the end of time for a little more glory in heaven. I think this would be an excellent principle to live by if we really understood the concept. Note that glory here doesn't exclusively mean being better than everyone else, but more importantly it pertains to the level of intimacy the soul shares with God. Considering this is for all eternity, anything less than the highest level of perfection seems hard to bear.

With this in mind, between watching secular tv (assuming PG programs that don't promote anti-Christian morals) and reading scripture, for example, choosing the latter would be the wise thing to do. Although there may be nothing wrong or sinful about the former, it's a neutral act that will not necessarily draw us closer to God, make us holier and consequently increase our glory in heaven. In your case, instead of asking if keeping these materials is a mortal or venial sin, will keeping them draw you closer to God? Our mission in life is to give God 100%; if we give him 80% and retain 20% for ourselves (by choosing the neutral acts), we shouldn't be surprised to find out we're only in the 80th percentile of the most glorious in heaven

It's good (and sometimes necessary) to contemplate on the particulars of the faith, but barring answers to the difficult questions, it might be a good idea to shift focus onto the bigger picture. From this perspective, Christian living becomes surprisingly easy, albeit excruciatingly hard (at times). As T. S. Eliot said, being a Christian is "a condition of complete simplicity, costing not less than everything." It's easy because we don't need complex theology to guide us; if we truly seek God's will, we'll know what to do. But it's also hard because it entails our complete surrender.

 

If you are worried about being in mortal sin then most likely you are not in it. A dog does not bark when it is dead, neither does are conscience give warning when we have entered into deep sin. For we have put it to sleep.

But we are blessed as Catholics in having Christ in the confessional to set us straight. An Alter Christus . Another Christ.

 

Yes you definitely are suffering from scrupulosity, no way should any 'sin' like that - if it is one - stop you from going to Communion. You shouldn't think like that at all, unless its a major sin which would look a lot different to this issue.

I think as regards throwing things out, you should not discard anything of artistic or literary merit. Obviously some great novels, or at least informative books, can have dodgy passages but I would say you should retain them, and the same for good quality films. But trashy books or films, i.e. ones that nobody would really want to watch a few years from now for any good reason, you could get rid of if you wanted to.

 

I don't think that having artistic books which show the human nude form is sinful unless these images are stimulating.

As you say you have a vast number of books and DVDs perhaps you could consider simplifying your life by pruning those which you are not likely to want to use again, whatever their content. I am a hoarder by nature and it is not easy for me to sling things out. I know I have too much stuff in my life anyway. Our relationship with possessions is complex - St John of the Cross refers humorously to people who collect holy objects like rosaries.

The older I get the more I don't want certain things in my house but I'm not consistent. For instance I would not keep a copy of Monty Python and the Holy Grail or the Life of Brian, yet I have the 90s romcom Overboard, which has some dubious actions in it. I think probably most movies these days contain and condone irregular relationships, easy divorce and remarriage, etc. Dirty Dancing revolted me in its preachy embrace of abortion. And rock music is a minefield of course.

It's so difficult to discern how God wants us to handle 'culture' - not all of it modern. And if one slings out books and dvds, does one give them to charity where money can be raised to do good, or simply bin them? I have a horror of waste, am a fervent recycler/composter, but a blasphemous or morally dubious movie will remain such, whoever owns it. Someone on this thread rightly said that the closer we get to God, the more these things don't matter so much to us, so it is easy to part with them.

 

I believe it is more telling if the item(s)s in your house are pulling you to them again for the wrong reasons, especially if and when bored. Sort of like...hey, I remember the sex scene in that dvd was really good I think I watch it again...... If they arn't pulling you to them they arn't a near occasion of sin. Let's face it the internet is filled with all manner of filth which likely makes your items tame in comparison.
I still have questions about mortal/venial sins since it's easy for us to talk ourselves into believing serious sin isn't. Confession is key especially with a good priest.

I recently confessed a sin I've been telling myself wasn't serious but it was on my conscience for a reason. I didn't want it to be a sin but the priest told me straight out, it's a sin! Well thank God I did, clearly my conscience isn't enough without the added grace of the sacrament of confession.

 

I want to thank you all for writing (and everyone else who did as well). Sorry it has been a couple of days since I responded. I have been very busy and not much time to spend on MOG. There is a lot to ponder here. Lots of good points for me to meditate on. Everyone gave me something good to think about. Thank you again everyone. There is some real good advice here. I am going to go back and read it all again.