Apologetics Session 3: Sin and Forgiveness

Non-Catholics typically misunderstand Catholic teachings concerning these two interrelated subjects, sin and forgiveness. As Catholics, we sometimes hear:

Challenge 1) Sin is sin! You Catholics add to God's Word with their "mortal" and "venial" labels. All sin is an abomination, and offends God. (Yes all sin offends God, but we teach that there are grades and types of sin, with crucially important distinctions.)

Challenge 2) Catholics are wrong about forgiveness of sin! The Challenge includes:

• All sin was forgiven at the cross. No Catholic priest can forgive sins! No man can forgive sin. (We teach that all sin is forgiven through the cross, and Christ gave priests to us as His instruments of forgiveness.)
• No Catholic "purgatory" can forgive sins! (But the Catechism #1030 teaches: All who die in God's grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven.)
• No Catholic "indulgences" can forgive sins! (We teach that indulgences can free a person from the temporal punishment that is still due from forgiven sins.)

Response to Challenge 1) Mortal and Venial Sin.
Scripture clearly teaches that all sins are not "equal" - that some sins are in fact mortal, deadly, and there are other sins that are not mortal.

[1 Jn 5:16] If any one sees his brother committing what is not a mortal sin, he will ask, and God will give him life for those whose sin is not mortal. There is sin that is mortal; I do not say that one is to pray for that.
[17] All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that is not mortal.

John asserts that there is "sin which is not mortal" - to this kind of sin, the Church gives the name "venial". The word "mortal" means "deadly", "to the death." The word "venial" has a general meaning of "pardonable", so that it implies sins that can be on the soul at physical death, yet still be cleansed from the soul after death - that is, through purgatory.
Our own human moral sense knows, also, that not all sin is equally bad. Even human justice separates "misdemeanors" from serious crimes such as murder, rape, grand larceny, and so on. Are men more just than God? Certainly not. God certainly distinguishes lesser sins from the serious sin that radically separates a person from God.
This obvious distinction among sins is argued by St. Jerome:
"There are venial sins and there are mortal sins. It is one thing to owe ten thousand talents, another to owe but a farthing. We shall have to give an accounting for an idle word no less than for adultery. But to be made to blush and to be tortured are not the same thing; not the same thing to grow red in the face and to be in agony for a long time. . . . If we entreat for lesser sins we are granted pardon, but for greater sins, it is difficult to obtain our request. There is a great difference between one sin and another" (St. Jerome Against Jovinian 2:30 [A.D. 393]).
Church Teaching
Mortal sin is most serious. It results in the loss of sanctifying grace in the soul, and the loss therefore of fellowship with God and a place with Him in heaven. Mortal sin can be forgiven, however, and grace restored. A Catholic with mortal sin on his soul must confess such sins to a priest in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
For a person to commit a mortal sin, three conditions must be met:
1) The moral matter must be "serious", or "grave". Grave matter involves disobedience to the explicit will of God, for example the Ten Commandments.
2) There must be full knowledge of the gravity of the sin.
3) There must be consent in the will to the act: it must be chosen, a free act.
The Catechism explains,

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."
1862 One commits venial sin when, in a less serious matter, he does not observe the standard prescribed by the moral law, or when he disobeys the moral law in a grave matter, but without full knowledge or without complete consent.

Venial sins do not cause the loss of all sanctifying grace in the soul, but they do result in a weakening of this grace, and a wounding of the soul. Venial sins can lower the spiritual resistance to sin and to temptations, and can make mortal sin a greater danger.
Sins of commission and sins of omission
Among sins that are mortal, and among sins that are venial, there are some worse than others! Sins of commission might be mortal or venial, and sins of omission might be mortal or venial - but in whatever case, we read in Scripture that some sins are more deserving of severity than others. In this passage of Scripture we hear that sins of omission with full knowledge are worse than some sins of commission made in ignorance.

[Lk 12:47] And that servant who knew his master's will, but did not make ready or act according to his will, shall receive a severe beating.
[48] But he who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, shall receive a light beating. Every one to whom much is given, of him will much be required; and of him to whom men commit much they will demand the more.

Clearly we cannot simply group all sin into the same category.

Response to Challenge 2) centers upon Sacramental Confession.
Jesus gave to His sacred ministers the awesome work of forgiving, or of retaining, sins in His people!

[Jn 20:21] Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you."
[22] And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit.
[23] If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."

Perhaps a good key to understanding why God wanted this incredible power given to men is the verse 21: "as the Father sent Me, even so I send you." The mission of God among men, for our forgiveness and our salvation, God wanted to share with His Church! We are true participants in the work of Christ, truly working "in His name"! We are a communion of persons, called to love and help one another. God wants us to receive His grace from one another, and through one another.
It is interesting that the unbelieving Jews also could not understand how forgiveness could be entrusted to a man. In this case, the man was Jesus:

[Lk 5:20] And when he saw their faith he said, "Man, your sins are forgiven you."
[21] And the scribes and the Pharisees began to question, saying, "Who is this that speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God only?"

God forgave sins in Jesus Christ; today God forgives sins through those entrusted by Christ, His priests.
The Catechism makes this clearer:

CCC 1441 Only God forgives sins. <Cf. Mk 2:7> Since he is the Son of God, Jesus says of himself, "The Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins" and exercises this divine power: "Your sins are forgiven."<Mk 2:5, 10; Lk 7:48> Further, by virtue of his divine authority he gives this power to men to exercise in his name. <Cf. Jn 20:21-23>
Catholic Obligations

• We are under obligation to receive forgiveness through the Sacrament of Reconciliation only in the case of mortal sins. However, even for venial sins the sacrament is recommended.
• We are obligated to receive the Sacrament once a year at a minimum, if there is mortal sin. The preferable time is the Easter Season, enabling also Eucharist at that time.
• "The confessor should always show himself to be ready and willing to hear the confessions of the faithful whenever they reasonably request this." (Rite of Penance)
• General Absolution cannot substitute for private confession - except in "serious necessity", such as danger of death, or when the diocesan bishop so determines in union with the conference of bishops.

Confession is Reasonable
There are sound human reasons for confession through a priest.

• Our personal confession to another human person is a humbling act, and we need to grow in humility. God knows us as we are, and we ourselves need to humbly remember who we are - struggling, sometimes failing and falling, weak and yet hopeful, striving for holiness because of the mercy and grace of our Lord.
• No sin is "individual". Every sin is a sin against God first of all, but also a sin against humanity whom we have failed to help properly. It is a sin against the Church whom we failed in failing to be a vital and fruitful member in Christ. It is a sin against ourselves, as creations of God made for better things. We need the forgiveness of God, and we also need the forgiveness of the Church that God sent to be His representative for all humanity. When we receive the forgiveness of God and of His Church, we can find peace and forgiveness within ourselves.
• Guilt that is kept inside a person, unresolved, is very harmful even here and now, and leads to psychological problems sometimes very severe. Confession and forgiveness are human needs that allow real and authentic peace.