317 DELIVERANCE FROM SERIOUS SIN

YOUCAT Lesson 317

YOUCAT the catechism for Catholic youth

317  How can a person be delivered from serious sin and reunited with God?

In order to heal the break with God that is caused by a serious sin, a Catholic Christian must be reconciled with God through confession.  [1856]  224-239

Icon of St. John Chrysostom:  We have lost Paradise but have received heaven, and therefore the gain is greater than the loss. ... 317

“If there were no forgiveness of sins in the Church, there would be no hope for eternal life and eternal deliverance.  Let us thank God, who gave his Church such a great gift.”  St. Augustine (354-430

1856

1856 Mortal sin, by attacking the vital principle within us - that is, charity - necessitates a new initiative of God's mercy and a conversion of heart which is normally accomplished within the setting of the sacrament of reconciliation: 

When the will sets itself upon something that is of its nature incompatible with the charity that orients man toward his ultimate end, then the sin is mortal by its very object . . . whether it contradicts the love of God, such as blasphemy or perjury, or the love of neighbor, such as homicide or adultery. . . . But when the sinner's will is set upon something that of its nature involves a disorder, but is not opposed to the love of God and neighbor, such as thoughtless chatter or immoderate laughter and the like, such sins are venial.( St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologia I-II,88,2, corp. art.)¹³⁰ –Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition