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the reproach of Christ 
Mr. Conte,
If one is not contrite for one’s venial sins, and is also without the intention of amending life regarding them–choosing to allow oneself to continue without trying to avoid committing them–is that it’s own sin? If yes, a mortal sin?
Thank you very much.
Love for God and neighbor implicitly includes contrition for venial sin. Forgiveness for venial sin is obtained by any devout prayer, reception of Communion, or other devout action in cooperation with grace. Continuing in venial sin is not a mortal sin. Venial sin does not deprive the soul of grace, and so even deliberate unrepentant venial sin is not mortal.
Thank you, there is alot in that for me to think about. To check something more basic:
If one actually does not love God (or neighbor) ‘with one’s heart’, but rather only ‘with one’s lips’, so to speak–that is mortal sin, isn’t it?
A baptized infant has the state of grace and the virtues of love, faith, and hope, without seeming to love God with the heart. And baptized Catholic Christians, who believe and practice the faith, who go to Mass and Confession, have that love and state of grace, unless they are conscious of unrepentant actual mortal sin. It is not a mortal sin, if someone does not seem to love God with the heart. The state of grace is habitual; it continues even if the person is asleep or unconscious, unless actual mortal sin occurs.
Thank you for that wealth of information which is so helpful to me.
I gather from the caution with which you are approaching my question that there is a great deal of risk of going awry in one’s conclusions relating to this if one proceeds unsoundly–which could be very unjust and harmful given how consequential the issue is.
With that firmly in mind, along with the sense that since it is not necessarily easy to evaluate oneself in this regard (I’m recalling reading that Padre Pio agonized deeply about this himself at times, if I’m not mistaken)–how possible is it to evaluate anyone else– I would please still ask:
Is it possible to enter into mortal sin by breaking the first commandment itself–not through literal outward idol worship, but by not actually loving God (or neighbor)?
You question comes from scruples. I already answered the question theologically. Consult your confessor.
PS: Somewhere in there lies the answer to our priest shortage.
Ron, how can you reconcile Rome and the Vatican with the principle of subsidiarity? I understand the papacy, but the popes used to be more silent and people got a general sense of Catholicism not from a papal proclamation, but from the people in the local neighborhood. These followed the local priests who knew them by name, but now those very priests have been emasculated by their own bishops and all their discretion removed.
All the bishops meet, then go home to make demands on the priests, ignorant of the true diversity of even the churches within a single region. The bishop operating on statistics, has a superficial sense of the predispositions of the flock as they break down across his diocese. This means he will stereotype either the conservatives or the liberals and presume to correct them, lacking crucial information.
That is not how the Church was ever structured. The supreme authority of the Roman Pontiff was understood and accepted, and was the rule of the faith, from the time of Peter forward:
The Bishops have always been the successors to the Apostles, led by the successor to Peter.
According to the Russian news agency “Sputnik” Pope Francis would visit Russia in the spring of 2023
https://sputniknews.com/20220801/pope-francis-hopes-to-visit-russia-in-spring-2023-says-head-of-world-union-of-old-believers-1098008180.html
This means that the Warning and the Miracle will happen this year, we have to be prepared. I think that the Miracle could be on April 13, 2023. But who knows, it could be on another day or month.
At a recent homily, the Priest spoke about the sin of presumption. He stated that a person who is in a habitual state of mortal sin can’t go to Confession and expect that God will forgive the sin if the person continues to commit that same mortal sin over and over again. He said the confessional booth does not wipe the slate clean and then you continue to commit the same mortal sin and then go to confession again and again. He said that God is no fool. I think the Priest was referring to those who are living in sin, adulterers or those that divorced and remarried outside the Church. For that matter, it could be any mortal sin that one continues to commit after each confession.
All of us are fallen sinners and struggle and may commit the same mortal sins. In my opinion, it would be best that the person continue to seek absolution from the mortal sin because the Sacrament of Reconciliation is powerful. However, I think I do understand what the Priest is saying to those who live in a habitual state of mortal sin, are committing the sin of presumption. Sin no more.
If a person sins and repents, with the intention of trying to change and avoid grave sin in the future, then they can go to Confession and be forgiven as many times as they repent. What one cannot do is confess sins with no real contrition or purpose of amendment of one’s life. You have to be repentant, to be forgiven, and that means the desire to try to avoid grave sins in the future. But as many times as a sinner falls, God is willing to forgive. So the priest is wrong to assume that commission of the same sins over and over implies an absence of repentance with a firm purpose of amending one’s life.
When is the latest date the Warning can occur?
The latest year? I don’t know.
Is there official information how many of the bishops participated in the consecration on March 25, 2022? What is your explanation why don’t we see significant results 10 months later? According to the promise of Our Lady, Russia should be converted, and an era of peace should be granted to humanity (much more than just a ceasefire between two countries currently at war). Do you have theological or prophetic explanation (based on apparitions) why it didn’t happen yet?
I think the Warning is this year, on Good Friday, and it will have a profound effect on politics and society worldwide, including in Russia. It might end the Ukraine war and other conflicts around the world. However, it will terrify the Muslim extremists and prompt them to take action, as I have said in my eschatology books.
Ron,
I seem to be in a small minority where the Consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary has already been commenced via multiple popes and bishops since the 1940s. My association with past priests, brothers, sisters and laity were still waiting for the prophecy to be fulfilled. I have maintained the prophecy does not follow a human timeframe but that of Our Almighty God. I believe the prophecy to be Russia would be at peace with the world. Peace certainly has happened with Russia and the world during the past 60 years although never everlasting. To my knowledge, Mary never has stated it would be for a specified time. I know it could never be everlasting due to the holy scriptures of upcoming events. It is not similar to an electric switch being turned on and off giving immediate results.
Your thoughts?
The consecration of a nation is a consecration of its people. So such a consecration must be repeated periodically to continue to be effective.
many traditionalists accuse Pope John Paul II of heresy on account of paragraph 121 of the catechism, which says that the old covenant was never abrogated:
“121. The Old Testament is a part of Sacred Scripture that cannot be dispensed with. His books are divinely inspired and retain permanent value (99) because the Old Covenant was never revoked.”
they claim that this paragraph contradicts Pius XII’s Mystici Corporis:
“On the Cross, then, the Old Law died, soon to be buried and bringer of death”
-Pope Pius XII, Mystici Corporis
Christ how to answer?
The Old Testament disciplines were dispensed by Christ, and replaced with the New Testament disciplines. But the Covenant was not abrogated, as this would make God, who made this Covenant in perpetuity unfaithful. Instead, the Old Covenant was transformed into the New Covenant, so that the Old continues faithfully in its new higher form, with greater benefits (e.g. Sacraments).
Are priests allowed to confer with each other about a particular person’s confession without naming names, perhaps to solicit advice or other such thing?
No. Priests cannot break the seal of the confessional for any reason. Priests can speak in general about confession, such as the best way to advise sinners to reform their lives, etc. but not about any particular confession, even if the person is not identified.