Connie, good wishes for your sister.
Now, it's actually called "Reconciliation", not "Confession", and it's built in to the mass, so that you aren't required to do it every week, unless you've done BAAAAAD things, you can still take communion. You ARE still supposed to do it (with the priest, and it used to be with the screen between you and now it's face to face, but some will still do the screen thing if you want) at least...er...once a year? Before major holidays? Mind is slipping on that one.
So, would the sins classified as mortal sins fall under "BAAAAAAAD"? (Not according to you; I realize you aren't clergy.) Because the stuff that qualifies as mortal sins are really fucking commonplace. Which shocks me, because I was hanging on to my grade-school knowledge that murder is a mortal sin, and...not sure what else. I got the impression from my reading last night (on, you know, the internets) that mortal sins require confession/reconciliation/whatever before one can receive communion again.
I also like it--due to having far-flung family and friends.
This--what with Buffistas, college friends being spread about the globe, drag friends all over the place...I've clearly got more friends ELSEWHERE than I do where I AM...and it's not like "where I am" is where I am very often. :) So, FB and other parts of the internet that let me keep up with people (LJ, DW, b.org) are my saviors.
And luckily, only a few friends are mad political in ways I'm not (I can think of a couple very religious but still fairly socially liberal friends from college, a couple of pretty-quiet-on-FB conservative friends from college, and one teabagger ex-coworker, who I can mostly skim over)
I'm generally in favor of the Vatican II changes but hippie confession is something I never got behind. If every priest were someone you felt comfy with, great. But generally I prefer the booth (as if it matters given than I lapsed 25 years ago).
So, would the sins classified as mortal sins fall under "BAAAAAAAD"?
Um, I'm not sure. I know I learned it at some point. I suspect "skipping mass" doesn't. But it may be that "mortal sins" has gotten an update? Or there's a different brand of "must go to official Reconciliation(TM) before taking communion" list?
That's why I couldn't be Catholic! Too many RULES, man! I couldn't handle confession without the separating screen, either. I'd be terminally embarrassed or else I couldn't stop snickering.
Um, I'm not sure. I know I learned it at some point. I suspect "skipping mass" doesn't. But it may be that "mortal sins" has gotten an update? Or there's a different brand of "must go to official Reconciliation(TM) before taking communion" list?
I think there may be a certain amount of Catholic individuals searching their consciences, and deciding that the Catholic Hierarchy are full of it in certain instances, and just going ahead and doing what they feel is right - for instance, Catholics who vote for liberal Dems in spite of being ordered to not vote for anyone who is pro-choice, they are not going to confess that or necessarily let it interrupt their communion/Eucharist. See also married couples who commit birth control - because some of them do.
OK, this link kind of cracked me up in a few places, namely "were you stealing the money to feed your family, or to buy porn?" But it has a pretty extensive rundown of the whole confession thing. And confirms that yes, you're required to go once a year (during Lent, if nothing else--my dad usually made us go during Advent as well, which is recommended, but I think those were the only times my hippy church had big huge confessional times, otherwise it was like, Saturday afternoons).
But that doesn't really get into what's mortal/venial/OK to take communion thing.
Also in looking all this up, apparently (and this TOTALLY makes sense) my diocese was Doin It WRONG by giving kids First Communion at 7 and not doing First Reconciliation until a couple years later (4th grade, I think). It's supposed to be the other way around (which, again, makes sense). Apparently there was some scolding about that, a few years back.
...can you tell I don't feel like doing work right now?
Congratulations, Gris! Wonderful news!
Tep, from here [link] it doesn't look like there's a hard and fast classification of sins as mortal versus venial, but rather the state of the sinner's mind is taken into account when the sin in committed.
I didn't grow up Catholic, so any familiarity I have with the categories of sin is really just from Catholic friends and family.
In the church of my childhood, the message I heard (or at least thought I heard) is that sin is sin is sin. In other words, there aren't a bunch of laws. There is THE law and it doesn't matter where you break it, once you've broken it, you've broken it (and so need salvation from Christ). I think the justification for that teaching came from Matthew 5 [link] -- see especially from verse 17 'til the end.
