Телеграм канал «Ecce Verbum»

On the Nature of Mortal Sins

A mortal sin is a conscious and voluntary turning away from God and a contempt for His love through the breaking of divine law in a serious matter. A mortal sin is called deadly because it deprives a person of sanctifying grace, which is the supernatural life of the soul.

Sanctifying grace is the necessary foundation through which a person enters into a friendly bond with God. By committing a mortal sin, a person consciously and voluntarily severs this bond, making themselves an enemy of God.

A mortal sin is a true spiritual suicide, for it is a rejection of God's grace, which is the source of eternal life. A mortal sin is a true rebellion against God's authority, for it consists in rejecting His divine commandments.

A mortal sin is a true contempt for God because it involves disregarding the promises that the Lord God has attached to a virtuous and pious life in grace. Whoever truly loves God desires to fulfill His will, keep His commandments, and remain in a state of sanctifying grace, for sanctifying grace is the only way to abide in a deep relationship of love with God.

Love for God must always be linked with a hatred of sin and a desire for a virtuous life, for there is no relationship with God when one simultaneously persists in mortal sin, which by its nature is a denial of God and His holiness.

There is no alternative path to union with God apart from the path of sanctifying grace, which also requires our own striving and growth in virtue. We must therefore be aware of the horror and ugliness of mortal sin, but at the same time, we must remember the weakness of human nature and God's great mercy toward us. We are weak, so we fall, but let this not be a cause for despair, for God has a remedy for our sins and offers it to everyone who desires to improve.

The work of Redemption accomplished by our Savior, Jesus Christ, is the best example that the Lord God does not desire our damnation but longs for our salvation. He offers us salvation and the necessary help for it, yet at the same time, He does not violate our free will. He allows the possibility of turning away from Him, but He also clearly and explicitly warns against this disastrous path that leads to damnation.

Jesus Christ, in bringing the Good News of Salvation to the world, also spoke of the danger of eternal damnation. Even if someone, out of human weakness, has fallen into sins, as long as they live, they still have a real chance at salvation. It is offered to every human being, and God's grace is more powerful than any human flaw. One need only trustingly and sincerely desire to detach from one's sinful life and turn to God, who gives us in the sacraments (Baptism and Penance) the essential and sure means of reconciliation with Him.

Sincerity consists in acknowledging one's sinful actions as true evil and desiring to turn away from them, while trust consists in accepting that God offers grace to everyone (and thus to us as well), which, surpassing human strength, enables the repair of all evil and the healing of all weakness. If someone is damned, it is not because God deprived them of the possibility of receiving grace, but because the person themselves did not want to accept that grace in order to break free from sin with its help.

We must defend the truth toward our neighbors out of love for them, for truth and love are inseparably linked. God, who is Truth, is at the same time Love. Truth and love must therefore always be united in our actions.

based on: 1. M. Sieniatycki, Catholic Ethics (Chapter V - Sin) 2. M. Sieniatycki, Outline of Catholic Dogmatics (Volume III - On Grace and Virtues)

#sin@ecceverbum

School, university, hospital, library. All these institutions were created by Christian Europe. Today, their creators are made to justify why they are even present in the buildings they themselves constructed and maintained for centuries.
Dr. Artur Górecki

Main points:

3.
The “march through the institutions” strategy, proclaimed by Rudi Dutschke in 1967, creates nothing of its own. It takes over ready-made structures: it keeps the name, the building, and the prestige, but erases authorship and substitutes a different purpose.

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#education@ecceverbum

School, university, hospital, library. All these institutions were created by Christian Europe. Today, their creators are made to justify why they are even present in the buildings they themselves constructed and maintained for centuries.
Dr. Artur Górecki

Main points:

2.
University autonomy, invoked today as a “secular achievement,” grew from canon law – it was the first to develop the concept of a collective person.

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#education@ecceverbum

School, university, hospital, library. All these institutions were created by Christian Europe. Today, their creators are made to justify why they are even present in the buildings they themselves constructed and maintained for centuries.
Dr. Artur Górecki

Main points:

1.
It wasn’t the Enlightenment or the modern state that invented the school and university – they are the fruit of *christianitas*, drawing from Greek reason and Roman law. The Church, not a ministry of education, undertook Europe’s first attempt at universal literacy.

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#education@ecceverbum

Why did God choose St. Peter, a simple man with no education or social standing, rather than an orator, a senator or an emperor?

How great was Christ’s courtesy! This Peter who spoke these words was once a fisherman and in our day a public speaker deserves high praise if he is able to converse with a fisherman!

Addressing the first Christians the apostle Paul says: “Brothers and sisters, remember what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise according to human standards; not many of you were influential or of noble birth. But God chose what the world regards as weak in order to disconcert the strong; God chose what the world regards as foolish in order to abash the wise; God chose what the world regards as common and contemptible, of no account whatever, in order to overthrow the existing order” (1Cor 1:26-28).

If Christ had first chosen a man skilled in public speaking, such a man might well have said: "I have been chosen on account of my eloquence." If he had chosen a senator, the senator might have said: "I have been chosen because of my rank" If his first choice had been an emperor, the emperor surely might have said: "I have been chosen for the sake of the power I have at my disposal."

Let these worthies keep quiet and defer to others; let them hold their peace for a while. I am not saying they should be passed over or despised; I am simply asking all those who can find any grounds for pride in what they are to give way to others just a little. Christ says: Give me this fisherman, this man without education or experience, this man to whom no senator would deign to speak, not even if he were buying fish. Yes, give me him; once I have taken possession of him, it will be obvious that it is I who am at work in him. Although I mean to include senators, orators, and emperors among my recruits… I shall still be surer of the fisherman.

The senator can always take pride in what he is; so can the orator and the emperor, but the fisherman can glory in nothing except Christ alone. Any of these other men may come and take lessons from me in the importance of humility for salvation, but let the fisherman come first.

Saint Augustine (354-430), Bishop of Hippo (North Africa) and Doctor of the Church, Sermo 43, fragments 5–7 (CCL 41, 510–511).

source: https://liturgy.slu.edu/5OrdC020925/theword_journey.html

On August 22, 1939, Hitler announced to his generals that a great purge would take place on Polish soil, particularly targeting the Catholic clergy. The Nazis prepared lists of priests to be killed, and later Hans Frank and Arthur Greiser continued the persecutions. The Reichsgau Wartheland in particular became the Golgotha of the Church. 97% of churches were closed or demolished. 90% of the clergy were arrested or deported, and even bishops like Michał Kozal were murdered; all religious orders were dissolved, as were seminaries. It is estimated that a total of 3,000 priests were murdered. The symbol of the persecution of the clergy is the camp within a camp, the Priesterblock in Dachau, where thousands of priests from across Europe met their death.

Let us remember and pray, especially for the intercession of the 108 martyrs of World War II, for the victims, and that another war may never occur.

The photograph shows the public execution of Polish priest Roman Pawłowski in Kalisz on October 18, 1939.

"All the more, then, should a Christian not allow himself to be absorbed by temporal cares, since he has another far more important matter to fulfill. What is that matter? The Savior reminds us of it in today’s Gospel when He says: Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. And what is the Kingdom of God? There is no need to go far to find it, for the Lord Jesus teaches: The Kingdom of God is within you (Luke 17:21). And St. Paul writes that the Kingdom of God is not food and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17). Therefore, to seek the Kingdom of God means to strive for Christian righteousness, for peace with God and with people, for a good conscience and joy in the Holy Spirit. Whoever lives in this righteousness, in this peace, and in this joy on earth has the Kingdom of Heaven within him; in him God reigns by grace, and he possesses a pledge of the eternal Kingdom. Let us therefore seek first the things that are eternal, and without a doubt God will not forget our temporal needs either, but will give them to us as an addition. Let our conversation be in heaven, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of the Father. Let us serve faithfully God alone, our Lord, Creator, and Redeemer, to whom be honor and glory forever."

source: Bishop Władysław Krynicki, Krótkie nauki homiletyczne na niedziele i uroczystości całego roku według „Postylli Katolickiej Większej” ks. Jakuba Wujka SI (Short Homiletic Instructions for the Sundays and Feasts of the Entire Year according to the “Greater Catholic Postil” of Fr. Jakub Wujek SI), Włocławek, Published by Księgarnia Powszechna, 1912, pp. 255–259/ the instruction for the Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost (based on the Gospel of Matthew 6:24–33).