SIN

-it rejects the good or value that the person is obliged to do

-it violates the fundamental human values of interpersonal and social relations
-it hurts one’s freedom and the freedom of others
-it is an obstacle to one’s becoming a good person as he/ she refuses to see the needs and hurts of others
-it is selfishness
-it is the opposite of love
-it is self-centeredness with no regard for the feelings and needs of others
-it is the opposite of true freedom and it is the violation of authentic conscience
-must be seen as that which hurts us, cuts us off from others, destroys our friendships, mutual trust and
sharing
-it separates from everyone and from God
PRODIGAL SON (Luke 15: 11-32)
-it shows the reality of sin and its consequences on the sinners themselves and of others and how ultimately
sinners cannot save themselves
-only love and forgiveness can liberate them from themselves

CHURCH TEACHINGS ABOUT SIN

CFC, 773
Sin can have different dimensions. It can be described as a spiral, a sickness and an addiction.
1. Sin as SPIRAL can enslave us in a contagious, habit of vice that acts like a virus, infecting social attitudes
and structures such as the family, social groups and the like.
2. Sin as SICKNESS  linking healing with the forgiveness of sin.
3. Sin as an ADDICTION, is a process over which we become powerless as it becomes progressively more
compulsive and obsessive that will lead to a pattern of ever deeper deception of self and others, ending in
the inevitable disintegration of all our major personal and social relationships.

CFC, 775
Sin is a SOCIAL SIN. It stresses complicity in evil by showing how members of the same group are mutually
involved.
Sin is a Social Sin can refer to…
1. Sins that directly attack human rights and basic freedom, human dignity, justice and the common good
2. Sins infecting relationships between various human communities, such as class struggle or confrontations
between blocs of nation
3. Situations of sin or sinful structures that are the consequences of sinful choices and acts like racial
discrimination

CFC, 1806
Sin is a MORTAL SIN. It will lead to death, the loss of true or eternal life.
1. Sin is a MORTAL SIN because it kills the overall love pattern of our relation to God, our fundamental core
freedom as related to God.
2. Sin is a MORTAL SIN because  a person freely rejects God and his law, that the covenant of love which
God offers, preferring to turn in on himself or to some created and finite reality, something contrary to the
divine will.
3. Sin is a MORTAL SIN and must be confessed in the Sacrament of Penance or Reconciliation.  

CFC, 1807
-Sin is a VENIAL SIN (from “venia” meaning “pardon or forgiveness” are “excusable” sins which do not
involve the
person’s fundamental freedom nor lead to spiritual death.
-All wrong doing is sin, but not all sin is deadly. Venial sins harm our relationships with God and others by
undermining the fervor of our life of charity and can gradually lead to mortal sins.
-Though venial sins are by definition pardonable, they should not be taken lightly, for they offend God.
-Some are clearly more serious than others because of the damage done to the person involved or others.
When a habit develops, it can lead to mortal sin.
The Degrees of Sin classified by the Church Teachings describe the depth of moral evil involved.
Degrees of Sin depends on…
1.Gravity of the matter
-is determined in terms of the depth of the moral good that is violated or destroyed
2.Full knowledge
-not limited to simply knowing the facts or having the right of information but is an evaluative knowledge, a
personal grasp of the value involved
-one has a feel, a deep sense of how the action would hurt others; this is a felt knowledge that we acquire by
personal involvement and reflection
3.Full consent
-it refers to the free and deep involvement of the person in the evil of his/ her action

In Judging whether an act is morally right or wrong, we to consider the following…

1.Nature of the Act
-it refers to the kind of action done; it consists of all that specifies the act and makes it what it is
2.Intention of the Person
-it refers to the reason why the person did the act which he/she subjectively aims at
3. Circumstances
-it refers to the situation within which the person committed the act

Examples: 
Nature of the Act
-student giving gifts to a teacher
Intention
-to get a favor from the teacher
Circumstance
-the student is failing in the subject 

Nature of the Act

-a person shots a person to death
Intention
-to defend oneself
Circumstance
-in a war zone in Ukraine