Paul writes in Ephesians 2:1 that before we become Christians, we are all "dead in [our] transgressions and sins." The Catechism reminds us, “Sin is an offense against reason, truth, and right conscience; it is failure in genuine love for God and neighbor caused by a perverse attachment to certain goods. Venial sin allows charity to subsist, even though it offends and wounds it. This means that mortal sins are "premeditated" by the sinner and thus are truly a rejection of God’s law and love. Other sins admit lightness of matter: they are grave sins (ex genere suo) in as much as their matter in itself is sufficient to constitute a grave sin without the addition of any other matter, but is of such a nature that in a given case, owing to its smallness, the sin may be venial, e.g. Mortal sins fully cut off God’s sanctifying grace from the sinner. A second passage sometimes used as evidence that masturbation is a sin is Matthew 5:27–30. According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church: 1862 One commits venial sin when, in a less serious matter, he does not observe the standard prescribed by the moral law, or when he disobeys the moral law in a grave matter, but without full knowledge or without complete consent. Therefore, the capital sins or vices are indeed "capital" and grave because they are the source of particular actual sins, which may be mortal or venial; in turn, the repetition of actual sins, particularly mortal sins, leads to the spiritual corruption of the person, whose life is permeated by the vice. Definition. This means that mortal sins cannot be done "accidentally." Using terminology this way, we could say this: “A sin with objectively grave matter, committed with full knowledge and deliberate consent, is a grave sin.” theft. 1855 Mortal sin destroys charity in the heart of man by a grave violation of God's law; it turns man away from God, who is his ultimate end and his beatitude, by preferring an inferior good to him. Jesus speaks against having lustful thoughts and then says, “If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away.” While there is clearly a connection between lustful thoughts and masturbation, it is unlikely that Jesus was alluding to the specific sin of masturbation in this passage. Of course he does not mean that we are physically dead. A mortal sin is defined as a grave action that is committed in full knowledge of its gravity and with the full consent of the sinner’s will. Mortal sin, in Roman Catholic theology, the most serious of sins, representing a deliberate turning away from God. Mortal sin definition is - a sin (such as murder) that is deliberately committed and is of such serious consequence according to Thomist theology that it deprives the soul of sanctifying grace. It wounds the nature of man and injures human solidarity. This would be different from talking about a sin with grave matter, which would need to be committed with deliberate consent and complete knowledge to become a mortal sin/grave sin. Mortal sin destroys charity in the heart of man by a grave violation of God’s law; it turns man away from God, who is his ultimate end and his beatitude, by preferring an inferior good to him…. Mortal sin is a radical possibility of human freedom, as is love itself. I have read (many times over) the description in the Catechism, specifically sections 1854-1864.I am still unclear about the definition of grave matter. What is Mortal and Venial Sin? 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