What on EARTH is Mortal Sin and Where the HELL Does it Lead You?

The title of this article is the name of my newly published book (only $6.99 on Amazon). Despite its title, it’s a serious book. Catholics of every stripe can benefit from it. This is because, as The Universal Prayer attributed to Pope Clement XI succinctly states: “Life on earth is short, and the life to come, eternal.” For the baptized Christian, the difference between an eternity in either Heaven or Hell is unrepented mortal sin.

Everyone needs boundaries. Whether it be the rules of a sport, laws of the land, or regulations of any human organization – everybody needs to know where the out-of-bounds markers are. Without this knowledge, there is no freedom to live the good life.

The moral law of God is the ultimate boundary-fence within which the good life may be lived; and mortal sin is the alligator-infested swamp right outside that boundary. The problem today is that people don’t recognize either the fence or the swamp. Pope Pius XII once said of the post-WWII era, “The greatest sin of modern times is the loss of the sense of sin.” We live in an “I’m a good person – everyone goes to Heaven” culture that is oblivious to the crucial distinctions in lifestyle that could ultimately mean the difference between Heaven and Hell.

This book helps us regain an understanding of sin – both the objective evil and subjective culpability that are involved. It also tackles basic questions like: Why does Adam and Eve’s sin affect me? Do people send themselves to Hell? If God loves us so much, why would He allow people to languish forever in Hell? How can I avoid mortal sin and its eternal consequences? and, If I commit a mortal sin, am I doomed for all eternity?

That said, one question is central to the heart of this little  book: If mortal sin merits never-ending misery in Hell, what acts are the matter of mortal sin? It’s such a simple, obvious, and critical question to ask, yet not too many people ask it. You can’t live a moral life and attain happiness if you don’t know what needs to be avoided.

This book provides a list of acts referred to as “grave matter” in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. This means that if anyone with full knowledge and full consent chooses to perform any of these acts, he or she is guilty of mortal sin. And this means being in the state of sin, which is spiritual death, and on the road to the deep existential misery that is being apart from God and all joy, love, peace, goodness, and beauty for all eternity.

While Jesus told us not to worry about the death of the body – that it will one day be reconstituted and risen, it’s the death of the soul about which He warns us. Spiritual death does not mean annihilation, but rather being devoid of the divine life of grace. As food is to the body, grace is to the soul. Like a flower without sunlight, the soul without Son-light withers and dies. The person who physically dies in this state of spiritual death goes straight to Hell. This has been a dogma of the Church for over two millennia.

Jesus spoke often about sin, and warned His followers numerous times about Hell. Nevertheless, being formed in a nation with such an agnostic zeitgeist as ours, and probably within a parish that has been scandalously silent on the critical realities of sin and Hell, you may be very surprised at what you will see on this list of objectively mortal sins.

There are only two roads to travel in this life – one that leads to Heaven and the other to Hell. The way to get off the road to misery and on to the road of happiness is genuine contrition and repentance. For Catholics, this necessarily means the sacrament of Confession. This sacramental encounter with the merciful Christ through His ordained priest brings about forgiveness, grace, and reconciliation with God and His Church. God awaits the sinner in this wonderful sacrament, but He doesn’t force the matter. He gave us free will to choose our own destinies, and an intellect that can know the truth that sets us free (Jn 8:32). That’s what this book is all about.

As a recent billboard on Interstate 95 warns to all oncoming traffic: “Eternity is too long to get it wrong.”