Is lying a mortal sin?

[holyorders]

The catechism is very, very vague about it. It seems to focus more on the gravity aspects of the whole situation.


Well here is my situation:
The reason why I am asking is to determine whether or not I need to go to confession. I ended up lying to my parents about the classes I am taking at school. The amount of credits was too much for me and I have to drop a few classes. I ended up telling my parents that I am still taking the classes I dropped.
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Please give me some direction because this is troubling me... especially with Holy Week coming up.

Thanks,
holyorders

 

[Michie]

Well, if you lied so somebody got killed or something equally as grave, I'd say yep, mortal.

Lied to avoid hurt feelings such as-

I cooked all day, does it taste good to you?

Answer- It's fine.

When it isn't.

Venial.

Depends on the situation.

 

[ProCommunioneFacior]

The catechism is very, very vague about it. It seems to focus more on the gravity aspects of the whole situation.


Well here is my situation:
The reason why I am asking is to determine whether or not I need to go to confession. I ended up lying to my parents about the classes I am taking at school. The amount of credits was too much for me and I have to drop a few classes. I ended up telling my parents that I am still taking the classes I dropped.
===============================


Please give me some direction because this is troubling me... especially with Holy Week coming up.

Thanks,
holyorders

I think that would be considered venial, however, I would still get to confession if you can, and if for some reason you can't, I would make the effort to come clean with your parents.

 

[Andy Broadley]

I don't know enough about Catholic teaching to say what sort of sin it is.

But it's one of the "Thou shalt not" commandments.

On a more practical level, your parents are going to find out sooner or later, and will be much easier and better
to tell them now and apologise to them for lying to them.

 

[holyorders]

bump *ã*

 

[graysparrow]

It depends on the gravity of the lie, which I do not see big enough to be a mortal sin.

However this sin is an ongoing sin for as long as you keep your parents from the truth.

Anyway if a sin is troubling you, venial or mortal, you should go to confession.

 

[Andy Broadley]

It depends on the gravity of the lie, which I do not see big enough to be a mortal sin.

However this sin is an ongoing sin for as long as you keep your parents from the truth.

Anyway if a sin is troubling you, venial or mortal, you should go to confession.

Sounds like sound advice to me.

 

[Globalnomad]

And DO come clean to your parents ASAP. As Andy said, they'll find out sooner or later, and the more you hide it, the worse it will be.

My son has just done exactly the same. He only kept up the lie for a few weeks, then he confessed. I assure you I was not THAT angry... though we did cut part of his allowance for the term, hoping to motivate him not to drop courses again.

Good luck!

 

[King of the Nations]

The catechism is very, very vague about it. It seems to focus more on the gravity aspects of the whole situation.


Well here is my situation:
The reason why I am asking is to determine whether or not I need to go to confession. I ended up lying to my parents about the classes I am taking at school. The amount of credits was too much for me and I have to drop a few classes. I ended up telling my parents that I am still taking the classes I dropped.
===============================


Please give me some direction because this is troubling me... especially with Holy Week coming up.

Thanks,
holyorders

No. Not a mortal sin.

If you were bilking your parents for tuition assistance for classes that you were not taking....that'd be a different story. But just telling them that you're still taking Art 101 when you're not? No. Not mortal by any means.

Greg

 

[New_Found_Faith]

Dude if you lied to your parents and confessed it but still kept up the lie it wouldn't matter if you went to confession or not.

But nah, doesn't sound like 'grave matter' to me.

 

[Febe]

Even if it is not counted as mortal, going to confession might help You to find a way to tell...

 

[geocajun]

Every lie is sinful, however the gravity of the harm it causes determines the gravity of the sin. Only you know the gravity of the lie as we do not know the sacrifices your parents make for your education, etc... there is more than meets the eye in terms of circumstances, so nobody here can say with certainty but you, however as graysparrow pointed out, this lie has not ended until you end it. Every offense against the truth requires reperation, which you need to make to your parents.