Is This A Mortal Sin?

[KarenJoanna]

Today I raised my voice to my mom and told her kind of pissed off that she took my money, because she ussually borrows my money without asking, and so we argued because she told me that she didnt and so I still thought she took the money and it turns out she did take it but forgot to tell me. I feel bad because maybe by judging her I committed a mortal sin?

[cappie]

Servant of God, John A. Hardon S.J. wrote the Modern Catholic Dictionary- a very handy book to have. It is also online at Catholic Culture with a search bar. Indeed, when I looked it up, our topic was there. Here is what Fr. Hardon says:

RASH JUDGMENT Unquestioning conviction about another person's bad conduct without adequate grounds for the judgment. The sinfulness of rash judgment lies in the hasty imprudence with which the critical appraisal is made and in the loss of reputation that a peson suffers in the eyes of the one who judges adversely.

I found Fr. Hardon's explanation of imprudence very fitting to pull out, in part:

IMPRUDENCE Sins against prudence that are either by defect or by excess. Sins by defect against prudence are: rashness, which acts before due consideration has been given; thoughtlessness, which neglects to take the necessary circumstances into account; and negligence, which does not give the mind sufficient time for mature deliberation.

St. Thomas Aquinas on Rash Judgment

In Article 2 (under, "I answer that..."), St. Thomas says judgment is faulty and unlawful, "...thirdly, when the reason lacks certainty, as when a man, without any solid motive, forms a judgment on some doubtful or hidden matter, and then it is called judgment by 'suspicion' or 'rash' judgment."

THREE DEGREES OF SUSPICION:

St Thomas discusses the level of sinfulness of these kinds of suspicions:

Now there are three degrees of suspicion. The first degree is when a man begins to doubt of another's goodness from slight indications. This is a venial and a light sin; for "it belongs to human temptation without which no man can go through this life," according to a gloss on 1 Corinthians 4:5, "Judge not before the time." The second degree is when a man, from slight indications, esteems another man's wickedness as certain. This is a mortal sin, if it be about a grave matter, since it cannot be without contempt of one's neighbor. Hence the same gloss goes on to say: "If then we cannot avoid suspicions, because we are human, we must nevertheless restrain our judgment, and refrain from forming a definite and fixed opinion." The third degree is when a judge goes so far as to condemn a man on suspicion: this pertains directly to injustice, and is consequently a mortal sin.

Note that one of the qualifiers for the second degree to be a mortal sin, is that the rash judgment be about grave matter. Keep in mind that for a sin to be mortal, three conditions must be met: It must be objectively grave matter and the person must have full knowledge that it is grave matter and consent to it.

On what you have said in my opinion you did not sin mortally, but if you believed you did then I suggest you discuss thid with a priest in confession, that way the priest may have more details, motive etc.

Edited January 29, 2012 by cappie