The Mystery Of Venial Sin

[Ziggamafu]

Charity is the love of God above all things and the love of others for that reason.
Only mortal sin, which is the absence of sanctifying grace, destroys charity completely.
Therefore, if there is any charity at all present in a person therein is also sanctifying grace.

It seems then, that perfect charity would mean absolute spiritual perfection.
Weakened charity would mean various attachments to venial sin.
No charity would mean mortal sin.

But how can we only [i]partially [/i]"love God above all else" (i.e. how can venial sin exist)?

The only way I can make sense of it is this analogy:
Perfect love of water would mean drinking nothing but water. Imperfect love of water would mean drinking, say, five glasses of milk and six glasses of water. You would still love water "above all else" but you wouldn't [i]only [/i]love water. No love of water would mean only drinking milk.
...now I know that's not the best analogy, but it's all I can think of.

The real question I have is this: in light of charity being the proof of sanctifying grace, how can single actions (other than apostasy or atheism) destroy charity? It seems that the whole life's worth of thoughts, desires, and actions would have to be weighed in order to determine if God was "loved above all else", like in the water vs. milk analogy. However, I know this is Fundamental Option Theory, which was condemned by JP2. So how can charity and venial sin be reconciled in the discernment of sanctifying grace?

[Justin (Wiccan)]

[quote name='Ziggamafu' post='1245743' date='Apr 16 2007, 01:55 PM']The real question I have is this: in light of charity being the proof of sanctifying grace, how can single actions (other than apostasy or atheism) destroy charity?[/quote]

Perhaps better than the "water or milk" analogy would be an analogy in 2 Tim 4:7.

[quote]I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.[/quote]

Venial sins distract one from giving his or her utmost in the race--after all, if one is so attached to making money that one neglects or forgets that devotion to God comes first, one cannot give one's "best" race. Mortal sins distract one from the race entirely--if I were wrathful with my brother, my wrath so distracts me from the race that I cannot run at all.

Edited April 16, 2007 by Justin (Wiccan)