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Brad
Messer
wrote:
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Hi, guys —
Does the Catholic Church believe you can
be forgiven of blasphemy against the
Holy Spirit?
Brad
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Does
the Catholic Church believe you can be
forgiven of blasphemy against the Holy
Spirit? }
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Mike
replied:
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Hi, Brad —
Thanks for the question.
No, it does not.
This is the only sin that the Lord,
through His Church, cannot forgive.
Because The [Lord|God] respects man's
free will.
If a [man|woman] knows one is in
grave mortal sin and yet chooses
not to repent, the Lord will not
compel the person to change his mind.
He respects our free will.
The Catechism tells us:
Article 12 - "I Believe in Life Everlasting"; IV. Hell
1033 We cannot be united with
God unless we freely choose to
love him. But we cannot love God
if we sin gravely against him,
against our neighbor or against
ourselves: "He who does not
love remains in death. Anyone
who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that
no murderer has eternal life abiding
in him." Our Lord warns us that we shall
be separated from him if we fail
to meet the serious needs of the
poor and the little ones who are
his brethren. To die in mortal
sin without repenting and accepting
God's merciful love means remaining
separated from him for ever by
our own free choice. This state
of definitive self-exclusion from
communion with God and the blessed
is called Hell.
IV. The Gravity of sin: Mortal and Venial sin
1864 "Therefore I tell you,
every sin and blasphemy will be
forgiven men, but the blasphemy
against the Spirit will not be
forgiven." (Matthew 12:31; cf. Mark 3:29; Luke 12:10) There are no
limits to the mercy of God, but
anyone who deliberately refuses
to accept his mercy by repenting,
rejects the forgiveness of his
sins and the salvation offered
by the Holy Spirit. (cf. St. John Paul II, Dominum et Vivificanum 46) Such hardness of heart can lead
to final impenitence and eternal
loss. |
I hope this answers your question.
Mike
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Eric
replied:
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Brad —
That being said, a lot of people
needlessly worry about whether they
committed this sin or not. The fact
is, if you're repentant, you can
be forgiven.
Traditionally — as the Catechism
follows — this sin is understood
as final impenitence, that is to
say, refusal at the end of your life
to accept the Mercy of God and be
forgiven of your sins.
I find this difficult to reconcile
with the Gospel account it's based
on — which clearly portrays
the Pharisees committing this sin,
whereupon Jesus comments on it and
makes his famous statement about
it — but I'm open to discussion.
Eric
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