Q.  Catholics are to be in the state of grace when receiving the Eucharist at Mass. This means making a good confession and being free of serious sin. As most people may not remember or recount every single sin, is it really possible to be in a state of grace?

A.   I think, at least for practicing Catholics, what renders one not disposed to receive the sacraments is grave sin, mortal sin. After over 50 years in the priesthood and listening to confessions and all that, I have to say Catholics are pretty good people. I would suspect that in the average Catholic’s life grave sin is a rarity. So being truly sorry and repentant of a mortal sin shouldn’t be too difficult for most.  

Our catechism teaches there are two kinds of grace, actual and sanctifying. Sanctifying grace lives in the soul and gets us to heaven. Actual grace lives in our will and intellect and helps us seek the sanctifying grace we need to live with Christ.

We all know the difference between venial and mortal sin. Venial sins are things which do not send us to hell, but certainly are added to our count in purgatory and they are more or less grave. The term venial means pardonable. All sin is pardonable in the sense that a person who is sorry for sin can have grave sins remitted through confession as well as slight ones. So by living our good lives of faith we can achieve the grace needed to remain close to Christ in this life and the next.

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