The Unpardonable Sins against the Holy Spirit

THE HOLY SPIRIT IN THE FORM OF A DOVE.
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"Therefore I say to you, 

any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, 

but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven." 

- Matthew 12:31

The online Catholic Encyclopedia states that there are three possible categories which can be considered as sins against the Holy Spirit:

[1] Uttering of an insult against the Holy Spirit;

[2] Final impenitence; and

[3] Sins that are committed from downright malice, either by despising or rejecting the inspirations and impulses which, having been stirred in man's soul by the Holy Ghost, would turn him away or deliver him from evil.

Under these three categories, the following particular sins fall: despair, presumption, impenitence or a fixed determination not to repent, obstinacy, resisting the known truth, and envy of another's spiritual welfare.

Despair refers to the voluntary and complete abandonment of all hope of saving one's soul and of having the means required for that end. Meaning, it is a deliberate act of a person of rejecting the possibility of salvation. Mere worry or anxiety does not mean despair in this sense unless one fails to overcome such worry or anxiety which may ultimately lead to despair. This is against hope by defect or lack. On the other hand, presumption, which is against hope by excess or exaggeration, is the condition of a soul which, because of a badly regulated reliance on God's mercy and power, hopes for salvation without doing anything to deserve it, or for pardon of sins without repenting of them. While despair is a sin against hope and the Holy Spirit because of the denial of the possibility of salvation, presumption is a sin against hope and the Holy Spirit because it expects salvation even when someone does not deserve it because of sinfulness and the lack of repentance.

Obstinacy means stubbornness, of sticking to something, here it is a sin against the Holy Spirit in relation to impenitence. Final impenitence is the refusal to repent from sin. It is therefore automatically an unpardonable sin because forgiveness requires repentance or penitence. Unless someone is ready to give up, be sorry and reject sin already, even God cannot do something for God cannot and do not force anyone to repent or reject sin. Hence obstinacy in relation to impenitence would mean sticking to one's sinful, evil, erroneous, beliefs, actions and decisions even if they have been shown to be against the faith, hope and love. 

Somehow related to obstinacy is resisting the known truth. An obstinate person who sticks to a wrong or erroneous belief resists the truth, even the known truth. People who try to reject objective truths and proclaim relativism could be considered sinners under this category for they try to disregard the truth of the natural laws and advance ideas that are subjective and inconsistent with the natural laws even if these are demonstrable and provable.

One of the worst sins that we can commit is being envious of the spiritual welfare of others. While being envy of the material goods of others is already wrong, being envious of others' spiritual goods is worse. Instead of being envious, we should praise God for whatever spiritual good another person acquires or possesses.

These sins truly separate us from God and if they truly fall under the category of unpardonable sins, we must avoid committing them. The Catholic Encyclopedia states that the irremissableness of the sins against the Holy Ghost is exclusively on the part of the sinner, on account of the sinner's act. God is merciful and forgiving, full of love and concern for His children. But without our cooperation, our active part in returning the love which He offers us, He cannot do anything for He is also a just God who hears the cry of the poor, which include all those who have been victimized by others who are supposed to help these least of the Lord's brethren in their needs.