Holy Family Publications + 7645 S. Chuckwagon Rd + Safford, Arizona 85546
JMJ@JMJsite.com Phone: 928-
+
JMJ
U.I.O.G.D.
Ave Maria!
Jesus, Mary, Joseph, we love You, save souls
O God come to our assistance. Jesus, Mary, Joseph please make haste to help us!
+ + + Jesus, Mary, Joseph + + +
Volume two = The Penitent Christian
NINETEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
The Manner of Confession
“But he was silent.” Matt. 22: 12
When we offend God by mortal sin, we lose the wedding-
I. Humbly; and
II. Candidly.
I. There is no virtue which so wins the favor of God, as humility. Humility is the
measure by which he distributes his graces and favors; for, as St. Peter says: “God
resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble” (Pet. 5: 5). “He hath regarded
the humility of his handmaid,” says the Queen of heaven in her Magnificat. Great
as she was, without humility, even she would not have pleased God. If God then requires,
even from his Mother and his dearest friends, that they should humble themselves,
in order to retain his friendship and receive further graces from him, how much more
will he insist on his enemies humbling themselves, if they wish to regain his grace
and favor? Who are you, sinner, when you come to confession? You are a beggar about
to implore the greatest of favors from an infinitely great and almighty Lord, who
has not the least need of you, and who is at the same time exceedingly wrath with
you. You are a traitor guilty of high-
How did the Ninivites do penance? “They put on sackcloth from the greatest to the
least” (Jonas 3: 5). There was no distinction then between the lady and her maid,
the master and his servant, the king and the lowest of his scullions. All alike assumed
the character of penitents, that is, of men who humbled themselves. “And God saw
their works, that they were turned from their evil way; and God had mercy with regard
to the evil which he had said that he would do them, and he did it not” (Ibid. 10).
Thus also king Achab averted a threatened destruction. “He rent his garments, and
put hair-
When you appear in the confessional, you must be humble of heart, acknowledging yourself worthy of hell fire and undeserving of pardon; humble of speech, declaring your sins with a holy fear, and with modest and respectful words; and humble of manner, showing by downcast eyes, bended knees, and folded hands, that you are before the Judge of the living and the dead, awaiting your sentence.
But are they humble penitents who come to confession dressed in the height of the
fashion, and in a vain, and sometimes, a scandalous style, actually giving occasion
of sin to others, while they are accusing themselves of their own sins? If a stranger—a
non-
And if he were to ask further: “Who are these that, while they wait their turn to enter the confessional, are looking around, laughing, and talking with each other?” “They too, I reply, are poor sinners waiting to appear before their Judge, in order to accuse themselves, and humbly ask for forgiveness.” “Eh?” he would say, “but that is a strange way for them to act! They do not appear to care much for their angry Judge. It seems to matter little to them whether they are forgiven or not!” And he is right. None of these people manifest in their behavior the humility befitting a repentant sinner.
See that man coming along the street, with a heavy burden on his head; he is bowed down under his burden,—he sweats and groans under its weight. If he tripped gaily along, looking cheerfully from side to side, you would soon conclude: “This man does not carry a burden of lead or iron, he must be carrying feathers, or a bag inflated with air; or else is very strong, and does not feel the weight of his load!” Sinner, when you come to confession, having even one mortal sin on your soul, do you know what you bear? A burden of itself capable of dragging you down to the depths of hell; a burden under which David groaned and sighed: “My iniquities are gone over my head; and as a heavy burden are become heavy upon me” (Ps.37: 5). A burden that the heavens could not tolerate in rebel angels, who had sinned against their Creator by a single thought. A burden that engulfed Pharao and his host in the Red Sea. A burden that has sunk thousands into hell. And you laugh and sing under the weight of it? You look about you, and show every sign of outward pride, when you come to lay it aside in confession? If you once realized what it is to have made God your enemy, what an endless good you have thereby lost, what a terrible punishment you have thereby incurred, you would almost die of grief and sorrow; you would approach the sacred tribunal like a poor criminal, about to be led forth from court, after having had sentence of death passed upon him.
But what shall I say of those penitents who tell their manifold and grievous sins as coolly and indifferently as if they were telling the latest news; who dispute and argue with their confessor when he tries to persuade them of the malice of their sins, or of their bounden obligations; or who complain of the penance he imposes on them, and grumble against him for not having treated them with sufficient consideration. How then do you expect your confessor to treat you? As a great lord, or a noble lady? No, for you do not appear in that character in the confessional. There, you are simply a poor sinner deserving of hell, and coming before your Judge to implore his forgiveness. To obtain his grace and mercy, you must not only confess your sins with humility, but also
II. With candor.
The penitent sinner must acknowledge his faults in confession clearly and plainly, without trying to excuse, palliate, lessen, or conceal them. Numbers of people make every effort to throw the blame of their sins off their own shoulders. They put forth as an excuse the weakness of their nature, the sudden surprise of passion, the violence of temptation, which they were unable to overcome under the circumstances, the allurements of an occasion into which they came without intending it, the grievousness of the insult offered them, the high position of the person to please whom they did something unlawful. Thus, they strive to lessen the wickedness and shamefulness of their impurity, drunkenness, vindictiveness, injustice, or anger, so that the confessor may have pity on them, and let them off easy.
King Saul once made a confession of this kind, when he acknowledged his sins to Samuel: “I have sinned,” said he: “because I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord, and thy words;” but he immediately added the excuse, “Fearing the people and obeying their voice” (1Kings 15: 24). In this way, he tried to make himself appear more innocent than he really was, and therefore, his repentance and confession were rejected by the Lord. “Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord,” continued Samuel, “the Lord hath rejected thee from being king over Israel” (Ibid. 26). How differently David acted! When he saw the angel destroying his people, he cried out: “It is I that have sinned; I have done wickedly!” (2 Kings 24: 17). So, every true penitent should say: “It is I who have sinned. The whole malice of the sin lies in my own will; ‘through my fault, through my most grievous fault’.”
Other cunning penitents tell part of their sins in a clear voice, while they mutter
the rest between their teeth, so that the confessor cannot well understand what they
are saying. Or else they purposely use equivocating expressions that leave the priest
unable to form a positive judgment of their case. For instance, a person says: “I
have stolen.” “What did you steal?” asks the priest. “I have stolen a purse.” “And
was it of much value?” “No, it was an old leathern purse that was not worth anything.”
“Oh!” thinks the confessor: “then it was a small theft.” And the penitent goes a-
Many confess their sins in this way. A light and worldly woman, for example, accuses
herself thus: “I have sometimes given way to vanity and curiosity?” What do you mean
by that? Are you not trying to hide dangerous looks and wanton gestures under the
name of vanity and curiosity? Those impure thoughts and desires which you occasion
in yourself and others by your unwarranted freedom in company, are they merely sins
of vanity? The jealousy and secret rage of your husband, who notices your conduct,
is that, too, mere vanity? The profanation of the house of God, in which you appear
dressed in a scandalous style, that might easily excite others to sin, is that only
vanity? The desire and secret longing for an unlawful affection on the part of those
who see you thus tricked out, the reading of impure love-
Ah, with reason does David complain, that “iniquity hath lied to itself” (Ps. 26:
12). Christians, what do you gain by those false confessions? Whom do you deceive?
God? The priest? Or yourselves? The priest, who cannot see your heart, may sometimes,
indeed, be tricked into giving you absolution; but the almighty God, whom the priest
represents, will call out to your conscience: “Why do you pretend to be what you
are not? I know you thoroughly; and therefore, I now announce eternal death to you.
Instead of saying, ‘I absolve you,’ I say ‘I condemn you!’” Ah, unhappy sinner,
if your God condemns you, who then can absolve you? Do you madly wish to transform
the confessional, which our Lord Jesus Christ has made a throne of grace, into a
stern judgment-
Henceforth, make your confession as if (which is in reality the case), you were before
God’s very eyes. Confess your sins humbly and candidly, with all their circumstances,
as far as you know you are guilty of them; and then you can confidently expect one
day, to find written in the great account-
NOTE: Hear hundreds of tapes produced at Holy Family Recordings, including this Sermon, and all the Short Sermons by Father Francis Hunolt on cassette tapes. Order them from:
Patrick Henry
7645 S. Chuckwagon Road
Safford, AZ 85546
928-