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
TWENTY-
The Wickedness of Those Who Sin in the Hope of Being Forgiven in Confession
And his Lord being angry delivered him to the torturers. St. Matt. 18:34.
This parable represents in a striking manner what has often taken place, and what still takes place between God and the sinner. In it you have a symbol, first, of the infinite goodness of God towards the repenting sinner, and second, of the inconceivable ingratitude of many sinners, who abuse and outrage the goodness and mercy of God, and who continually alternate between confession and sin, sin and confession, profaning the holy Sacrament of Penance by their wicked lives. Against those sinners, I direct my words today; and I tell them beforehand that they are in the greatest and most evident danger of eternal damnation,
I. Because they will never be really converted to God; and
II. Because God will hardly ever give them the grace of true repentance.
He who does not understand his business will not perform it rightly. So, also, he who does not understand what is necessary for true repentance, will never be really converted to God, nor obtain forgiveness of his sins. Presumptuous man, who fall into grievous sin without scruple or shame, flattering yourself that it does not make much matter, so that you confess it afterwards, learn that the declaration of one’s sins to the priest in confession is the least of the things required for true repentance. That which is most necessary for the true conversion of a sinner is contrition for his sins; that sorrow must be (1) sincere and interior, (2) supernatural, (3) universal, and (4) sovereign. It must include, also, a firm purpose of the will rather to die than to offend God again by one mortal sin. Do you understand this?
1. In the first place, do you believe that such a sorrow is required for the validity of your confession? If so, you act against all the laws of common sense, and are utterly incapable of true contrition when you say to yourself, I will commit this sin, or I will continue committing it, because I can confess and repent of it afterwards. Who ever heard a man say: “I will throw myself down from the top of this wall and break my arms and legs; but afterwards I will be sorry for my folly, and will condemn it with bitter tears, and will send for an experienced doctor to heal my wounds?” Or: “I will set fire to my house, but will regret afterwards that I have done so, and, with great expense, will build a new one.” Or, again: “I will marry that notoriously wicked woman, and afterwards, will wish sincerely that I had never seen her!” Would not such a man be regarded as a fool or a madman? But such and even greater is the folly you are guilty of, when you commit mortal sin, because you think that you will afterwards be able to repent of and confess it.
2. Further, considering your mode of action, are you able to awaken the true sorrow
and repentance required by God, or will you be able to awaken it later on? What will
be your motives? What have they been hitherto? It is well known that contrition
for sin is twofold, namely, perfect and imperfect. Perfect contrition comes from
a perfect love of God, arising from the knowledge given us by faith that God is of,
and in, himself, the infinite and supreme Good, and of himself, is worthy of infinite
love and esteem. Therefore, it grieves us above all things that we have offended
such a God who is worthy of all love. Imperfect sorrow arises either from the fear
of God’s justice and the dread of hell-
Rash man, who have continued heaping sin on sin, depending on the chance of making
a good confession, how will you be able to resist to the end the effects of inveterate
habit, and those inclinations which, being already implanted in your nature, have
acquired additional violence by long indulgence; how will you be able to resist them,
even supposing that you are truly converted and make a good confession? How can
you promise yourself a victory over them, after having made a second nature out of
your evil habits? How will you be able to vanquish them, when the devil comes with
his suggestions and temptations, strengthening your natural inclinations to sin?
The oftener you have allowed yourself to be overcome by the devil, the more are you
enslaved by him, the stronger the dominion he has over you and your evil desires;
and what will be the terrible consequences? I will commit sin, you say to yourself,
and afterwards I will repent of and confess it; or, I will gratify my passions this
once, and then one confession will make it all right. Ah! All that is nothing but
a deceit of the devil! Do not trust him! The crafty tempter acts like a general who,
having obtained permission to pass through the enemy’s country with one or two companies
of soldiers, promising to remain but a day or two, as soon as he has effected an
entry, fortifies himself and is not easily dislodged. So the devil, our sworn enemy,
seems to be satisfied, in the beginning, if we grant him simply a right of way. He
suggests to a man that he ought to try this pleasure; he can repent of it afterwards;
and if the suggestion is acted on, he persuades his victim to try the same pleasure
once more, trusting again in a future confession. But you must be on your guard,
or else he will bring matters so far with his suggestions that, keeping fast hold
of you as his bond-
II. God does not give the grace of true repentance to the presumptuous sinner.
Man, by his own unassisted strength, can do no supernaturally good work. Much less
can he free himself from the state of sin, repent of his evil deeds, and do penance
as he ought, unless God helps him by his preventing and co-
1. You do not deserve that grace. It is generally acknowledged amongst men of the world that he who is ungrateful to his benefactor deserves to be deprived of the benefits he has received; and much more so, if he has misused those benefits to insult and injure his benefactor. The Sacrament of Penance is founded on the precious blood of Jesus Christ. It is instituted as a special benefit and a necessary help for us poor, frail mortals, since by its means, if we commit a mortal sin, we can free ourselves from it, and more easily avoid a relapse. But you, o sinner! Abuse this very benefit as a reason and a means of sinning all the more shamelessly against God. For, if there was no confession, if you knew for certain that, should you commit a grievous sin, there is no means of freeing your conscience from it, you would surely be more on your guard against mortal sin, and would not allow yourself to be so easily overcome by temptation. Since, however, the good and merciful God has appointed this easy means of procuring pardon, you contemn him without scruple, and add sin to sin. “I will commit sin,” you think, “because I can tell it in confession afterwards.” That is to say: “I will offend my God, because he has given me a means of freeing myself from the state of sin! I will offend my God, because he will forgive me afterwards.” In a word, your meaning is: I will despise my God, and defy him, because being so good and merciful, he will afterwards receive me into his grace and friendship. Is not that abusing a benefit to insult the Benefactor?
2. But you expect an extraordinary grace from your outraged God: On what do you ground your presumptuous hope? The holiest Saints were often obliged to beg for years and years before obtaining certain favors from him. St. Paul, a chosen vessel of election, prayed, while constantly chastising and mortifying his body, for the grace to be freed from the assaults of the flesh; and yet, as he himself acknowledges, he did not receive it. Pious souls, who seek for nothing in the world but to please God more and more, and to fulfill his holy will in all things, how long have they not to pray, sometimes for a certain virtue, such as angelic purity, patience under adversity, love of crosses and humiliations, before they obtain from God the favor they long for so earnestly? And you, after having so long abused the benefits of God, and profaned the holy Sacrament of Penance, you are not afraid to promise yourself that you will obtain a far greater favor, namely, the grace of true repentance, whenever you may be pleased to accept it! God must be ready at your nod and beck, to prepare for you a grace that he is bound to give to no man who has sinned mortally even once, and through frailty! No! No! Pearls are not to be cast before swine in that way! True, the mercy of God in receiving sinners is exceedingly great; but he has not entrusted it to any one to do with it what he likes, as you seem to be presumptuous enough to imagine. You act as if you had a document in your possession assuring you of the grace of conversion whenever you are willing to claim it. But that is not the case: “I will have mercy on whom I will,” said God to Moses, “and I will be merciful to whom it shall please me” (Exod. 33: 19). To you, I say, he will not at all times give the grace of true repentance, since you make a bad use of it to commit sin; nay, he cannot, so to speak, give it to you, as a general rule, for that would not be becoming him.
It is a consoling truth, that his goodness and mercy are limitless and endless, that the treasures of his grace are inexhaustible; but it is also infallibly certain, that he dispenses his favors with the greatest judgment, as becomes such a just and wise Lord; and that he always acts with a view to his own honor and glory, that men may praise and magnify him all the more. He justly desires, that his benefits should be recognized and prized. For this reason, he often refuses for a long time to grant the favor asked of him by his holiest servants, in order that, when received at last, they may value them the more; for what is easily gotten, generally speaking, is little valued. He has decreed an eternal punishment for every mortal sin, so that the fear of hell may act as a check on men, to keep them from offending him, and to make them faithful in his service. Now, all this would go for nothing, if God, as a general rule, were to give the grace of true repentance to those who go on sinning in the hope of confessing their sins afterwards. Would he not seem to expose himself and his honor to mockery and contempt in his own world? Who would value the grace of repentance, if it were to be had whenever one wishes it, even after it had been shamefully abused! Who would fear the fire of hell, if every sinner were free to say: “Hell is not for me. I can sin as much as I please, and tomorrow, or the next day, I shall confess my sins, and all will be well with me!”
Such a state of things would confirm the impious in their wicked lives, and would
lead infidels to mock and despise God! What scandal would be given the innocent!
What cause for murmurs and complaints to the good and righteous, seeing that the
pearl of God’s kingdom is cast before swine, that is, offered at a cheap price to
reckless and presumptuous sinners, while they themselves have to work out their salvation
in fear and trembling, and amid continual labors and trials! “Be not deceived,” is
the warning given by St. Paul, “God it not mocked. For what things a man shall sow,
those also shall he reap” (Gal. 6: 7, 8). If you sinned long and grievously against
the divine commands, there is still hope for you; only return with confidence; repent
sincerely and confess your sins. Our merciful God does not desire the death of the
sinner, but that he be converted and live. But to rely on this confession, on this
long-
Dogs, when they find the door open in the morning, run out at once; they play, and jump about, and fight with each other, and carry on their games all over the town, till evening. Sometimes, indeed, they come home, when they find the door open and see the table laid; but, as soon as they have swallowed a mouthful, they are away again, until nightfall, when they return; and if they happen to find the door closed, they bark and howl their loudest in order to get admittance. But their master is too sensible to pay any attention to the noise they make. He lets them howl away until they are tired, so that they have to suffer the pangs of hunger all night on the doorstep. “They shall suffer hunger like dogs.” There you have a picture of the unhappy state of those sinners of whom I am speaking. They see the door of God’s mercy open for them in the holy Sacrament of Penance; but what do they do? They run about wildly all the days of their lives, failing from one sin into another. Sometimes, it is true, they come back and confess their sins, but after confession, they continue their wicked lives as before. “They shall return at evening;” when the day is past, and the night of death is drawing nigh; but then, “they shall suffer hunger like dogs.” They shall fare like the foolish virgins, who wished to return to the marriage feast after having purchased oil for their lamps. The door of grace is closed against them. “Lord, Lord, open to us” (Matt. 25: 11), they exclaimed; but the only answer they got was, “I know you not.”
“Be not deceived: God is not mocked. For what things a man shall sow, those also shall he reap. For he that soweth in his flesh, of the flesh also, shall reap corruption; but he that soweth in the Spirit, of the Spirit shall reap life everlasting” (Gal. 6: 7: 8).
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-