Atftmi Ccjau) a .1 . YOUR CONFESSION By REV. WILFRED G. HURLEY, C.S.P. vf.i, .'•7 Nihil Obstat: Imprimatur : Arthur J. Scanlan, S.T.D., Censor Librorum. * Patrick Cardinal Hayes* Archbishop, New York, New York, February 12, 1937. PRINTED AND PUBLISHED IN THE U. S. A. BY THE PAULIST PRESS, NEW YORK 19 , N. Y. New York THE PAULIST PRESS 401 West 59th Street “Be gone, SaUm* . . * Page Two YOUR CONFESSION HEN we think of Jesus we must always remember that He was God. And we must always remember that God is Love. And while Jesus came on earth to teach us, more than anything else He wished to show us His love by helping us. And especially by helping us to stay away from sin. To over- come temptation. To conquer sin. For sin is the greatest evil in the world. Because when we commit sin, we hurt God. And Page Three by committing real grievous sin, we reiect God and turn away from Him. You know how terrible sin is without anyone telling you. You feel very unhappy when you hurt God in this manner. Why? Because you know how good God has been to you. He has done everything to please you. He has given you this wonderful world to live in. He has given you the sun which shines during the day. The twinkling stars, which gleam in the heavens at night. The pretty flowers which blossom to please you. The green Page Four Jesus , the Good Shepherd Page Five grass which is God’s beautiful, soft carpet upon which you play. The happy birds that sing their songs for you. Your parents who love and care for you. All these and many other won- * derful things God has so gener- ously given you. Then, too, you cannot help but remember the many, many glorious things He has done for you. How your heart sinks when you realize how good God has been to you and how hateful you have been to God. You feel so sorry for having done these things to hurt Him Who loves you so much. And you want Him to forgive Page Six you. You want Him to forget all these sins. You want to return to Him. To be His loving child once more. You want to know that He has forgiven you. You want to know that He loves you as He did before you were such a bad child. Page Seven You cannot drive the thought away. You feel so unhappy. Your little conscience is con- stantly telling you what you have done. How bad you have been. Always before you is your sin. You simply have to know that God has forgiven you. How can you know this You can know this because God loves you. And because He does love you, you know He has left you a way to return to Him. A way by which you can know positively that He has forgiven you. A way by which you can be absolutely sure and certain. Just as though Jesus Himself were Page Eight speaking to you, and saying to you : “Thy sins are forgiven thee.” And Jesus does say these words to Paga Nina you through the lips of His priests. Would you like to know how this came about? First of all, Jesus could forgive sins Himself. Again and again Jesus told those who listened to Him that He had the power to forgive men their sins, to make their souls clean and shining and beautiful once more. He even worked a miracle to prove it—one of His greatest miracles. One day Jesus was preaching in Capharnaum to many learned men. Now in this town there was a poor man who was sick with the palsy. He was so badly crippled Page Ten he could not even walk. So he asked his friends if they would carry him to Jesus. When they came to the house the crowd was so great that they could not get through. So they carried him up on the roof and lowered the man, stretcher and all, through an open- ing. Down, down, until he rested Page Eleven Page Twelve at the feet of Jesus. Such faith pleased Jesus when He saw the sick man. But remember God reads our hearts. So it was with Jesus. He saw the man was sick of the palsy. But more than that, He saw the man heartsick with sorrow for his sins. Because you can imagine how the man felt when he looked into the kind and loving eyes of Jesus. So Jesus said to him : “Son, thy sins are for- given thee.” But when Jesus said this some of His wicked enemies said within themselves, “He blasphemeth.” But Jesus knew their thoughts. Quickly He turned to them and Page Thirteen demanded : “Why think you these things in your hearts? Which is easier to say, ‘Thy sins are for- given thee,’ or to say, ‘Arise, take up thy bed and walk’?” And then! Turning upon them with stern eyes He cried out, “But that you may know that the Son of Man hath power on earth to for- give sins.” He turned back to the sick man and commanded, “Arise, take up thy bed and go into the house.” The man got up at once all well again. Gratefully he thanked Jesus. The people stared in wonderment. Then they could hardly believe their eyes. They cried out that never before had Page Fourteen Page Fifteen they seen anything such as this. So you see Jesus did all this so we would know He had the power to forgive sins. And when men and women came to Him and were sorry for their sins, He always blessed them and said, “Thy sins are forgiven thee.” But Jesus was God. And God loves everyone equally. He is just as much concerned about people who live now as He was about those who lived when He was upon earth. And the same with those who will live upon this earth in centuries to come. So Jesus must have left some Page Sixteen Page Seventeen Jesus arose again from the dead. Page Eighteen way by which people who loved God and were sorry for their sins would hear these same words of forgiveness down through the ages, until the end of time. Would you like to know how Jesus did this wonderful thing? You remember how Jesus died on the Cross and arose again from the dead. It was a few days after His resurrection and the Apostles were gathered together in a little room in Jerusalem, waiting for Jesus to come to them. Suddenly they heard His words, “Peace be to you.” And He stood before them. He showed them His pierced hands and feet to show Page Nineteen I I Page Twenty how He had suffered for our sins. Then He said to them again, “Peace be to you. As the Father hath sent Me, I also send you.” Then Jesus breathed upon them and He said to them : “Receive ye the Holy Ghost, whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them, and whose sins you shall re- tain, they are retained.” How thrilled the Apostles must have been when He said this to them ! They had seen so much of the suffering and sorrow of these sinful men and women who came to Jesus to have their sins for- given. They had heard and seen Jesus forgive sins. They had seen Page Twenty-one the shining faces of those men and women who were filled with new joy, new hope, and new happiness. And now Jesus was telling them, “Whose sins you shall for- give, they are forgiven them.” And was it not wonderful*? After Jesus had ascended into Heaven little children like your- self could go to an Apostle and ask him to forgive their sins. Then the Apostle would ask them, “My dear little child, what sins have you committed?” Then when the little child had told his sins, from the lips of the Apostle would come the words of Jesus, “Thy sins are forgiven thee.” Page Twenty-two And so Jesus gave the power to His Apostles to teach, baptize, confirm, preach, and to say Mass. They in turn handed down these powers to those who succeeded them down through the ages. So it was also with the power to for- give sins. And that is why when you go to confession today the priest says those words of Jesus to you, “Thy sins are forgiven thee.” And remember that Jesus is al- ways ready to forgive you when you are sorry for your sins. We know this because Jesus Himself said so. One day Jesus was asked by St. Peter how often he should forgive Page Twenty-three his friends who hurt him. He asked Jesus if it would be often enough if he forgave them seven times. And Jesus told Peter even if he forgave them seventy times seven times, it would not be enough. Is it not the most wonderful thing in the world that God •should love you like this? Surely when you rise to leave the confessional your heart must be full of love and gratitude to your Jesus Who has just forgiven you your sins through His priest. That He has made your sou] again beautiful and shining. Made you again a child of God. Page Twenty-four 51