The Irish standard., 1888-07-14
GA u III j. L NE VS..
Tie Virtue Of Confession,


man, stating that when he confessed be
confessed to God to which l replied,
that you cannot do, for God has Or
dained it otherwise, and to prevent this
assertion is the object Of the following
letter.
It is admitted by all that God Is an
all-wise and all-poWerful Being, hence
all things are feasible to Him that are
not incompatible with His wisdom.
He could have ordained that confession
be made in secret to Him directly by
His individual creature, and this He
would have done had it been agreeable
toHis wisdom Now, had He ordained
things thus, His justice would have
forced Him to give to His creatures UNI
mistakable evidence OF His designs and
wishes in this regard. Where then are
we to look if not to the Holy Scriptures
for the expressed designs and wishes OF
Almighty God ); and if to the Holy
Scriptures, wherein IS it indicated that
man is directed to confess to Him in
secret the SINS of omission and commits
SION, and is promised that by So
doing he will receive pardon for them,
it is nowhere to be found. On the con.
trary, We find in the 1X. Chapter Of St,
John that Christ, after His crucifixion,
suddenly appeared to His disciples, and
SAID, peace be to you, as My Father
sent me, l also send you," breathed
upon them and said, Receive we the
Holy Ghost, whose sins you shall for.
give they are forgiven them, and whose
sins you shall retain they are retained" "
Now, kind friend, will you have the
audacity to say that Christ Gid not
mean whet He said, or that He could
not do what Eie said. You must then
admit that Christ gave to His apostles
the power to forgive sins. Now, the
power to forgive sin is corelative With
the OBJ igatior Of confessjng sin for
how can man forgive sin unless sin is
made known to him. Now, when pow
er is delegated to All individual it is for
the express purpose that this power be
exercised by the Individual to whom it
is given. The apostles then received
the power to forgive sin for the sole
purpose Of pardoning sin, OK ercising
that power in the name Of God, from
Whom they received it. In St. James,
". 1G. we read, Confess, therefore,
your sins one 10 s5.>other, and pray for
ONE ano s. that YOU may be saved, for
the CONT, .tv'ls prayer Of the just man
ayalleth much" And in Acts, XIX. Is,
}"NHany of them who believed came con-
Tossing and declaring their deeds"
Does this not plead strongly in favor of
confession. You must say that it does.
We now turn to St. Mathew, XVIII. Is,
and read that Christ said, ''Amen, /
say TO you whatsoever you shall bind on
earth, shall be- bound also in Heaven,
and also whatsoever you shall loose on
earth, shall be loosed also in Heaven"
Remember now, those to whom Christ
spoke were men, human beings, like
YOU and me. But you may say that
power was given to the apostles and
died with the apostles. Now, my dear
friend, matter of SO great Importance
ss ones eternal salvation deserves a
careful and an honest consideration.
Does it appear reasonable that God Of
wisdom, truth and omnipOtence, would
give Himself 5up to the death Of the
Cross, raise lTimself from the dead the
third day after che cruci6xion, and live
forty days on earth to establish a prin-
ciple which He knew would terminate
with the apostles. No, my friend, you
would not attribute such a lack of wis
dom to the least Of your acquaintance.
But let us see if we can find any proof
to show that these principles were to
last forever. In Matthew XVIII. IS, IS,
20: And Jesus coming, spoke to
them. saying, All power is given to me
in Heaven and in earth T; 60 We, there
fore, that is by virtue OF this power,
and teach all nations, baptizing them
in the name Of the Father, and Of che
Son, and of the Holy Ghost, teaching
them to observe all things whatsoever
/ have commanded you, and behold I
am with you all days even to the con-
summation Of the world" Now, my
dear friend. do not have the blasphem.
GUS audacity or foolish temerity to as
sert that Christ, the Son CT the living
God, oveIestimated His power when
HE said, 81 am with you all days even
to the consummation Of the world y
Know we'll that God meant What He
said, and can do what He said. Again,
look how beautifully the sacrament of
penance was pretigured in the Old Tes-
lament, Numbers W. 4: 1.-THE Lord
spake tc Moses, say to the children Of
Israel, when a man or a woman shall
have committed any Of all the sins that
men are wont to commit, and by negli-
gence shall have transgressed the com.
mandments Of the Lord and offended,
they shall confess their sins and return
the principle itself and q fifth part over
and above to him against whom they
NCp1u .4oor Fr;o.s !.