The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1889-11-02
! TALK TO YOUNG men.
The Tribunal Of Confession Made
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Easy for Those Who are Heartily
Sorry for Their Sins.

Sorry Tor Their Sins. y
.ABSOLUTION AND. SALVATION,
Pardon, Reconciliation, Consolation, Joy
and Peace for Ever and
Ever.
The man who is sorry for his sins.
can easily obtain the forgiveness Of
them.
God might have exacted severe c0ndi-
t1ons before pardoning those who have
disobeyed His commandments, but He
has made the road back to peace as easy
as possible.
He is more easily placated than men
often are, for what painful steps have
sometimes TO be taken in order to effect
reconciliation with our fellow men! !
Does human justice content itself
with bare avowal Of guilt, with a
mere appearance of penitence?
Public proceedings, infamv, tortura,
chains, prison, privations of every sort.
the rope, the axe, and the sword, invest
temporal courts with terror and horror.
Are you dragged into the confessional
with violence2 Do you there meet an
angry judge? All is secret, all is good,
ness, mildness, and love; and after
wards. no more reproaches,-no prison,
no hangman's hand ,-On the contrary,
overwhelmed with h0nors and friend
ship, justified. ennobled, you depart
from this tribunal, wherein you were
mercifully permitted to be culprit, ac-
cuser, and witness, all in one.
the sinner, am alone at the bar. I
speak in my own cause. am heard.
and my testimony is decisive. No black
calumnies. no bitter misrepresenta-
tions, can enter here; species, number,
circumstances, intentions 0f#mY sins
,as- assI present them, so
they are accepted, no one here exagger-
ates, or produces false witnesses. am
believed. / have nothing to do with
anyone but the Judge.
And this judge is favorably inclined
to me from the beginning. His kind
ness grows with the confidence which I
place in him--with the necessity in
which am.-And justice is mildness.
The representative Of Him who refused
to break the bruised reed, or quench the
smoking fax, will certainly use his best
endeavors to raise me up and revive my
dropping spirit Being human, him-
self, he is conscious of human weakness
And he never f0rgets that, (like his di.
vine Master his mission. above all. is
to seek and to save that which was lost.
(Lnke Is: 10)
It is true, he is judge, and as such,
has to guard the requirements 0f Eter
nal Justice; buff the penitent be sin-
cere and contrite, if he be really in such
dispositions as to deserve the sentence
Of absolution and salvation,- the judge
is always indulgent; his is sentence Of
life.
How difficult it often is to regain the
forfeited favor of an offended prince!
What lengthy negotiations. what hui
miliations, what proofs of submission,
and of a changed sentiment! Those that
surround the prince must first b1
gained. Only arduously and gradually,
the way to the throne is c.eared. One
must wait for an opportunity; and then,
perhaps, a public. confession, a bending
Of the knee, and obsequlous apology :
and withal-uncertaintY of success.
But here-one simple, penitent, pri-
vate approach to Gods representative,
or rather to God himself, and you can
be convinced IN advance, that he for
gives the humble offender willingly and
entirely.
IF God should require Of me to fast for
years to come or, for the remainder Of
nv life. to make pllgrimages to the ut
termost parts of the earth; if He should
demand sacrifices of all sorts; if, as the
price OF reconciliation, He should de
maDd all my substance, my honor and
dignitles, the dearest and most precious
thing in my possession Wha: would re-
main to me but to pay this price, in or
der to recover the desired, absolutely
necessary favor OF the King Of heaven
and earth? s
q But no; a simple avowal, q voluntary
humiliation, sincere satisfaction! y
my God, how easy thou hast made for
me what thou could justly have made
SO difleultl Why, even speak Of diff
Guilty, since there is here que ,tion Of an
offense OF an nsinfnite kind9
What is confession compared with
he'll, which i have deserved by one
mortal sup What III contrast to the
hundred fold hell which g have deserved
BY s hundred mortal sins? $Sss5
There eternal com fusion, eternal re-
proach eternal torms {. and after all,
no emission no fprglg lgenes Here, in
the tribunal 90 Penance brtsf shame,
q 4ssina Ispro0f, q moments dil6caitY