The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-10-30
CONFESSION WAS PREACHERS THEME Father Bratton Emphasizes the Teaching of Catholic Church AUTHORITIES ARE Cl1EG Priest Expounds Practice of the Church and Seeks to Prove Reas-
 condolences of Discipline of
 Bible and Tradition.
AUTHORITIES ARE CI1EL

largely attended yesterday. The Rev John | J. Bratton said first mass. He delivered l a discourse at the "early' service, an | other at. the second service and still an- other at the last service, which was high 1 mass. His notices for the week included
 a reminder that next Wednesday would be
 All Saints Day--a holy day of obliga- | tion-and that Tuesday the vigil of the
 feast of All Saints would be fast day.
 The Rev. Father Burke was the cele- brant at high mass.
 Father Bratton at early mass had for
 his theme Confession of Sins" His text
 was, "He that hideth his sins shall not prosper, but he that shall confess and | forsake them shall obtain mercy"- | Proverbs xxviii:13. The preacher said in | part:
 | From these words 1t Is evident that | we are all sinful creatures. Ever since | Adam the wickedness of men has been | great, and all the thought of their heart l bent on evil at all times. And St. John | tells us that all that there is in the world | is the eonsupiseence of the flesh, the con l cupiscence of the eyes and the pride of l life which is not of the Father, but is | of the world. This concupiscence, this l sin Is the most potent enemy we have
 to encounter. It has left its sere blight on
 every acre of Gods land, has infected
 the very air we breathe, has distilled it's
 poison into every human heart and waits
 and watches for ingress at every avenue.
 It attacks and overcomes the just man regenerated through baptism as well as
 the unregenerated pagan and leads the | greater portion of mankind to insult their
 Maker If some men as consequence
 had no remedy for this sin yielded to after l baptism they would, indeed, be in sad l plight; life would be a living tribulation | and death an unbearable expectation, | They could find no nepenthe for their l bleeding and sorrowing hearts because | they could seek no consolation from an | offended God with an unsatisfed and un-
 renewed sptlt. The infinite mercy of God,
 however, could not brook such hopeless
 and helpless condition in men, so He insti- | tuted means sufficient for their needs and | lett to His ministering church the power l or pardoning sins committed after bap- | tism. by means of confession as a result | or which the sins to be forgiven must be
 confessed to the ministers of that church.
 Contrte SeIf-Accusation. | Confession, then, Is oontrite self-accu-
 satlon before duly authorized priest of
 at least all the grievous sins committed after baptism as far as we can recall | them to memory in order to obtain their pardon by the priests absolution St.
 John referred to this sacrament when he
 wrote: 'If we confess our sins He is
 faithful and Just to forgive us our sins | and 10 cleanse us from all niquity:" also
 these other words of Holy Writ: He
 that hideth his sins shall not prosper,
 but he that shall confess and forsake
 them shall obtain mercy" Thus confess
 sion is absolutely necessary when pos-
 sible, If we would desire ''to possess | Christ, whom having not seen we love
 and in whom though BOW we see Him not, yet believing we rejoice with joy unspeak-
 able and full of glory.
 This necessity Is fittingly inculcated by Christ who told the apostles that if a | brother offered them they should tell the | church and if he would not hear the l church he sould be to them as the heather
 and the publican, and He continued. | Whatsoever you shall bind upon earth | shall be bound also in heaven, and what
 soever you shall loose on earth shall be
 1oosed also in heaven" This binding and
 loosing could not refer to temporal mat
 ters because all the apostles never had or
 could have power over these.
 | The Scriptures also tell us that when it was late that same day, namely, the day of His resurrection, and the doors were
 shut where the disciples were gathered | together flor fear of the Jews" Jesus | came and stood in the nYsdsS of them and | said to them, Peace be to you, as the | Father hath sent me I also send you" | When He said this He breathed on them | and said to them. Receive ye tho Holy | Ct~-' ---'.~-o -'-- --~-. ~' -''
 are forgiven them and whose sins you
 you," What beautiful expression 1i feeling and love in these words to those | disciples whom He had now chosen for the perfection of the saints for the work l of the ministry for the edfication of His I own body, the church AS the Father
 hath sent me I also send you.' Here we | see the nature of Christs mission to sinful world. that is to do away with all error and sin and to found the empire of virtue and truth in the minds of men, | And with what power? With all power For all power. says Christ is given to Me
 in heaven and on earth. He then breath
 ed on them saying, ''Rgceive ye the Holy
 Ghost" He was ii hrted the Holy | Ghost the third person of the ever blessed trinity. consubstantal with the Father, one In nature. to whom belongs the work of sanctifylng men by the in- fusion of divine grace.
 Significant Points.
 l Why wthal were these imposing and significant introductions? There must be
 something wonderful to follow such com manding preparations But we read and understand the reason. Whose sins you shall forgive they are forgiven them and whose sins you shall retain they are re- tained." From these words Christ con ferred a twofold power, the power of for giving and retaining. It becomes duty then for the faithful to disclose the state of their conscience otherwise the stupend ous power conferred would have been | vain pompous declaration, for why give power if 1t cannot be exercised rational- ly or if 1t need not be exercised at all power to forgive sins the case would be different but He expressly and emphat- ically empowered them to retain guilt. It is evident therefore that there is a Judicial power to forgive and retain sins. and that confession follows as a matter of duty Hence St. James says: Confess therefore your sins one to another" but he had previously said ''Is any one sick among you, let him bring in the priests of the church and let them pray over him anointng him with oil in the name of the Lord" Whereupon he concludes: Con fess therefore your sins one to another" This confession is to be made to those brought into the sick man, to those who are to anoint him, to those who are to pray for him, but these are the priests. Sins moreover are confessed in order to obtain their remission, but none except the lawfully appointed ministers of the l Tberafora