The Clarksburg telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1874-1926, 1911-04-06
STRONG SERMON.
ON DEATH GIVEN.
AT the Catholic Mission and
Questions Are An
Swered.

evening by Father Hayden. the
burden Of the discourse was the say
ing of Scripture, Remember thy
last end and thou shalt never sim
Numerous questions are placed in
the box nightly.
Among those answered last even
ing were the following:
Prayer and Confession.
Question-Christ said in Math.
&c, when thou prayest enter into
thy closet. J. and pray to thy
Father in secret. and He will re-
ward thee; and also James 5-16:
Confess your faults one to an
other Why do you ignore these
injunctlons, and make your confes-
sions TO priest? fail to fad any
Scripture sanctioning even the priest
hood, much less this kind of con-
fession,
\ Answer-You are evidently one OF
that rather large class of men who
make the fatal mistake OF hanging
onto one or two texts of Scripture.
building their own little religion
upon IT, and ignoring all the rest.
Your text on prayer is plainly there
in the Bible; that is true, but from
the contest it is plain that what
Christ was protesting against was
that pride and self-conceit OF the
Pharisees, loved to stand and pray
lin the synagogues and corners of
the street that they mag be seen by
men land receive their praises :"
Christ had not the slightest inten-
tion Of condemning devout and hum
BILE public prayer.
As regards your second reference.
Idid it ever occur to you that the
"one to another of ST. James might
refer TO the duly ordained priests or
ministers OF the church referred
just before in V. "A? But IL you
will not grant this, we have no OBJ
lection to people confessing their
SINS to one another. provided there
lis no scandal given. We have a
number Of instances in which Catho-
lies have done so when they were
dying and there was no priest to be
had. They did 1t not because they
thought an ordinary person had any
albsoivlng power, but because they
thought that by doing so their sor-
row for sin would be intensified, and
for the very relief there is in telling
some one.
Now, as you are lover of Sacred
Scripture, and are willing to take
Christ at His word, allow me to ask
you to read carefully John 20:19-24.
AS the Father has sent me also
sent you," for the same purpose;
with the same powers, with which
the father sent me into the world, |
nov send you. Go, continue myl
work, Do what have done. Did
not Jesus forgive sin?
But Jesus breathes" upon them
and says, /" Receive ye the Holy
Ghost" What are those words
which he is about to speak to them?
What the power lie is about to con
fer upon them? Can We imagine
that after all this solemnity, after
this special infusion of the Holy
Spirit, now before the time, before
the baptism by the Spirit OF Pente-
cost, the words that He will speak
to them, the power He will confer
upon them, will be forever uniutelli-
gibie? Deny that He gave the Apos-
ties power to pass a judicial judg-
ment upon the sinner, judgment
which He will hold in heaven, and
/ HIS words IRE utterly unintelligible.
Admit confession and they are cleai
as words can be made: Whose
sins you shall forgive, they are for
given them; whose SINS you SHAT
retain, they are retained The
Apostles and their successors in the
Christian ministry could not exer-
else this judicial function unless
confession be made by the sinner.
Catholics. then claim that in addi-
! ton to fervent repentance Christ
has laid down as condition for
pardon of sin that the penitent
should submit himself to his min
lister here on earth, receive from
him the sentence of abso!ution, and
lie pied red Himself to hold this
sentence good in heaven.
You fail 10 End any Scripture
sanction for the priesthood? This
shows that you are a very poor stu
dent Of the Holy Scripture. have
slight suspicion that you do not
even know what a priest or the
priesthood is. A priest is essential
liz one who offers sacrifice TO God.
The sacrifice that the Catholic priest