The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1915-04-17

AOSIOtcu 10 her DOuy aIC0r Qeatn the
freshness and beauty of her youth.
declare his sins to the priest. The
other way would be that the priest
hood when conferred would give the
power to priests to read mems minds
so clearly that they would instantly
understand mems sins, thoughts, mo-
tives and full moral history, without
any other process of Investigation.
No Mind Reading.
The first method is the only one
that is just and reasonable. It is
called Confession" The other me-
thod must be at first excluded, be-
cause it would be the most dangerous
power possible to human beings. 1t
would make Christ's officials the most
feared and hated among men. The
streets would instantly be deserted
when priest would appear. Every
one would dread to approach him, and
therefore the exercise of his ministry
in the forgiveness of sins would be
rendered impossible.
Such power would terrify and re-
pei men, and thus would nullify
Christ's mission upon earth. There
fore, the only reasonable method of
carrying out the wish of the Lord is,
that men seeking the forgiveness of
their sins should personally apply to
Christ's5 delegated officials, state their
case with accuracy, ask for pardon
with sincere sorrow for their offences,
have genuine and firm purpose Of
amendment and perform the works of
satisfaction imposed by the confessor,
who acts in the capacity of Judge, ia.
Their and healer of consciences.
Some Must BE CIeansed.
The body needs to be cleansed and
washed frequently in order to free it
from dirt and from destructive para
sites and germs which would soon
work physical havoc if they were not
removed. So, likewise, with the souf
When passing, as we all must,
through the intellectual and moral
filth of this life it is almost impossi-
BILE to avoid being stained by some of
its dirt or to be free from contact
with mental and moral parasites
which would eat away our spiritual
life unless removed and destroyed by
the spiritual germicide of the power
full Sacrament of Penance.
We must not be deferred by the
temptation of the devil to make us
towards in this matter of Easter duty.
In order to conquer our timidity it is
only necessary to remember that in
the confessional the priest represents
Jesus Christ. He is there as dele
gate whose mission is to show kind.
ness and mercy, in order to bring
back the sheep that was lost and lay
| II at the feet of the Good Shepherd.
No matter how many or how great
your sins may be you cannot shock
the priest, because he knows that
1.-THE spirit is willing, but the flesh il
weak" He has heard and absolved
worse Offenders than you have been
If you are thoroughly sincere in your
Econfession he will forgive you and
then give you his blessing to comfort
| you.
Don't Heed Temptation.
Another temptation of the devil is
| to suggest that it will be useless to
igo to confession because you may
soon again fall into similar sins. Well,
what of it? Remember that Gods
mercy is infinite, and that the Scrip.
ture says it is above all His works. 7
no matter how grand they may be
Would you give up your daily bath,
even If you knew that tomorrow
might stain you again? II you fell
into mass of filth OF any kind would
you lie in 1t because il you arose some
one might suggest that at some other
time and place you might fall again.
Would you consider yourself sensible
lie you remained dirty when 1t is so
easy to make and keep yourself clean
And, after the publication even If
1t should cause temporary inconven-
fence, don't you think it would be
good form to keep away from the
places, causes and occasions Of dirt?
It is not necessary for you to yield
to sin after you have been to confes-
sion. It is dogma of Faith that
Gods grace is able to protect us at
all times, in all places and under all
circumstances. So. therefore, you
are not forced 10 commit sin or to fall.
/ II you do il, 1t win be through your