Free trader-journal. (Ottawa, Ill.) 1916-1920, 1917-03-14
CONFESS AND THY.
SINS IRE FORGIVEN"
TOPIC Of LECTURE
FATHER EcKERT GIVES EXCEL
LENT ADDRESS ON THE POWER
o. PRIESTS TO FoRGiVs SINS
AT ST. PATRlCX'S MISSION.


reer cloudburst did not keep the peo.
PIE from attending the mission sery-
ices 4. ST. patrieks church last even
ias. the obstruction on The rosary.
tic sorrowful mysteries. was given ~
fathe. Lepruteu,
Confess and yoar sins are forsi,-
eHe-these were the words taken for
the topic Of the lecture given last
evening by Father Eckert;
Cos made Us for himself and made
u to share heaven with Him. to be
with Him il all eternity. He specified
a way Tor Us to reach his heavenly
home. re has that same right to tell
us how we shall enter the Kingdom
q heaven. as the United States has
70 tell us what we must do before We
can become citizels. Before we eli
become citizens We must lorswear cue
allegiance 10 amy foreign King. WAeA
the b0at lands on Ellis Island we are
placed under quarantine, and il unde-
siidh.e citizens CT afflicted with ai5-
ease we are seat back. A traitor can
net come into our country. and Coz
haj said that we must do certain
things before We can enter the King
dom % Heaven. do not fear contra
Gictiou wheA | say that there is not
person here tonight, who mas at
tanned the use OF reason, who has not
sinned II there is. viii give them
five minutes TO leave the church
We arc born in SIN, but Christ has
Instituted a sacrament OF baptism to
cleanse Us of this sin, and ne has in
stituted the sacrament of pennance
to tree Us Of sins that we commit la
ter in life.
"A few years ago a woman who
wanted to become a Catholic told me
she did not believe that the priest had
the power to forgive sin, she did not
believe the bishop had that power, or
the apostles. Christ has that power
he gave it to his apostles and the
apostles gave it to the duly ordained
priests.
In the gospel Of ST. Luke, third
chapter, Christ commanded sick
man to arise and 80 forth, and the
Pharisees and Scr.bes doubted his
powe. and he said. Which is easier
to say thy sins are forgiven thee, or
take up thy bed and walk
In the gospel Of St Matthew, six
teenth chapter eighteenth verse, Up
on this Rocl, | build ny church ana
the gates OF he'll shall not prevail
against it.; nineteenth verse. and
will give unto you the keys of heaven,
and whatsoever thou shall bind on
earth shall be bound in heaven; and
whatsoeyor thou shalt loose on earth
shall be loosed in heaven.
" II your priest were to go away he
would give me the key to his church
and household and tell me certain
things which | could do.
I'm the gospel Of st. john, the Apes
ties were assembled behind closed
doors and Christ appeared, saying:
Peace be unto you. Receive YOU the
holy ghost; whose sins you shall for.
give, they are forgiven: whose sins you
shall retain, they are retained In the
first chapter of the Act of the Apostle
we fad that after Judas had hung
himself the apostles were in doubt as
to whom should be his successor And
they appointed two, Joseph. called
Barnahas, who was surnamed Justus.
and Matthias. And they prayed and
said, Thou Lord which knowest the
hearts OF all men, show whether Of
these two thou hast chosen, that he
may take part Of this ministry ard
apostlcship, from which Judas by
transgrc3sion fell that he might 90 to
bis own place. And they gave forth
their lots: and the lot fell upon Mat.
thias and he was numbered with the
eleven apostles.
Every priest has the power to for.
give sin. Woodrow Wilson as the
Pro ident CT the United States has the
power to forgive criminal, but as
Woodrow Wilson he has not this DOW
e.. We as duly ordained priests have
the power to forgive sin
Converts to the religion have asked
me how il was that so called Catho-
lies regard confession as all bosh The
80 called Catholic is crook He is
living in sin He knows it. He fears
to confess and to ease his conscience
he calls the confession all bosh.
"People should not be afraid to 20
to confession for fear of scolding,
Christ died on the cross for sinners
There arc traitors in the Catholic
church, hut no prizes, ever dared OPEN
i his lips to reveal what he heard in a
j confessional
In 1860, in Southwest Russia, q
scoundrel Of an organist murdered a
woman He met a Catholic priest,
went to confession Left q gun near
the church After his confession he
wont out and told the police that ne
raw the priest near the woman The
priest was tried convicted and sen.
fenced to the mines of Siberia for lfe,
di5rched Of his rights TO the church.
For twenty long years he lahored
wondering what his people thought OF
him nnN hnw hi narnnle Ind enno