18th Sunday After Pentecost

From: Sermons for Every Sunday in The Year
by Rev. B. J. Raycroft, A. M.
Published by Fr. Pustet & Co.
Copyright 1900 by Rev. B. J. Raycroft


Son, be of good heart thy sins are forgiven thee!" (St. Matthew xxii - 39)

My Dear Friends: Our Divine Lord knew the frailty of man. He knew he would transgress the divine law. But He loved the human race; and this love is attested by His death upon the cross, and by the institution of the Sacrament of Penance. "Man is weak," He seems to say to Himself; "he will fall, but I shall give him the means to rise again. He will at times forget My love for him; he will forget the sacrifices I make for him; Satan will triumph; but I shall not let man be a captive. I shall, as of old, establish for him an ark of refuge."


He consequently institutes the sacred tribunal of Penance, to which the sinner may go for security. Here every sin is pardoned. All the eternal punishment is cancelled. The sinner is once more a free man. The only conditions required, are that he be truly sorry for his sins, resolve never again to violate the law of God, and confess his sins to a duly authorized priest of the Church of God.


Some, who are not Catholics, maintain it is absurd to admit that man has the power to forgive sins. So did the Scribes; for they clamored that Jesus had blasphemed, as you have just heard from the inspired records of that memorable event. But man does not claim to have this power inherent in him-self. It is delegated to him by the Author of all power.
Does God directly light the earth? Oh, no. How then? He does it by a material instrument; the sun. He gave to the centre of the solar system the qualities of illumination, and from there the rays of light are diffused throughout our planetary system. He employs, therefore, in the physical world a material instrument of His power.


Can He not do likewise in the world of human society? Who will set the limits of His power? Or who will dictate to Him what He must do? He decrees that certain persons, priests of His Church, will have power to light the soul of man and to dispel the darkness of sin, and who will say to Him nay? He is the Dispenser of all power. The slander of the Scribes or "the can't" of unbelievers neither can restrain His love nor annul His decrees.


It is not, however, my intention to-day to enter into a theological disquisition on the Sacrament of Penance, but to awaken in your souls a true appreciation for this beneficent favor, that you may acknowledge the mercy of God and apply to your souls the merits of Christ's sufferings.
Where is the Catholic who does not with a grateful heart thank God for so great a blessing? Where is the Catholic who has not felt the soothing influence of this benign sacrament? In the anguish of his heart he approached the holy tribunal. He departed with a light heart and a tranquillized conscience. With what ardent love should every Catholic kneel to thank his Redeemer and Preserver! In the silence of his heart he pours out his soul in thanksgiving to his constant Benefactor.


How many a heart has found tranquility in confession? How many a shipwrecked soul has found here a calm harbor? What would Catholics do but for this sacrament? Baptism would be inefficacious to many. Numbers are contaminated by the leprosy of mortal sin. Where would they go for solace? There would be none. Burdened with the disease of some mortal sin, they would live and die. No guaranty that their sins were ever pardoned. How miserable, how dejected would they live!


On their death-bed, the pains of sickness would be augmented by the torments of a guilty conscience. No priest to assure them that their sins were forgiven and that the voice of their repentance had penetrated the merciful heart of Jesus: that His sacred blood had purified their afflicted souls.


Now, how different; a man is taken down with sudden sickness. He sends for a priest. His great anxiety is to have a priest. It is not for a doctor he cries. It is not his bodily sufferings which alarm him. Oh, no. He might not have been a great sinner, but nevertheless he wants a priest. A priest arrives. The sick person breathes a sigh of relief. He confesses his sins, promises if God spare his life, to atone for his transgressions. The priest bends over him, pronounces the sacred words of absolution, and in the place of his Divine Maker says: "Be of good heart, thy son, thy sins are forgiven thee".


What tranquility follows! Who can estimate the wonderful works of God in this Sacrament of Reconciliation? Here the unbeliever, were he present, would acknowledge the marvelous efficacy of God's grace; here are seen evidences of God's mercy; here are proofs that His words were not spoken in vain when He empowered the Apostles to forgive sins: "Whose sins you shall forgive they are forgiven, and whose sins you shall retain they are retained." Here, too, are evidences that this power still abides in the Church of God.


The confessional is the great barrier to sin, the spiritual physician of society, the ark of refuge, the regenerator of the social fabric. Society is wicked enough; but what would it be but for the confessional! Who would set limits to sin? Who could retard its cancerous growth? None.
The civil laws are not competent to restrain it. They have not, for crime is multiplying. They cannot say to the conscience, be pure. They point not to God. They awaken no grand ideal. Their penalty is temporal punishment, and this holds not the "watch in order."


The Sacrament of Penance, coming from God, having divine power, is alone capable to drive back sin, the deadly foe of mankind; sin which brings so much distress; sin which disturbs the tranquility of the soul, which produces so many disorders in parishes; sin which fills the jails and penitentiaries and erects our scaffolds; sin which robs the soul, devastates the heart, and condemns to everlasting torments the transgressors,-is conquered only by divine power in the Sacrament of Penance!


Our Lord is still the Good Shepherd; He still goes after the sinner and kindly brings him back. No doubt you have often observed a devout child. He receives the sacraments regularly and often. With clasped hands he breathes the holy innocence of his heart in gratitude to God. His soul is fertilized with every Christian virtue. How buoyant is his heart! How holy his aspirations! How noble his behavior! He is truly a Catholic child! He is edifying to all and beloved by idolizing parents. He remains faithful to God until he is eighteen or twenty years of age; but he has been gradually forming bad associations. Slowly he leaves the path of true joy. Bad company is drawing him away. Repeatedly he looks back at the path from which he is departing; but passions burn in his breast while his environments heap on new fuel.


The world with its false, decoying allurements, entices him onward. He goes less frequently to confession. Slowly every silken thread mooring him to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is severed. He falls into mortal sin, becomes reckless, and not seldom dissipated. His, indeed, is an awful fall.
Jesus mourns his spiritual death, and his parents are distracted. But our Saviour permits him to go on until he has drunk from the stagnating pools of sin. He is satiated, disgusted, disappointed. The fascinations of sin proved to be only snares. The pleasures thereof: only illusions. The joys became vexations; and the reward, resulted in decay.


The soul once luxuriant, is impoverished. Amidst this devastation there is not a single Christian virtue remaining-all is a total waste and, complete spiritual ruin. His benign Redeemer whispers to his conscience. He pauses, looks back, and thinks of the time when he was truly happy--when his young heart was unburdened with vice.


His very soul weeps over its great loss; but though desolate, he is not forgotten; His Saviour speaks gently to him: "Son, be of good cheer, I have not abandoned you. I have not forgotten those holy hours when you knelt before My altar in prayer; when your young soul worshipped Me so ardently; when you loved Me with your whole heart and aspired only to Me. I shall not remember your transgressions,-they have given you enough of pain. Come, put your hand into the wound in My side ; feel these wounds in My hands-these are expressions of My love for you ; they tell you that you were never forsaken by Me.


Come, show yourself again to your priest and My priest ; your sins will he pardoned ; none will listen but your confessor and Myself. Again these wounds will bleed for you and wash away your sins." The sinner's heart yields; his soul bursts through the confines of sin! The light of God's grace shines upon the barren waste! The mercy of His Saviour has conquered! The sinner is again redeemed!


His parents, his friends, yea, heaven rejoices as he leaves the confessional once more a free man. He is not the same innocent child he was when he first went in pursuit of sinful pleasure; still his sins are cancelled, and he may attain to greater Christian virtue than he ever possessed.
Without this sacrament, how many would dare to approach Holy Communion? A few may have preserved baptismal innocence, but the vast majority has disrobed themselves of such purity. Behold the economy of your Saviour in establishing means for your regeneration! He loves you; He desires to live in your hearts, but sin debars him. Where sin is, He cannot dwell-hence the Sacrament of Penance.


And you may judge a Catholic quite prudently by his frequency or delinquency in the reception of this sacrament. When a Catholic goes not to confession; when he tells you he is not yet prepared-you may look out for him. For my part, I would not trust him; there is something wrong, something grievously wrong in him.


Should not, therefore, every Catholic thank God for giving him such a means of reconciliation and grace? Ought we not, with our whole heart, with our whole soul, and with all our strength, render our gratitude to Him?


With fervent prayer we should thank him that we are Catholics, and can consequently avail ourselves of the works of His mercy. Pray often that Catholics who have abused this sacrament, who never go to confession, may repent of their follies and be converted; and for yourselves, do not insult Almighty God; never, by your indifference, abuse His favors. Prize this remarkable proof of His beneficence toward you.


We beg of you, 0 most Merciful Saviour, to teach us to appreciate truly your benign compassion in the Sacrament of Penance; we implore assistance that we may never make a bad confession; we entreat You to bless us at the end of life with an opportunity to confess our sins; and as the priest pronounces the words of absolution, may You, 0 benign Redeemer, whisper to our poor agitated souls: "Be of good heart, My son; thy sins are forgiven thee!"