Your confession


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YOUR CONFESSION

By

REV. WILFRED G. HURLEY, C.S.P.

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Nihil Obstat:

Imprimatur

:

Arthur J. Scanlan, S.T.D.,

Censor Librorum.

* Patrick Cardinal Hayes*
Archbishop, New York,

New York, February 12, 1937.

PRINTED AND PUBLISHED IN THE U. S. A.

BY THE PAULIST PRESS, NEW YORK 19 , N. Y.

New York
THE PAULIST PRESS

401 West 59th Street



“Be gone, SaUm* . .
*

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YOUR CONFESSION

HEN we think of Jesus we
must always remember

that He was God. And
we must always remember

that God is Love.
And while Jesus came on earth

to teach us, more than anything

else He wished to show us His
love by helping us.

And especially by helping us to
stay away from sin. To over-
come temptation. To conquer
sin.

For sin is the greatest evil in

the world. Because when we
commit sin, we hurt God. And

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by committing real grievous sin,

we reiect God and turn away from
Him.

You know how terrible sin is
without anyone telling you. You
feel very unhappy when you hurt

God in this manner.
Why?
Because you know how good

God has been to you. He has
done everything to please you.

He has given you this wonderful
world to live in. He has given
you the sun which shines during

the day. The twinkling stars,
which gleam in the heavens at

night. The pretty flowers which
blossom to please you. The green

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Jesus
,
the Good Shepherd

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grass which is God’s beautiful,

soft carpet upon which you play.

The happy birds that sing their
songs for you. Your parents who
love and care for you.

All these and many other won-
*

derful things God has so gener-
ously given you. Then, too, you

cannot help but remember the

many, many glorious things He
has done for you.

How your heart sinks when you
realize how good God has been to
you and how hateful you have
been to God. You feel so sorry
for having done these things to

hurt Him Who loves you so much.
And you want Him to forgive

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you. You want Him to forget all
these sins. You want to return to
Him. To be His loving child
once more. You want to know
that He has forgiven you. You
want to know that He loves you
as He did before you were such a
bad child.

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You cannot drive the thought
away. You feel so unhappy.
Your little conscience is con-
stantly telling you what you have

done. How bad you have been.
Always before you is your sin.

You simply have to know that
God has forgiven you.
How can you know this You

can know this because God loves
you. And because He does love
you, you know He has left you a
way to return to Him.
A way by which you can know

positively that He has forgiven
you. A way by which you can be
absolutely sure and certain. Just

as though Jesus Himself were

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speaking to you, and saying to

you : “Thy sins are forgiven thee.”
And Jesus does say these words to

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you through the lips of His

priests.

Would you like to know how
this came about?

First of all, Jesus could forgive

sins Himself. Again and again

Jesus told those who listened to
Him that He had the power to
forgive men their sins, to make
their souls clean and shining and

beautiful once more. He even
worked a miracle to prove it—one
of His greatest miracles.

One day Jesus was preaching
in Capharnaum to many learned
men. Now in this town there was
a poor man who was sick with the
palsy. He was so badly crippled
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he could not even walk. So he

asked his friends if they would

carry him to Jesus. When they
came to the house the crowd was

so great that they could not get

through. So they carried him up

on the roof and lowered the man,

stretcher and all, through an open-

ing. Down, down, until he rested

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at the feet of Jesus. Such faith

pleased Jesus when He saw the
sick man. But remember God
reads our hearts. So it was with

Jesus. He saw the man was sick
of the palsy. But more than that,

He saw the man heartsick with
sorrow for his sins. Because you

can imagine how the man felt
when he looked into the kind and
loving eyes of Jesus. So Jesus

said to him : “Son, thy sins are for-

given thee.”

But when Jesus said this some
of His wicked enemies said within

themselves, “He blasphemeth.”
But Jesus knew their thoughts.

Quickly He turned to them and
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demanded : “Why think you these
things in your hearts? Which is
easier to say, ‘Thy sins are for-

given thee,’ or to say, ‘Arise, take

up thy bed and walk’?” And
then! Turning upon them with

stern eyes He cried out, “But that
you may know that the Son of
Man hath power on earth to for-
give sins.” He turned back to the
sick man and commanded, “Arise,
take up thy bed and go into the

house.” The man got up at once
all well again. Gratefully he

thanked Jesus. The people stared
in wonderment. Then they could
hardly believe their eyes. They

cried out that never before had

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they seen anything such as this.

So you see Jesus did all this so

we would know He had the power
to forgive sins.

And when men and women
came to Him and were sorry for
their sins, He always blessed them
and said, “Thy sins are forgiven
thee.”

But Jesus was God. And God
loves everyone equally. He is
just as much concerned about
people who live now as He was
about those who lived when He
was upon earth. And the same
with those who will live upon this
earth in centuries to come.

So Jesus must have left some

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Jesus arose again from the dead.

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way by which people who loved
God and were sorry for their sins
would hear these same words of

forgiveness down through the
ages, until the end of time.

Would you like to know how
Jesus did this wonderful thing?

You remember how Jesus died
on the Cross and arose again from

the dead. It was a few days after

His resurrection and the Apostles

were gathered together in a little

room in Jerusalem, waiting for

Jesus to come to them. Suddenly

they heard His words, “Peace be

to you.” And He stood before
them. He showed them His
pierced hands and feet to show

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I

I

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how He had suffered for our sins.
Then He said to them again,
“Peace be to you. As the Father

hath sent Me, I also send you.”

Then Jesus breathed upon them

and He said to them : “Receive ye
the Holy Ghost, whose sins you

shall forgive, they are forgiven

them, and whose sins you shall re-

tain, they are retained.”

How thrilled the Apostles must
have been when He said this to
them ! They had seen so much of
the suffering and sorrow of these

sinful men and women who came
to Jesus to have their sins for-

given. They had heard and seen
Jesus forgive sins. They had seen

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the shining faces of those men and
women who were filled with new
joy, new hope, and new happiness.
And now Jesus was telling

them, “Whose sins you shall for-
give, they are forgiven them.”

And was it not wonderful*?
After Jesus had ascended into

Heaven little children like your-
self could go to an Apostle and

ask him to forgive their sins. Then

the Apostle would ask them, “My
dear little child, what sins have

you committed?” Then when the
little child had told his sins, from

the lips of the Apostle would come

the words of Jesus, “Thy sins are
forgiven thee.”

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And so Jesus gave the power to
His Apostles to teach, baptize,

confirm, preach, and to say Mass.

They in turn handed down these
powers to those who succeeded
them down through the ages. So
it was also with the power to for-

give sins. And that is why when
you go to confession today the

priest says those words of Jesus to

you, “Thy sins are forgiven thee.”
And remember that Jesus is al-

ways ready to forgive you when
you are sorry for your sins. We
know this because Jesus Himself
said so.

One day Jesus was asked by St.
Peter how often he should forgive

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his friends who hurt him. He
asked Jesus if it would be often

enough if he forgave them seven

times. And Jesus told Peter even
if he forgave them seventy times

seven times, it would not be

enough.

Is it not the most wonderful

thing in the world that God
•should love you like this?

Surely when you rise to leave
the confessional your heart must

be full of love and gratitude to

your Jesus Who has just forgiven
you your sins through His priest.

That He has made your sou]
again beautiful and shining.

Made you again a child of God.
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