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Show 230: The Effects of Penance · The Uncensored Catholic

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Speaker 1: Hey, welcome to this week's show. We will start with
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a few questions and answers from radio replies, the classic
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work in which Protestants and atheists and everything in between
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asked a couple of priests, rumbling cart Carty it was
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his name, yeah, Carty, c r t y one in
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America and one in Australia, or at least that's where
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they were from. They had a popular radio show, and
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boy they handled they field at every question. You can
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imagine this is in the nineteen twenties, and you'll be amazed. One.
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I'll put it this way. Most of the Protestants and
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atheists and agnostics and etcetera, etcetera, etc. Who wrote in
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making accusations against the Catholic Church and our beliefs, we're
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just asking this here question. Some of them are quite sincere.
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Do you immediately realized people much better spoken, at least
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in writing at that time, they were better educated. But
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you will hear the same arguments, the same questions, the
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same criticisms from Protestants today. So it's very good to
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revisit this. And we'll begin with a question. The person asked,
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if Jesus was born of a virgin, why does he
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say nothing about it? The priest answered, we did not
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know that he said nothing about it. The evangelists do
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not record any special utterances of Christ and the subject,
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but they do not pretend to record all that he
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ever said. Saint Luke tells us that he met the
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two disciples on the way Tomaeus, beginning at Moses, and
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all the prophets he expounded to them, and all the
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scriptures the things that were concerning him. There is every
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probability that he explained his advent into this world according
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to the prophecy of Isaiah. Meanwhile, the Gospels do record
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the fact that Mary was a virgin, and their words
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are as reliable in this as when they record the
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other utterances of Christ, or the utterances of Christ. I
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should have said, the person says, to prove Davidic descent.
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Both Matthew and Luke give the genealogy of Joseph useless.
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Were not Joseph the father of Christ? And I answer
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the genealogy of Joseph was that of Mary. Also, they
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were kinspeople of the same dividic stock. The Jews, as
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a rule, counted their generations only in the male line,
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and such a generation alone would appeal to Jews, for
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whom Matthew above all wrote. The same Matthew records that
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an angel told, let me try that again. The same
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Matthew records that the angel told Joseph that the child
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was conceived miraculously by the Holy Ghost, not through the
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innervision of men. Saint Luke, in turn, left no doubt
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as to his mind on the subject when he carefully
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wrote that Jesus himself was the beginning about the age
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of thirty years. Jesus himself was beginning about the age
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of thirty years, being as it was supposed to, son
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of Joseph. And he said, as it was supposed So
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all right. The guy goes on, says, Saint Matthew says
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that Joseph knew her not till she brought forth her
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firstborn son and boy. To Protestants get hung up on
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that one, and they answered, nor did he. And the
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expression till in the Hebrew usage has no necessary reference
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to the future. Thus, in Genesis eight seven we read
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the dove went forth from the ark and did not
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return to the waters dried up. That expression does not
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suggest that it returned. Then it did not return at all.
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Having found a resting place. Nor does the expression firstborn
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imply that there were other children afterwards. Thus exit it
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says every firstborn shall be sanctified. Unto God, parents had
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not to wait to see if other children were born
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before they could call the firstborn their first born. He continues, Matthew,
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I guess it's thirteen fifty five through fifty six, says
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his brethren, James and Joseph, and Simon and Jude, his sisters.
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Are they not all with us? And they answer? The
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Jewish expression brothers and sisters of the Lord in scripture
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merely refers to a relationship in the same tribe or stock.
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Cousins often came under that title. In all nations, the
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word brother has a wide significance, as when one mason
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will call another brother mason without suggesting that they were
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born in the same mother the same Saint. Matthew speaks
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explicitly of Mary, the mother of James and Joseph in
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chapter twenty seven fifty six, so obviously alluding to a
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Mary who was not the mother of Jesus, but who
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was married to Cleophus, the brother of Joseph. Person says
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there would not be two girls in one family named Mary.
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That's okay, they answer, there certainly would be could be
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at least, And Saint John in chapter nineteen twenty five
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writes that there stood by the cross of Jesus his
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mother and his mother's sister Mary of Cleophus. But even
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here Mary of Cleophus need not have been a sister
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in the first degree of blood relationship, but rather the
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same lineage in more remote degrees of either consanguinarity or affinity.
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So they were related, but do not necessarily have to
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be sisters. They could have been cousins or well, I
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suppose even a sister in law would have been called
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a sister. Yeah, anyway, we'll go on now too. Father's
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Sparago's exhaustive explanation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
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And when I say it is exhaustive, that is no
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no exaggeration. We've been doing this for a good almost
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two years now. We're on page six hundred and eleven
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of seven hundred and fifty. So fear not, Father Sparago
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would out leave us anytime soon. But boy, do I
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have a banger and store. After that, I found a book.
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It's gonna answer so many questions for you. About the
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end times, eschatology, or whatever you want to call it.
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When Protestants or anybody tells you the end is near,
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you know there's gonna be an eclipse of the sun
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and that's the rapture is going to happen. Well, there's
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no rapture to start with. That's scripture taken entirely out
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of context and absolute heresy. But this book's gonna blow
7:19
your mind. And it's a little controversial. I'll explaining why
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it really shouldn't be. But seeing in our modern times,
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people can take some issue with it because, as you know,
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according to Catholic teaching, the Antichrist is by necessity Jewish.
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Does it mean any It's not a slurry against Jewish people.
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It doesn't mean anything bad against Jews, Okay, But the
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Antichrist will be the absolute imitation of Jesus. So Jesus
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was born into a Jewish family, and so he had
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to be born of a Jewish family. Were the Jewish
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people will leave he's the Messiah, actually what Jesus is.
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They will believe to be him and be led astray
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for a time until they come to their senses. Okay,
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all that's going to happen for the end of the world.
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So we're not there yet. Okay, let's just be clear,
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don't freak out. But by necessity, by logical dictum, I
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guess you would say the Antichrist will have to be
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of Jewish heritage, and in order for the Jews to
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accept him as the Jewish Messiah, he will have to
8:31
be of Jewish heritage. So, of course, in our politically
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correct day and time, some people get really nervous about that.
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They think you're making some kind of antisthemitic statement. It's
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not any Semitic at all. It's no more Aniseemitic to
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say that the Antichrist will be of Jewish heritage thany
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just say that Jesus is of Jewish heritage, or was
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in his earthly walk, or however you want to put it.
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So for that reason, you're not going to find this
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book for self. In many places people think it's controversial.
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It really should not be, but it digs into serious
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doctrine and church teaching as developed by the fathers of
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the Church from the beginning until I guess when the
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book was written in I don't know, the twenties, thirties,
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maybe the thirties. Many saints. We're talking doctors of the
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church will be quoted. We're talking really deep understanding of
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some of the hardest passages of the Bible to understand.
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And I think it's mark your calendar. I'm not sure
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exactly what we're going to get there. I'll tell you
9:40
a couple of weeks out, because this is going to
9:42
be appointment listening. I mean you are going to want
9:45
to tell your friends and family. You know, every Catholic,
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certainly Protestants who are interested in the so called end
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times and all that stuff. It's really mind blowing. And
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I mean it was a favorite book of Sat. Teresa
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of Lesso. That's how old it is. So No, it
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wasn't anineteen twenties, so it's a book from eighteen hundreds. Yeah,
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I misspoke totally there, But I mean St. Teresa Lussov
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mentioned it in her in her book and her diary.
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I went on a search to find it. I found
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a copy in English, which is one kind of hard
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because it was written in French. Also, you're not gonna
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probably find it in any Catholic bookstore or to order
10:25
from any Catholic publisher. It's considered so controversial just for
10:30
the reason it's mistaken as being antisemitic, but it's really not.
10:34
I mean, it really makes sense. And if you can
10:37
get over your own personal biases. I mean, I think
10:41
it's just you're gonna love it. There's just absolutely going
10:44
to love it. It is powerful, it's moving, it's intense,
10:49
it's well researched, it's well documented. It's just really man,
10:56
I mean, this one's going to hit you. So so
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that's what we do when we finish up with others.
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Barrago and I mean, yeah, it's gonna be cool. So anyway,
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uh fother Sparago talks about the effects of penance. Last
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week we talked about confession or you know, reconciliation, whatever
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you want to call it, under the effects of penance.
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He says, it is not any easy mannered matter should
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say to do penance confession the sincere acknowledgment of sins
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of which we are shamed, and itself requires great conquest,
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great self conquest. On this account, pennance is liberally rewarded
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to the humble, and to and to them, God giveth
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grace first Peter five five by following, but no, no,
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got my tongue twisted by worthy I gotta get a
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sip of water, give me one ston all right. By
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worthily receiving the sacrament of penance, we obtain the following graces.
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The guilt of sin is remitted, and the debt of
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eternal punishment is well, he's from Okay, Let's try it again.
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The guilt of sin is remitted, and the debt of
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eternal punishment, the debt being remitted, and the guilt so
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yet there remains the debt of temporal punishment. To beat
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his charge. God says in Holy Scripture, if the wicked
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do penance for all the sins he has committed, he
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shall live and not die. I will not remember all
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his iniquities that he hath done. It's from Ezekiel. Thus
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our Lord said to Magdalen, thy sins are forgiven thee
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Luke eight to those who confess their sins. Christ is
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not a judgment, an advocate and protector. In the last judgment,
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the sins that have been expiated by penance will no
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more be remembered against the sinner. I'm sorry, I got
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a tickle on my throat tonight. Not quite my throat,
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It's more like a you know, upper chest here. It
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like that kind of itchy feeling in your lungs. I'll
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try to suppress a cough, though from now on I
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do apologize all right. In the last judgment, the sins
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that have been expiated by penance wire nobore be remembered
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against the sinner. They alone will be hidden when all
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else is revealed. Seneca the philosopher used to say, he
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who repents of the wrong he has done is no
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longer guilty through the absolution of the debt of eternal
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punishment is through the absolution, the debt of eternal punishment
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is changed into a temporal debt. God acts like the
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monarch who commutes capital punishment into imprisonment for a term
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of years. Holy scripture furnishes many examples in which God
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imposes a penalty for sins forgiven. He forgave Adam get
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castro ab out of paradise and laid severe penances upon him. Moses,
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who offended God by not believing his word, was pardoned,
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but not permitted to enter into the land of Promise.
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The Jews who murmured in the wilderness were forgiven upon
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moses intercession. But we're condemned to die in the desert.
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That's all from numbers. By the way, David was forgiven
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when he had committed two moral sins, but the child
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that was born to him died at Second Kings twelve fourteen.
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No sin is left unpunished. Either we punish ourselves by
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doing penance, or God lays chastisements upon us. For every sin,
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satisfaction must be made, either in this world or impurgatory.
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The more we have sinned here, the more we shall
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suffer Hereafter our transgressions are rightly called debts. As debts
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must be paid, so sins must be blotted out. The
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debt of temporal punishment for sin must be discharged in
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this world or in purgatory. In this world we make
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satisfaction by performing the penances and joined upon us by
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a priest and confession, by works voluntarily undertaken, such as prayer, fasting, alms,
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deeds or other pirates pious acts, and also by bearing
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patiently the punishments inflicted upon us by God, for since
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accepting death willingly and finally gaining indulgences. And that's yes,
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we still do have indulgences in the Catholic Church. They're
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much misunderstood by all Protestants, and even most Catholics, an
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indulgement is an indulgence, is a forgiveness and expiation of penance.
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However you want to put it for sins for we
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can do it for ourselves, or we can do it
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for others. Indulgences have a certain number, a certain well
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they used to have. If you get any old prayer
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book or you get old prayer cards, they'll say, say
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this prayer and you receive three hundred days indulgence. What
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does that mean? Well, it means that under the pope's authority,
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who God gave, Jesus Christ himself gave the ability to
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bind and loose, to forgive sins or retain sins, that
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would be three hundred fewer days in purgatory. Well, because Heaven,
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Hell and purgatory exists outside of linear time. The church
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discourages that. Now they just say a plenary a plenary, Sorry,
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plenary or pleniary. I think it's plentary. I've heard it
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pronounce both ways, But plenary, I think is right. Indulgence
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is full. That's a full indulgence. That means you're forgiven
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for whatever sin you're doing penance for a partial indulgence
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is just partial. Because we don't really know. We have
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no concept of time in a place where there's no time. Again,
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Protestants may get upset that, well, the church sells indulgences. No, no, no,
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the church does not sell indulgences. You can certainly donate
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a sum of money to the church, or you can
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give it to a poor person or to a charity,
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and that can be a form of penance, but there's
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not an indulgence connected to that. There is an indulgence
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connected to crossing yourselves in the name of the Father
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and the Son of the Holy Spirit. And I would
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encourage you remember that that's a partial indulgence. I mean,
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you can actually become a holier person and spend less
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time in purgatory if you cross yourself, but you have
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to do it devoutly. So you know, you see a
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lot of especially cradle Catholics, they just barely take one
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finger and wave it in front of themselves. That's not
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good enough. Okay, it's better than nothing. Certainly, you're still
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marking yourself with a sign of the cross that protects
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you from evil, but that you know, is to sign
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you're a Christian. I mean, certainly better than not doing it.
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I think maybe a year or so ago, some Protestant
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made a charge that when Catholics cross themselves, they make
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the sign of an upside down cross, proving their Satanic worshipers. Okay,
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total bs, obviously, but we should take the time to
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make sure we're making a thoughtful gesture finger or fingers
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to the forehead. I go, so when I'm thinking about it,
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I make an effort to go slightly below my sternum,
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you know, because I want to make a full, upright cross.
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You know. For one thing, I want to be able
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to say to a Protestant, Look, this is how I
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cross myself. I make a real cross, not an upside
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down cross. But it's also mindfulness. You're thinking in the
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name of the Father. Now touch boil your sternum in
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the name of the Son, in the name of the
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Holy Spirit, and go from shoulder to shoulder or collar
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bone to collar bone, make a nice upright cross, and
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be mindful of what you're doing. And then, if you're
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in communie with the Catholic Church, you've been a confession,
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you're receiving the Eucharist, you're truly sorry for your sins. Yeah,
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that's an indulgence. It's that easy. We also get an
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indulgence for reading the Bible. Every single morning I send
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out the Gospel of the day or another reading for
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the daily mass readings. This is free. You go to
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my site since you're Catholic. I think it's Judson Carroll
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and Substack. It's the links in the show notes. You
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can buy the book. I love it when you do that.
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I mean it helps me put food on the table.
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But every single morning I send out one of the
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mass reading is usually the Gospel and a brief reflection
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on it, you know, maybe two three paragraphs. And when
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you read my work, my work doesn't have anything to
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do with it. But when you read the Gospel, that
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counts toward an indulgence. I think you have to read
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the Bible for like thirty minutes a day, I think
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to get that indulgence. But you know that's five minutes
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toward you're thirty right there. Yeah, I mean it's really
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that we get an indulgence. And this was what I
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think really upset that Protestant that I mentioned before. When
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the Catholic Church sells indulgences, Nope, nope, nope, nope, haven't
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done that since the fourteen hundred so really didn't do
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it a lot back then either, but they used to
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encourage you know, kings and wealthy people or donate money
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so we could build the churches and the hospitals and
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the orphanages, and that is an act of penance. Well, anyway,
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you know, Jesus said that giving alms covers a multitude
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of sins. That's kind of where an indulgence comes from.
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I mean, alms or other types of penance covers a
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multitude of sins. I mean, if you could get off
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without doing any good deeds, as Martin Luther believed, then
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Jesus is a liar. And if he's a liar, he's
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not God. Right, So anyway, I told him, you know what,
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we also get in a partial into all indulgence. And
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I'll give you the information if you're interested. For praying
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for the unity of all Christians, because Jesus prayed that
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all Christians should be one one in unity of doctrine
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and denomination and the thought and mind and heart and
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love and one body. I think it was Saint Paul
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said that schism was dividing the body of Christ like
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crucifying him again. And how's the Protestant going to answer
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that they don't believe in unity, they believe in division.
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But we are actually doing what Jesus said, which is
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pray that all are one. We play for the unity
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of all Christians, and we receive an indulgence. We receive
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an indulgence every time we use holy water. There are
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indulgence prayers. There are many, many indulgence prayers. When you
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say to our Father, that's one of them, the glory
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b when you pray the Rosary. But I mean very simple,
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very simple prayers. I'm trying to think that the prayer
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of the sacred shoulder wound of Jesus, the prayer of
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the Holy Face, prayer to your garden Angel, Angel God,
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my guardian, dear to whom this day commits me here
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ever this day a side like guard to ruling guide. Right,
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just say, our Lady of Sorrows, pray for us. That's
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an indulgence prayer. So, I mean, it's so simple, it's
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so very very simple. And by saying these prayers, so
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long as you are actually sorry for your sins, you
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have contrition, you've been to confession, and you're receiving the Eucharist,
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you spend less time in purgatory, and you can also
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offer those up for anybody Catholic or not. You can
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offer them up to indulgenous prayers for your family members,
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for your friends, for the President of the United States,
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for people in another country, for the slaughter Christians in Nigeria.
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I mean, we can offer these up. I mean, well,
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we just went through what All Souls Day. If you
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went to the cemetery in All Souls Day, cleaned up
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their grave, set a prayer, sprinkle a little holy water,
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you gain an indulgence for that person. This is a
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way we can be part of the body of Christ,
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both on earth and in heaven. That's a really really
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good thing, really really good thing. Protestants have no idea
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what an indulgence ere even is. I mean, first of all,
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they don't understand that Jesus literally said to his apostles,
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what you bind on earth will be bound on heaven,
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and what you loose on earth will be loose on heaven.
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And he gave them the power to forgive or retain sins.
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That's in the Gospel John. Those who sends you forgive,
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they are forgiven. Those who sends you retain, they are retained. So,
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first of all. I mean if they understood that the
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priests of the Catholic Church through Apostolic succession had that
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actual God given power, well that would change everything. They'd
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have to become Catholic. But they're only quibbled. They're only
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complaint is that we believe it, and we believe that
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by saying certain prayers we get certain indulgences. But the
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person that, the entity who tells us that is the
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church established by Jesus Christ, given that very thart so
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to do anyway, Let's see where was I. God, in
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his wisdom, never leaves a sin wholly unpunished, lest we
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should think lightly of it, says Saint Augustine. At baptism,
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all punishment due to sin is remitted, but in the
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sacrament of penances is not so. Sin committed after baptism
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is much more grievous than sin permitted committed before. Those
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who sin before baptism and ignorance. Those who sin sin
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those sin before baptism sin in ignorance, but after baptism
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and malice, for they have been enlightened by the Holy
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Spirit and consequently have a better knowledge of sin. Those
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who are regenerate. More over it those who are regenerate.
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Wonder what we mean by that. Moreover, be it, Oh, no,
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those who are baptized are regenerate, regenerated. I guess that's
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what he's saying. Moreover, be it remembered. When they sin knowingly,
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they violate the temple of God First Corinthians three seventeen,
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or says, your body's temple and her guilty of breaking
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their promise. For by sin, on one hand, they banish
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the holy ghost who dwells within them, and on the
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other hand, they break the solemn vowels taking. At baptism,
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a good father forgives his child's disobedience the first time
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if he promises amendment. But if the child repeats the offense,
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the father forgives him. But not this time does he
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let him go unpunished. God acts in a similar matter
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at baptism. He remits both sin and the penalty. But
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afterwards he is not so indulgent to the transgressor. The
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more perfect our contrition, the greater will be the amount
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of punishment remitted to us. In other words, you do
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actually have to be sorry for your sins. Many sins
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are forgiven her, for she loved much. Our Lord said
25:54
of Magdalen. Sometimes God touches the heart of man so
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profoundly that his contrition avails for the complete remission of
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both sin and its penalty. The Holy Spirit returns to
26:05
the repentant sinner and imparts to him sanctifying grace. This
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is so important Protestants, because they do not believe in
26:14
the sacrament of penance, deny the effects of sin completely.
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You don't have to believe me, go read Martin Luther.
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Calvin knocks a whole bit. Martin Luther actually encouraged his
26:28
followers to commit adultery and murder. He said no sin
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could jeopardize their salvation. And really all Protestantism is based
26:37
on that. When when it is baptized, whether Catholic or Protestant,
26:43
they are forgiven all original and actual sin to that
26:47
point and they receive the Holy Spirit after that point.
26:51
Any time you sin, especially im mortal sin venial sins,
26:57
they have to add up over time. But if you
26:59
commit a mortal you lose the Holy Spirit. So every
27:03
single Protestant on the face of this earth, from the
27:06
time of Martin Luther to this day, no matter how
27:10
famous or holy you know. Billy Graham, Jerry Folwell, whom
27:17
I've had a great deal of respect. I knew Jerry Fallwell,
27:20
like Jerry Follwell, you know Charles Stanley, I mean, name
27:25
him Joel Ostein. I don't care who they are unless
27:30
they lived absolutely perfect, sendless lives. After their baptism, they
27:34
no longer had the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit left them.
27:39
Without the Holy Spirit, how in the world could they
27:44
even hope to preach and teach from the Bible in
27:49
any way? That was true. That's a big deal. That's
27:54
a real big deal. And as Catholics, we need to
27:58
be able to explain to Protestants that when you commit
28:02
a mortal sin, you lose the Holy Spirit. Unless you
28:05
go to a priest confess your sins, then you can
28:08
be do your penance and the Holy Spirit comes back
28:11
to you. Otherwise, yes, like in the Old Testament, it
28:18
was a king the names of the tip of my tongue. Anyway,
28:24
he committed serious mortal sins. The prophet comes to him
28:28
and says, you know, that's it, You're dying and going
28:31
to hell, basically, And he put on sackcloth and ashes,
28:34
and he fasted, and he cried. He you know, he
28:36
showed absolute contrition. Okay, now God will forgive someone without
28:43
the intercession of a priest in that case, But that's
28:48
true contrition. How many of us actually have true contrition,
28:54
meaning we are not sorry for our sin because of
28:59
we may go to hell, but because we've offended God
29:02
and are just struck down by it, on our knees,
29:06
crying and unable to eat because we realize the gravity
29:10
of what we've done. You may have been there once
29:13
or twice in your life. I have, But most people
29:20
not only will commit a mortal sin. Okay, let's take
29:24
adultery for instance, And of course Jesus said you could
29:29
commit adultery in your heart even if you haven't actually
29:35
committed the act right through lust. And I mean, these
29:39
days we get so much pornography around and so much stuff. Right,
29:44
how many people realize that they've committed a mortal sin
29:48
in this case, we'll take a moral sin like that
29:51
and truly fall on their knees repent, or are just
29:57
almost at the point of death they're so upset, cannot eat,
30:01
just absolutely one hundred percent devastated. Very few ninety nine
30:11
point ninety nine percent are just gonna maybe say a prayer,
30:14
saying you know, I know it was wrong. I'm sorry,
30:17
and then go back and do it again the next day,
30:19
or the next week or the next year, knowing at
30:22
the time of their praying they're probably going to commit
30:24
the same sin again. See that doesn't cut it. When
30:28
we go to a priest and confession, then he can
30:34
stand in the person of Christ, in personas Christy, and
30:37
he can say, you know this. Do you realize the
30:40
gravity of your sin? Do you understand this? Are you
30:42
sorry for your sin? And you may not have perfect contrition,
30:46
You may just be afraid of the penalty of the sin.
30:50
But so long as you admit that you're wrong and
30:52
you resolve not to do it again, that doesn't mean
30:55
you won't do it again. You may fall again and
30:58
you have to go back to confession. But you have
31:01
to really mean it when you say, I am sorry
31:03
for my sins because they offended God, and I will
31:06
do my best not to do this again. I never
31:09
want to do it again. I renounce this. The priests
31:13
will say, your sins are forgiven through the power given
31:16
to him by Jesus Christ and the Gospel of John.
31:19
Those who sins you forgive, they are forgiven. Those who
31:21
sends you retain they are retained. Only a Catholic priest
31:25
can do that. There is some question about Orthodox priests.
31:32
So long as they are validly in the line of
31:34
Apostolic succession, they should be able to do the sacrament
31:39
of penance stand in the person of Christ because of
31:42
apostolic succession. But not all are not. We discussed that.
31:49
I guess it was last week or the week before.
31:51
You know, at one point in time the Greek Orthodox
31:54
Church was under a Muslim caliph. They had to give
31:57
their loyalty to the Muslim king essentially, and other times
32:03
they were under Russian Soviet rule. They had to give
32:07
their loyalty first to the government of Russia, and they
32:11
violated the Sacrament of Confession. If they heard something in
32:15
there that was a threat to the government, they rated
32:17
the people out. Not all did, certainly, not all. But
32:21
also some of the bishops were installed by such governments
32:27
were not in apostolic succession, and so the priests may
32:31
not have that power of the sacrament. He may, Okay,
32:36
maybe most of them do. Maybe obviously all of them can't,
32:40
but maybe most of them do. I mean, I'm just saying,
32:44
I know, Orthodox again were really angry about this, But
32:48
the surest way to receive valid sacraments and go to
32:50
heaven is to be Catholic. If you really love your
32:55
Orthodox Church, and I know many do, and they have
32:58
every right and reason to, they should be encouraging the
33:03
Orthodox Church to reunite with the Catholic Church. The closer
33:07
the Orthodox Church gets to the Catholic Church, the more
33:11
sure they can be at the efficacy of their sacraments
33:13
and the validity of their doctrine. That is especially true
33:19
these days in the Russian Orthodox. The Russian Orthodox Church
33:23
is so nationalistic. It's very much more like the Anglican
33:27
or Episcopal Church of England, which also once had valid
33:32
sacraments but no longer does because they broke Apostolic a succession.
33:37
So anyway, but yeah, when you commit amortal sin, you
33:42
lose the Holy Spirit, which means every single Protestant minister,
33:46
unless he's an absolute saint, has no ability to interpret
33:54
the words of the Bible and to preach on them.
33:57
And so you know a lot of people being led
34:00
astray by people who don't even know they're in the
34:02
wrong because they're deluded by the devil. After they lose
34:06
the Holy Spirit, and hopefully God forgives them in their ignorance.
34:11
But as Catholics, we at least don't have to worry
34:14
about that anyway, he says, the contrite center, like the
34:18
prodigal son, receives a beautiful robe sanctifying grace in a
34:22
ring placed on his finger, a token of divine charity.
34:25
Traces of our sin will, it is true, always be
34:28
apparent on the white robe of sanctifying grace. But having
34:31
been washed out by penance, they will not disfigure its beauty.
34:35
Penance is the latter will, whereby we may ascend to
34:38
the place where we have fallen. The heart that is
34:41
full of sin is the habitation of swine. By penance
34:44
it becomes the dwelling place of the most high. Penance
34:47
is a crucible wherein base metal is changed to silver.
34:52
It would indeed be a miracle if a single word
34:55
someone were to make the black skin of the negro white.
34:58
Yet a greater wonder work by the words of absolution
35:01
spoken over the penitent sinner, For thereby the soul, which
35:04
through sin was black as ink, becomes white as snow.
35:08
Again an old book, and people might find that analogy
35:13
somewhat offensive. These days. But understand he didn't mean it
35:17
as a slur against black people. I mean old books
35:20
have old language. When the sinner is restored to a
35:24
state of grace, as a matter of course, he is
35:26
again a child of God, an air of heaven, capable
35:29
of performing meritorious works. Another effect of penance is that
35:34
the merit of all good works done formally in a
35:36
state of grace is recovered, for the merit of all
35:39
those works was lost through mortal sin. And that there's
35:42
a reference served to Ezekiel. I'm thinking that's twenty eight,
35:47
chapter twenty four. Not because God withdrew their merit on
35:50
account of the mortal man, because the man made them
35:54
of no effect. So a meadow parts by a long
35:57
drought recovers its verger greene under the influence of general
36:02
rain and soft sunshine. If before confession we are already
36:05
a state of grace, we receive an increase of grace.
36:09
Anyone who is free of mortal sin, or who has
36:11
made or who has perfect contrition, is in a state
36:15
of grace before confession. The greater the greater of the degree,
36:20
the greater the degree of our sanctifying grace we possess
36:24
here the higher will be our degree of glory. After Hence,
36:29
let no one say it is useless for him to
36:30
go to confession, as he has no moral sin on
36:33
his conscience. Those who speak thus are alas too often
36:36
living in mortal sin. Through the end dwelling of the
36:39
holy ghosts, we obtain great peace of mind, nay, great consolation,
36:43
if our conversion be sincere penance gives us peace of mind.
36:47
The holy ghost is a comforter John fourteen twenty six.
36:51
When we have relieved our soul by confession, a deep
36:54
peace ensues, as the sea became calm as soon as
36:58
the sinful prophet Jonas has been cast out of the ship.
37:01
The sacrament of penance distills balm on the wounds of
37:04
the soul. It relieves us of a heavy burden. The
37:07
restoration of one's peace of mind often has a beneficial
37:10
effect upon the body and contributes to the recovery of health. Hence,
37:15
the saints use to exhort the sick to receive the
37:17
sacraments to the Contrite center. Great consolations are often given.
37:21
Our Lord says, blessed are they that mourn, for they
37:24
should be comforted. Matthew five to five on the return
37:27
of the prodigal son, his father caused the fatty calf
37:30
to be killed, and a merry banquet was held with
37:32
music and dancing Luke fifteen. Thus God acts with regard
37:36
to the repentance center, whose conversion is real. He makes
37:40
him to a bound in consolation and spiritual lights. In fact,
37:44
the grievous center seems in reality to fare better than
37:46
the just man. Remember what the elder son said to
37:49
the father, respecting the reception given to the prodigal Luke fifteen,
37:53
twenty nine. By these constellations, God encourages us to walk
37:57
more resolutely in the toilsome path of virtue. You, for
38:00
the penitent has a sharp conflict to wage with his
38:03
corrupt nature. When we first center upon the way of holiness,
38:07
God lavishes these consolations upon us. Later on he withdraws
38:11
him unless they should prove prejudicial to us. Therefore we
38:14
ought to render him thanks. When he deprives us of them,
38:19
the Holy Spirit imparts us to strength nexcessary to overcome sin.
38:23
The converted sinner is like one recovering from an illness.
38:25
His former strength has to be regained by penance. The
38:28
broken limb is set the power is restored. The might
38:31
of the Holy Spirit is communicated to the newly converted
38:34
to enable him to resist evil. Confession serves to keep
38:37
us from falling to his sin in future, as well
38:40
as to cleanse us from past offenses. Converted sinners are
38:43
generally faithful and zealot servants of God, zealous servants of God.
38:48
On this account, our Lord says, there is joy in
38:51
Heaven upon one that doth penance. More upon ninety nine
38:54
just persons Luke fifteen seven. Which is to be preferred
38:59
the soldier who who has evaded the battle, or the
39:01
one who has fled from the field, but returns to
39:03
the attack to repair his fault, and has valiantly routed
39:07
the enemy. The former is the tepid Christian, the latter
39:12
the fervent penitent. Yet these graces are only given if
39:18
the sacrament of penance has received worthily. They are given
39:21
abundantly if the sacrament has received frequently. The more often
39:25
a house has purified, the cleaner it is. So it
39:28
is with the soul of the Christian. And more frequently
39:31
he goes to confession, the more thoroughly he casts off
39:33
the yoak of the devil. For as a bird's not
39:35
generally returned to build its nests again in a place
39:38
from whence it has been driven away, So the evil
39:41
one is not so prompt and molest the soul whence
39:44
he has been expelled by confession. Confession once a year
39:48
suffices to make one a member of the Catholic Church,
39:50
but is not sufficient for the welfare of the soul.
39:54
As well. One might expect a house to be clean
39:57
that was only to be swept out once a year.
40:00
The Christian who only goes to annual confessions, like Absalom,
40:04
who only had his hair pulled once a year. Second
40:06
Kings in the hour of temptation, is in danger of
40:09
being caught and held fast as Absalom was in the
40:13
branches of the oak. I think I'm gonna wrap it
40:18
up there. We got one more little subsection on penance,
40:23
but it's rather long. It's the worthy reception sacrament of penance.
40:30
We've gone on long enough here Tonight, y'all have a
40:34
great week, and I will talk to you next week.
40:38
God willing as Hank Williams just say, good Lord Willing
40:40
in the creek, don't rise. I'll talk to you next week.