Serious business.
What does that mean to us?
Some people consider their work serious business; and it should be.
Some consider their finances serious business; and it is.
Some people consider their religion serious business: and of course it is.
Some even consider their sports teams serious business; and…well, eeh—maybe not so much.
I’ll tell you what we should consider serious business. CONFESSION.
Confession of our sins to a priest so that we may gain absolution from them and that we may obtain the graces needed to persevere over temptation.
Jesus told us to confess our sins 1 John 1:8-10 and our sins would be forgiven by Him through the priest John 20:21–23.
Saint John Vianney gives one of the best reflections on confession;
We come to confession quite preoccupied with the shame that we shall feel. We accuse ourselves by steam. It is said that many confess, and few are converted. I believe it is so, my children, because few confess with tears of repentance. See, the misfortune is, that people do not reflect. If one said to those who work on Sundays, to a young person who had been dancing for two or three hours, to a man coming out of an alehouse drunk, "What have you been doing? You have been crucifying Our Lord!" they would be quite astonished, because they do not think of it. My children, if we thought of it, we should be seized with horror; it would be impossible for us to do evil. For what has the good God done to us that we should grieve Him thus, and put Him to death afresh - Him, who has redeemed us from Hell? It would be well if all sinners, when they are going to their guilty pleasures, could, like St. Peter, meet Our Lord on the way, who would say to them, "I am going to that place where thou art going thyself, to be there crucified afresh. " Perhaps that might make them reflect.
(From THE BLESSED CURÉ OF ARS IN HIS CATECHETICAL INSTRUCTIONS Saint John Vianney)
In order to prepare for a good confession, you should have a good examination of conscience.
To help us forgetful people to remember those things we may have forgotten or may not have thought of, here are a couple to check out.
http://www.catholicparents.org/oxcart/Examination%20of%20Conscience.pdf (from Father Altier)
And from the Fathers of Mercy http://www.fathersofmercy.com/about/home/exams
What does that mean to us?
Some people consider their work serious business; and it should be.
Some consider their finances serious business; and it is.
Some people consider their religion serious business: and of course it is.
Some even consider their sports teams serious business; and…well, eeh—maybe not so much.
I’ll tell you what we should consider serious business. CONFESSION.
Confession of our sins to a priest so that we may gain absolution from them and that we may obtain the graces needed to persevere over temptation.
Jesus told us to confess our sins 1 John 1:8-10 and our sins would be forgiven by Him through the priest John 20:21–23.
Saint John Vianney gives one of the best reflections on confession;
We come to confession quite preoccupied with the shame that we shall feel. We accuse ourselves by steam. It is said that many confess, and few are converted. I believe it is so, my children, because few confess with tears of repentance. See, the misfortune is, that people do not reflect. If one said to those who work on Sundays, to a young person who had been dancing for two or three hours, to a man coming out of an alehouse drunk, "What have you been doing? You have been crucifying Our Lord!" they would be quite astonished, because they do not think of it. My children, if we thought of it, we should be seized with horror; it would be impossible for us to do evil. For what has the good God done to us that we should grieve Him thus, and put Him to death afresh - Him, who has redeemed us from Hell? It would be well if all sinners, when they are going to their guilty pleasures, could, like St. Peter, meet Our Lord on the way, who would say to them, "I am going to that place where thou art going thyself, to be there crucified afresh. " Perhaps that might make them reflect.
(From THE BLESSED CURÉ OF ARS IN HIS CATECHETICAL INSTRUCTIONS Saint John Vianney)
In order to prepare for a good confession, you should have a good examination of conscience.
To help us forgetful people to remember those things we may have forgotten or may not have thought of, here are a couple to check out.
http://www.catholicparents.org/oxcart/Examination%20of%20Conscience.pdf (from Father Altier)
And from the Fathers of Mercy http://www.fathersofmercy.com/about/home/exams
-Screensaver-0344.jpg)
No comments:
Post a Comment