Our Peace (Confession)
"When you go to Confession, to this fountain of My mercy, the Blood and Water which came forth from My Heart always flows down upon your soul and ennobles it." (Jesus to St. Faustina and all of us)
When we sin, we deprive ourselves of God’s grace. And by doing so, we make it even easier to sin some more. The only way out of this downward cycle is to acknowledge our sins, to repent of them, and to ask God’s forgiveness. Then, in the Sacrament of Confession, grace can be restored to our souls, and we can once again resist sin.
(1464)Jesus said to St. Faustina, and to all of us, “Every time you go to confession, immerse yourself in My mercy, with great trust, so that I may pour the bounty of My grace upon your soul. When you approach the confessional, know this, that I Myself am waiting there for you. I am only hidden by the priest, but I myself act in your soul. Here the misery of the soul meets the God of mercy.
Souls draw graces solely with the vessel of trust. If their trust is great, there is no limit to My generosity. The torrents of grace inundate humble souls. The proud remain always in poverty and misery, because My grace turns away from them to humble souls. (1602) The person of the priest is, for Me, only a screen. Never analyze what sort of a priest it is that I am making use of; open your soul in confession as you would to Me, and I will fill it with My light. (1725)
– St. Augustine said, “The confession of evil works is the first beginning of good works.”
We must be sorry for our sins, confess those sins fully and be willing to do penance and make amends for those sins. in order to do this we should do:
First - complete sincerity and openness.
Even the holiest and wisest confessor cannot forcibly pour into the our soul what he desires if we are not sincere and open. An insincere , secretive soul risks great dangers in the spiritual life, and even the Lord Jesus Himself does not give Himself to such a soul on a higher level, because He knows it would derive no benefit from these special graces.
Second - humility.
A soul does not benefit as it should from the sacrament of confession if it is not humble. Pride keeps it in darkness.
Third - obedience.
A disobedient soul will win no victory. Jesus said to St. Faustina, “By obedience you give great glory to Me and gain merit for yourself. (28). Yes.. when you are obedient I take away your weakness and replace it with My strength. I am very surprised that souls do not want to make that exchange with Me.” (381).
St. Francis de Sales said, “Go to your confessor; open your heart to him; display to him all the recesses of your soul; take the advice that he will give you with the utmost humility and simplicity. For God, Who has an infinite love for obedience, frequently renders profitable the counsels we take from others, but especially from those who are the guides of our souls."
So, my brothers go to confession often, if you can at least once a month and meet the God of Mercy and obtain pardon. Here is a story of the peace and strength that going to confession can impart to God’s Marines.
The Capture of a Slave Ship
Some years ago a British warship had orders to watch for slavers, which were said to be plying their barbarous trade on the African coast. One of these was sighted but, disregarding the signals to come to, managed to round a promontory and get into shallow water.
A launch was ordered to follow and, if possible, capture her. The command was given to a young lieutenant, who boarded the enemy ship under a hail of bullets. A desperate fight ensued with the crew, which were composed of fierce desperadoes. The young commander behaved with conspicuous bravery and succeeded against heavy odds in securing the prize.
On his return to England he was rewarded with a captaincy. Replying to a speech at his old school, he said : Gentleman, I scarcely merit the praise you bestow me. Though aware of my danger , I can’t say I felt any fear. I was at confession a few days before and knew that I was aright. (The Secret of Confession by Fr. Paul O’Sullivan, OP)
May we know we are right with God and thus respond with bravery to whatever we are called to do. Yes, the Almighty is infinitely patient with His wayward, sinful children. They are weak. He is fully aware of their weaknesses, but He offers them such strength, such grace, such help that whatever sin they have committed, they must confess it as being fully and entirely due to their own deliberate fault.
These aids are, firstly, to ask Him by prayer for help. In return, He promises to give them everything they require. What could be easier?
Secondly, He counsels them to apply His Precious Blood to their souls by frequent Confession. Then they will triumph over all difficulties.
Thirdly, He invites them to receive Him often in the Blessed Eucharist, with all the graces He then bestows.
What could be more delightful than to receive the God of infinite sweetness and mercy and love into their souls? But what does He ask them to do?
Simply to act as good sons to the best of Fathers, to do their duty, to fulfill their obligations. He asks them to be just and upright and pure; not to steal nor kill nor do evil. In a word, He bids them be honest, respectable men and women, not criminals, nor lawbreakers. Could He do more for us? Could He ask less of us?
Confession can cure all sins, but it has a most especial power in eradicating impurity, in healing weak fallen nature and in restoring to man his native strength and purity.
One can never repeat too often that Confession was given not only to pardon sin, but to cure it, to drag it out by the roots from the soul.
Therefore, frequent Confession-weekly Confession is the great bulwark against sin!
Priests can never insist too much with their penitents, young and old, on the necessity of going to weekly Confession.
Mothers and fathers, and teachers of every kind, should do everything in their power to induce children to make a lifelong practice of frequent Confession.
The writer has conferred with many experienced confessors, and all, without exception, agree that no vice is so gross, so deep-rooted, so vicious that it will not yield to frequent Confession-----all the more so since, after Confession, the penitents receive God Himself in Holy Communion.
Fr. Paul O'Sullivan, O.P., THE SECRET OF CONFESSION, Tan Books, pp. 76-78; 92-93.
When we go to confession, we should accuse ourselves of our worst sins first, and of those things which we are most ashamed of, because by this means we put the devil to greater confusion, and reap more fruit from our confession.~St. Phillip Neri
One of the very best means of obtaining humility, is sincere and frequent confession.~St. Phillip Neri
In trying to get rid of bad habits, it is of the greatest importance not to put off going to confession after a fall, and also to keep to the same confessor.~St. Phillip Neri
He who conceals a grave sin in confession, is completely in the devil’s hands... Let us always go to confession with sincerity, and take this as our rule - Never out of human respect to conceal anything from our confessor, however inconsiderable it may be.~St. Phillip Neri
Ask all the Angels and Saints to pray for you for the grace to make a good and holy confession. My Brothers Frequent Confession will ensure that you, "Never Leave A Soul Behind" especially yours.t y
Next day of Boot Camp: http://www.thefourmen.info/2/post/2012/01/the-thirty-seventh-day-of-the-four-men-boot-camp.html
Not yet in the God's Marines Boot Camp? Rise up today to join the True Brotherhood of the Four Men Prayer Groups:
www.thefourmen.info/join-the-true-brotherhood.html
