Theory and Practice of the Confessional
by Prof. Caspar E. Schieler, D.D.
But there is an obligation to avoid putting off for a long time one's conversion, and hence an act of perfect contrition after mortal sin, because a man in the state of mortal sin is in the greatest danger of falling into other mortal sins, since he has not strength enough to vanquish severe temptations and to withstand the violence of his passions, and since, as St. Gregory the Great says, the unrepented mortal sins which burden his soul draw him by their weight into other worse sins.
"Without sanctifying grace it is not possible to refrain long from mortal sin," says St. Thomas; the sinner might, if he wished, have the necessary moral strength to overcome temptation and to resist his passions; he might curb them by the divine power of grace; but there is the law of the distribution of God's graces, that God gives only to those who love Him efficacious grace, and while a man persists of his own free will in the state of sin and enmity with God, he equivalently expresses his contempt of grace and so makes himself unworthy of it. As God is ever pouring richer and richer graces on those who make good use of them and cooperate with them, so He withdraws them from those who neglect and resist them.
#confession #conversion #grace
by Prof. Caspar E. Schieler, D.D.
But there is an obligation to avoid putting off for a long time one's conversion, and hence an act of perfect contrition after mortal sin, because a man in the state of mortal sin is in the greatest danger of falling into other mortal sins, since he has not strength enough to vanquish severe temptations and to withstand the violence of his passions, and since, as St. Gregory the Great says, the unrepented mortal sins which burden his soul draw him by their weight into other worse sins.
"Without sanctifying grace it is not possible to refrain long from mortal sin," says St. Thomas; the sinner might, if he wished, have the necessary moral strength to overcome temptation and to resist his passions; he might curb them by the divine power of grace; but there is the law of the distribution of God's graces, that God gives only to those who love Him efficacious grace, and while a man persists of his own free will in the state of sin and enmity with God, he equivalently expresses his contempt of grace and so makes himself unworthy of it. As God is ever pouring richer and richer graces on those who make good use of them and cooperate with them, so He withdraws them from those who neglect and resist them.
#confession #conversion #grace
"Each one is under obligation to show forth his faith, either to instruct and encourage others of the faithful, or to repel the attacks of unbelievers."
"The greatest kindness one can render to any man consists in leading him from error to truth."
"To convert somebody, go and take them by the hand and guide them."
St. Thomas Aquinas
"There is no surer test of the spiritual person than his treatment of another's sin. Note how he takes care to deliver the sinner rather than punish him and, so far as lies in his capacity, to support him."
St. Augustine
#conversion
"The greatest kindness one can render to any man consists in leading him from error to truth."
"To convert somebody, go and take them by the hand and guide them."
St. Thomas Aquinas
"There is no surer test of the spiritual person than his treatment of another's sin. Note how he takes care to deliver the sinner rather than punish him and, so far as lies in his capacity, to support him."
St. Augustine
#conversion
On Deferring Our Conversion
First Point - When you put off your conversion, either you believe, says Saint Bernard, that God will pardon your crimes, or you believe that He will not pardon them. If you believe that He will not pardon them, what greater folly can there be than to offend one so powerful, without hope of pardon, and to increase your punishment by increasing your crimes? If, on the other hand, you believe that God is so merciful that, although you have often offended Him, He will not permit you to go unforgiven, then how malicious it is to seek occasion to offend God more, instead of seeking to love Him more. God is good, but does that justify your wickedness? He is so merciful that He will forgive your sins even though they be as numerous as the sands on the seashore, but is that a reason for you to sin the more?
Second Point - Either you believe that God will grant you only a little time in which to bring about your conversion, or you believe that He will give you a great amount of time. If you believe that God will give you only a little time, what good use should you not make of each moment? If you believe that He will give you a great amount of time, what gratitude should you not show Him, and how can you express your gratitude better than by employing well the time He gives you and refuses to so many others. God, says the wise man, has not given us time so that we may offend Him by it. How great then is our ingratitude, if we employ the time that God has given us in sin. This is what we do, however, when we defer our conversion.
Third Point - Either you believe that you will some day repent of the sins that you are constantly committing by deferring your conversion, or you do not believe it. If you do not believe it, then your actions prove that you are either a madman or a reprobate. If you do believe it, then what folly it is to do those things of which sooner or later you will repent, or by which, if you do not repent, you will perish eternally. If you experience pleasure in putting off your conversion, it is a fatal pleasure which will end in eternal grief; but if, happily for you, your repentance should change this pleasure into grief, into true sorrow for your sins, you will experience then a true pleasure both for time and for eternity.
Be confounded at having so often tempted God by deferring your conversion, and take the resolution to repair this injury by striving henceforward to work for God's glory.
Let us do penance now; let us not permit the time of mercy to pass by; for soon the time of judgment and of justice will come. We will then do penance, but our penance will be useless.
Fr. François Nepveu
He hath given no man license to sin.
Sirach 15:21
#conversion #repentance #time
First Point - When you put off your conversion, either you believe, says Saint Bernard, that God will pardon your crimes, or you believe that He will not pardon them. If you believe that He will not pardon them, what greater folly can there be than to offend one so powerful, without hope of pardon, and to increase your punishment by increasing your crimes? If, on the other hand, you believe that God is so merciful that, although you have often offended Him, He will not permit you to go unforgiven, then how malicious it is to seek occasion to offend God more, instead of seeking to love Him more. God is good, but does that justify your wickedness? He is so merciful that He will forgive your sins even though they be as numerous as the sands on the seashore, but is that a reason for you to sin the more?
Second Point - Either you believe that God will grant you only a little time in which to bring about your conversion, or you believe that He will give you a great amount of time. If you believe that God will give you only a little time, what good use should you not make of each moment? If you believe that He will give you a great amount of time, what gratitude should you not show Him, and how can you express your gratitude better than by employing well the time He gives you and refuses to so many others. God, says the wise man, has not given us time so that we may offend Him by it. How great then is our ingratitude, if we employ the time that God has given us in sin. This is what we do, however, when we defer our conversion.
Third Point - Either you believe that you will some day repent of the sins that you are constantly committing by deferring your conversion, or you do not believe it. If you do not believe it, then your actions prove that you are either a madman or a reprobate. If you do believe it, then what folly it is to do those things of which sooner or later you will repent, or by which, if you do not repent, you will perish eternally. If you experience pleasure in putting off your conversion, it is a fatal pleasure which will end in eternal grief; but if, happily for you, your repentance should change this pleasure into grief, into true sorrow for your sins, you will experience then a true pleasure both for time and for eternity.
Be confounded at having so often tempted God by deferring your conversion, and take the resolution to repair this injury by striving henceforward to work for God's glory.
Let us do penance now; let us not permit the time of mercy to pass by; for soon the time of judgment and of justice will come. We will then do penance, but our penance will be useless.
Fr. François Nepveu
He hath given no man license to sin.
Sirach 15:21
#conversion #repentance #time