Sacramental Confessions apply to our souls all the merits of the Passion of Jesus.
“The most difficult sacrifice we
are called to make is to surrender that most precious creature that happens to
have your name.” ~ Father John A.
Hardon, S.J.
WE ARE LOVED AND VALUED BEYOND MEASURE
What if right now, the Lord summoned you to the
Confessional and asked you to make a Sacramental Confession of Devotion for the benefit of others?
Would you do as He asked?
Are you prepared for Him to ask you.
BECOMING CHANNELS OF GRACE FOR THE MASSIVE CONVERSION OF SINNERS
Why would the Lord ask you to do such a thing?
Why would the Lord ask you to do such a thing?
He longs to
pour forth graces upon humanity, and so many people are not accepting them.
He wants to bless such souls through the people who are willing to accept them.
Would honoring the Lord's request make any difference?
You bet. Being channels of the Lord's graces for the sake of other precious, immortal souls makes a huge difference, eternally, in ways we cannot always imagine or fathom in the present moment.
We have a very loving Triune God, and He looks after each one of us very, very well.
May we trust Him always, because His plans for us are good.
May we trust Him always, because His plans for us are good.
“In failing to Confess, Lord, I
would only hide You from myself, not hide myself from You.” ~ Saint Augustine
KNOW YOUR FAITH AND SHARE IT WITH OTHERS
How well do you know your Catholic Faith? Are you making an effort to grow closer to God by learning more about Him, and not only for your own benefit, but also for the benefit of others?
How often do you share the Faith.
What if God wanted to use you in a particular way as a channel of grace for a specific group of people.
Say in this case He wanted to use you as a channel of grace for all the people who do not make Sacramental Confessions and do not obtain for themselves and others the beneficial graces He wishes to generously shower upon them.
Say in this case He wanted to use you as a channel of grace for all the people who do not make Sacramental Confessions and do not obtain for themselves and others the beneficial graces He wishes to generously shower upon them.
Do you ever make Confessions of Devotion? All of us should, and we must! They are potent sources of grace for the massive conversion of sinners.
WHY WOULD ANYONE CHOSE
TO NOT GO?
There are so many reasons why people do not go to confession, and while some are perfectly justifiable to the human mind, in the spiritual realm it is a great
tragedy, in fact it is a tremendous catastrophe when anyone chooses not to accept all our merciful Lord offers us through this great
means of reconciling ourselves to Him, to His Church, and to others.
Do not let any reason stop you from going and making
sacramental confessions, and go often.
God wants to work in a very powerful way, through YOU!
“O Jesus, if just
one drop of Your Precious Blood has the power to wipe out all the crimes of the
world, what will it not do in me when You pour it so abundantly over my poor
soul at the moment of absolution! O
Jesus, revive my faith and give me a complete understanding of the immense
value of the sacrament of Your Blood. Only
Your Blood can wash away my sins, purify the stains on my soul, and heal and
vivify it. Oh! Grant that this salutary bath may cleanse my
whole being and restore it entirely to Your grace and love!” ~ Father Gabriel of St. Mary
Magdalen, O.C.D. , Divine Intimacy, p. 308
WHY GO TO CONFESSION AT ALL?
Jesus
instituted the Sacrament of Penance to heal the wounds of sin, to restore
sinners to grace, and to provide strength for our weaknesses. Christ conferred on the Apostles and
successors (priests) the power to forgive sins in His Name when He said, “Whose
sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them;
and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained: (John 20: 23).
Be reminded what Jesus said to Saint Faustina: “I desire
trust from My creatures. Encourage souls
to place great trust in My fathomless mercy.
Let the weak, sinful soul have no fear to approach Me, for even if it
had more sins than there are grains of sand in the world, all would be drowned
in the unmeasurable depths of My mercy.” (Diary, Divine Mercy in My Soul, p.p.
399-400).
If the Lord asked you to make a sacramental confession in
place of everyone through all time, past, present, and future who did not go,
are not going, or will not go, are you prepared to do it?
What would you say.
DISPENSE HIS MERCY
“Pray for souls that they be not
afraid to approach the tribunal of My mercy.
Do not grow weary of praying for sinners. You know what a burden their souls are to My
Heart. Relieve My deathly sorrow; dispense My mercy.” Diary, p. 377.
ASK THE LORD WHAT YOU SHOULD SAY AND THEN SAY IT
After praying to our Triune God for insight, perhaps He
would have you say something like this (He comes up with the most beautiful things):
The Sign of the Cross.
Please bless me, Father, for I have sinned. My last confession was about two
weeks ago.
Most Loving,
Compassionate Triune Lord,
I am here because I
love You, to thank You for loving me, to renew my promise to love and honor You
all the days of my life, to thank You for so much goodness so freely given, and
to apologize to You for the times that my actions have hurt You and distanced
myself from You.
How can that ever be a
consideration for any of us, Lord, to distance ourselves from the Author of
Love when You constantly seek to draw us into closer union with You.
It is only possible
when we love ourselves more than You, and while it seems that is self serving,
it is really self defeating. On our own
we are powerless, defenseless, and loveless.
And yet You even use these things to our ultimate advantage when You see
us merely shoot You a glance.
Lord, I thank You for
everything realizing that You want what is best for every single person. I apologize to You for my many
transgressions, determined to go forth trusting in You always, needing You
always, seeking You always, and thus always having You by my side.
Lord, I apologize to
you for...
Jesus, You summoned me
here today not only to be reconciled with You following my own offenses, but
also to obtain graces for all those through all time who would not and will not
make sacramental confessions for whatever reason.
And so Lord I am here
to represent them all, and humbly apologize to You on everyone’s behalf for
every offense. I love You in return and
thank You on behalf of all these precious, immortal souls, and ask Blessed
Mother to present to You the particulars of every single human heart in great need
of Your mercy. Blessed Mother, please
place each one of these souls within the Sacred Wounds of Jesus which best
applies to them as I kneel here at the foot of the Cross in all of their places,
and ask you dear Mother which one best applies to me? Place me well, Blessed Mother, so that
through the Passion and Death of Your Son my faults can be overcome, so that my
life, and the lives of all those I represent, may become living testimonies to
God’s greatness.
O Bleeding Face, O
Face Divine, be every adoration Thine!
THE BEAUTIFUL, MEANINGFUL WORDS OF ABSOLUTION
"God, the Father of mercies, through the death and resurrection of His Son has reconciled the world to Himself and sent the Holy Spirit among us for the forgiveness of sins; through the ministry of the Church may God give you pardon and peace, and I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen."
"Lord Jesus has forgiven you everything; go in peace."
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CONFESSION APPLIES TO OUR SOULS ALL THE MERITS OF THE PASSION OF JESUS
“Confession
applies to our soul all the merits of the Passion of Jesus, all the infinite
value of His Blood; we shall always
return from this Sacrament renewed, sanctified, and strengthened in good in the
measure in which we have approached it with a contrite and humble heart.”~
Father Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen, O.C.D., Divine Intimacy, p. 214.
FINAL
THOUGHTS
Our
Lord said to Saint Faustina, “Daughter, 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.
Every time you go to confession, immerse yourself entirely in My mercy,
with great trust, so that I may pour the bounty of My grace upon your soul. When you approach the confessional, now 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. Tell souls that from this fount
of mercy souls draw graces soley 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.” Diary, pp. 568-569.
DAILY CONVERSION AND PENANCE FIND THEIR SOURCE AND NOURISHMENT IN THE EUCHARIST
So
much more could be said about the Sacrament of Reconciliation! One final thought, from the Catechism of the
Catholic Church: Daily conversion and
penance find their source and nourishment in the Eucharist, for in it is made
present the sacrifice of Christ which has reconciled us with God. Through the Eucharist those who live from the
life of Christ are fed and strengthened.
“It is a remedy to free us from our daily faults and to preserve us from
mortal sins.” ~ Catechism of the
Catholic Church, 1436.
A very powerful story from Saint John Bosco that reinforces this (audio):
"He [the confessor] knows how much greater than
your sins is the Mercy of God, this Mercy which grants you pardon through his
ministry. He applies to you the infinite merits of the Precious Blood of Jesus
Christ with which he can wash away all stains from your soul." ~ Saint John Bosco
Discover and rediscover the POWER of making Sacramental Confessions of Devotion!
God is so in love with us all.
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