Although we place ourselves in darkness when we defy
God by sinning, a ray of light still shines upon us, Christ's light, which
projects from the Sacred Heart of our Savior.
This holy, pure, and radiant light illuminates our souls gently and softly, and beckons us to accept God's unfathomable love and mercy and be reconciled with our Creator and Savior.
The Lord even provides the path we are to follow which leads to our reconciliation. This pathway is lined in His own Precious Blood, shed for us along the Way of Sacrificial Love and on Calvary.
This pathway leads us through a narrow gate, the door of the confessional, and right to a prie-dieu (kneeler) at the foot of the Cross.
This holy, pure, and radiant light illuminates our souls gently and softly, and beckons us to accept God's unfathomable love and mercy and be reconciled with our Creator and Savior.
The Lord even provides the path we are to follow which leads to our reconciliation. This pathway is lined in His own Precious Blood, shed for us along the Way of Sacrificial Love and on Calvary.
This pathway leads us through a narrow gate, the door of the confessional, and right to a prie-dieu (kneeler) at the foot of the Cross.
WHY GO ABOUT IT THIS WAY?
Examine
your conscience while meditating on Christ's Passion?Doing so sheds light on sins that perhaps one has not previously considered while at the same, we are drawn much closer to God while also gaining a greater understanding of and appreciation for how much Jesus loves each one of us.
Spend precious, intimate time very single day with Jesus and examine your conscience while meditating on His Passion and your Redemption. He is so in love with you!
THIRST FOR MORE
Receive the Sacrament of Christ's Peace often. Jesus even provides the path we are to follow that leads to our reconciliation. This sacred pathway is lined in His own Precious Blood which was shed for us by an innocent Man along the Way of Sacrificial Love and on Calvary, during His Sacred Passion and brutal execution.
This pathway leading to our salvation and sanctification guides us through a narrow gate, the door of the confessional, to a prie dieu (kneeler) at the foot of the Cross. A Divine Child even awaits you to take your hand and walk you in.
THE SACRAMENT OF CONVERSION
1422 “Those
who approach the sacrament of Penance obtain pardon from God’s mercy for the
offense committed against Him, and are, at the same time, reconciled with the
Church which they have wounded by their sins and which by charity, by example,
and by prayer labors for their conversion.”
Catechism of the Catholic Church,
p. 396.
Did
you know that the Sacrament of Penance goes by many different names?
It is called the Sacrament of Conversion, the
Sacrament of Penance, the Sacrament of Confession, the Sacrament of
Forgiveness, and the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
Servant of God, Father John A. Hardon, S.J. referred to it as the Sacrament of Christ’s Peace.
Other delightful names are the Sacrament of Humility, the Sacrament of Healing, and the Sacrament of Divine Intimacy. St. John Bosco referred to it as the devil’s bankruptcy, and we can also call it the Sacrament of Catholic Courage, Spiritual Warfare, or Spiritual Combat.
Servant of God, Father John A. Hardon, S.J. referred to it as the Sacrament of Christ’s Peace.
Other delightful names are the Sacrament of Humility, the Sacrament of Healing, and the Sacrament of Divine Intimacy. St. John Bosco referred to it as the devil’s bankruptcy, and we can also call it the Sacrament of Catholic Courage, Spiritual Warfare, or Spiritual Combat.
Do you have a preferred title among them? Or, do you prefer a title of your own.
According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, this is what some of the names imply in particular:
Sacrament of Conversion because it makes
sacramentally present Jesus’ call to conversion, which is the first step in
returning to the Father from whom we stray when we sin.
Sacrament of Penance consecrates the
Christian sinner’s personal and ecclesial steps of conversion, penance, and satisfaction.
Did you know it was this meaningful? Read on!
Did you know it was this meaningful? Read on!
Sacrament of Confession because the disclosure, or confession, of our
sins to a priest is an essential element, our confession or acknowledgement and
praise of the holiness of God and of His mercy toward sinful man.
Sacrament of Forgiveness
since penitents are granted pardon and peace by the priest’s sacramental
absolution.
Sacrament of Reconciliation
because it imparts to the sinner the love of God who reconciles by the words
“Be reconciled to God.” When we accept
God’s love and mercy, we are ready/equipped to respond to the Lord’s call that
we be reconciled to one another.
Some other unofficial names and meanings:
Sacrament
of Healing; perhaps one of the most under
appreciated and least considered benefits of making good Confessions is the
healing power of God's graces. Penitents
are relieved of the burdens of guilt and shame sinning imposes upon our moral
consciences. While this state of spiritual disequilibrium can help us
because we then feel remorse and want to reconcile with God, the devil can also
use these feelings against us and try to stop us from confessing. After
having asked for and received pardon for their sins, penitents have greater
mercy for others.
Sacrament
of Divine Intimacy; when we willingly are honest, sincere,
and humble while seeking pardon and ask to be reconciled with our most loving
Creator, our actions show we love Him in return and we grow closer to
God. The setting is intimate, the discourse is intimate, the reason
we are there is intimate, admitting our sins is intimate, our love is intimate,
and our relationship with God is intimate.
Sacrament
of Catholic Courage; it takes great courage to be humble,
admit one’s faults, be truly sorry, and be committed to amending one’s
life. We need God’s grace to accomplish
this; and what takes place in the confessional is totally supernatural and
transforming. Grace is necessary for us
to accomplish good and fight evil. This sacrament is very, very powerful,
makes us stronger, and is indispensable in helping us fight temptation and
succeed.
The
Sacrament of Humility; by this name, we come to better
understand that this sacrament is a very powerful way to break the devil’s hold
on us. Humility causes the demons to bid
a hasty retreat. When we apologize, we are humble. When we submit to our confessor, we are
humble. When measuring our unworthiness
against the love and mercy of God, we are humbled.
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.
Pray, and then make your examinations of conscience
and confessions deeply intimate, personal, meaningful, and loving!
Soon, you will be so astounded by your spiritual
progress and by how you have grown closer to God by leaps and bounds, and will
find yourself absolutely loving going to confession, if you don’t already.
Keep the eternal flame of this love burning in your heart to help you through the times when going to confession will be difficult and challenging, and for the times that the Lord uses you in the confessional in ways that you may not always understand. Keep going to confession; what we think and/or feel are not always of consequence when doing what God wants. Always, always seek to accomplish God’s will for you, no matter the personal cost. He is at work in you!
Keep the eternal flame of this love burning in your heart to help you through the times when going to confession will be difficult and challenging, and for the times that the Lord uses you in the confessional in ways that you may not always understand. Keep going to confession; what we think and/or feel are not always of consequence when doing what God wants. Always, always seek to accomplish God’s will for you, no matter the personal cost. He is at work in you!
THE DIVINE CHILD
EAGERLY AWAITS YOUR ARRIVAL
Look; a very gentle and incredibly loving little Boy is waiting for you, just outside the confessional door.
This Divine Child is wearing a crown of thorns; they signify His submission to the will of God the Father.
Our little Savior is waving for you to go to Him, enter the confessional, and submit your will to God the Father like He did.
When you go to little Jesus, He will take you by the hand and gently lead you in. Then He will help you make an open and honest sacramental confession from the heart of a child.
So many graces are obtained when we are open and honest with God. These graces are very generously given not only to us but also to others through us.
It is important that you go and that you go often.
It is vital that parishes have generous confession schedules to make going often possible.
As the Divine Child leads you to the foot of the Cross where His love, mercy, and peace are granted to all, One so small looks up at His beautiful creation and reminds you, "Don't hide from Me. I love you!"
Look; a very gentle and incredibly loving little Boy is waiting for you, just outside the confessional door.
This Divine Child is wearing a crown of thorns; they signify His submission to the will of God the Father.
Our little Savior is waving for you to go to Him, enter the confessional, and submit your will to God the Father like He did.
When you go to little Jesus, He will take you by the hand and gently lead you in. Then He will help you make an open and honest sacramental confession from the heart of a child.
So many graces are obtained when we are open and honest with God. These graces are very generously given not only to us but also to others through us.
It is important that you go and that you go often.
It is vital that parishes have generous confession schedules to make going often possible.
As the Divine Child leads you to the foot of the Cross where His love, mercy, and peace are granted to all, One so small looks up at His beautiful creation and reminds you, "Don't hide from Me. I love you!"
PRAYING THE SORROWFUL MYSTERIES OF THE HOLY ROSARY AS PREPARATION FOR RECEIVING THE SACRAMENT OF RECONCILIATION
Embark upon the road to the foot of the Cross by making an examination of conscience while meditating on Christ's Passion and Crucifixion. Meditating on Christ's Passion is an important part of being Catholic and should be done every day. Approach this method through the Christ Child. Invite Him to accompany you along the Way of the Cross and ask Him to help you confess openly and honestly with the heart of a Child. The Divine Child most certainly will!
He will take you by the hand and lead you into the confessional where you will kneel on Calvary, look into His little Holy Face, and make a Way of the Cross Confession.
God is so in love with you!
Begin making your examination of conscience in a Garden.
THE AGONY IN THE GARDEN
Go to Jesus, who is already kneeling and praying for the salvation and sanctification of the entire
human race, in general and also for you in
particular. Kneel down next to Him, you can touch Him if you like, and
look into His eyes so filled with longing for your love in return. Jesus
takes your hands in His and together you pray for everyone.
As you pray this mystery with Jesus, begin examining your conscience while in the illuminating presence of our suffering Lord.
Ask yourself if you have insulted Him right to His suffering and Holy Face. Have you blasphemed? Used bad language? Made fun of yourself or anyone else for following Christ and for being holy? Do you encourage others to be unholy.
Do you spend time with God each day in prayer? Do you go to Holy Mass, and are you making sacramental confessions regularly.
Ask Jesus to illuminate your conscience so that you can make a very intimate, meaningful, and powerful confession.
Be sure to thank Jesus before concluding the First Sorrowful Mystery.
Little Jesus then comes to you and leads you from the Garden to a pillar.
Go to Jesus, who is already kneeling and praying for the salvation and sanctification of the entire
human race, in general and also for you in
particular. Kneel down next to Him, you can touch Him if you like, and
look into His eyes so filled with longing for your love in return. Jesus
takes your hands in His and together you pray for everyone.As you pray this mystery with Jesus, begin examining your conscience while in the illuminating presence of our suffering Lord.
Ask yourself if you have insulted Him right to His suffering and Holy Face. Have you blasphemed? Used bad language? Made fun of yourself or anyone else for following Christ and for being holy? Do you encourage others to be unholy.
Do you spend time with God each day in prayer? Do you go to Holy Mass, and are you making sacramental confessions regularly.
Ask Jesus to illuminate your conscience so that you can make a very intimate, meaningful, and powerful confession.
Be sure to thank Jesus before concluding the First Sorrowful Mystery.
Little Jesus then comes to you and leads you from the Garden to a pillar.
THE SCOURGING AT THE PILLAR
Go close to Jesus and allow yourself to be drawn into the mystery of our Redemption. See first hand the reality of sin and what saving us cost Jesus. Be there as He paid the price to redeem and sanctify us all. Jesus paid for us with everything He had.
To God, every single one of our precious, immortal souls are absolutely priceless.
You see the enemies of Jesus strip Him of His clothing. Just imagine that moment if you can. What behavior of yours contributed to that moment? What choices of yours offend Him still?
Do you value purity and chastity? How do you treat other people. How are you dressing, in general and when you go to Holy Mass? Does your speech glorify God? Do your activities?
Look into the loving and merciful eyes of Christ
before He offers His Sacred Body up to be scourged, and see deep into
eternity. See God, and see heaven! See what tremendous courage
looks like, courage that is fueled by sacrificial love.
In those moments before the unfathomable scourging began, Jesus says to you as you stand Holy Face to holy Face, "Go through Me." To get to God and to heaven, we are to go Jesus, His Church, and His Sacraments. We are to make reparation for offenses against God through the powerful Devotion to His Most Holy Face.
Allow God to use you to guide others to Jesus.
As Jesus is scourged, the wounds formed on His Sacred Body become the gateways to our confessionals. Examine our Savior's barbarically battered body and ask Him, "Jesus, which of Your wounds should have been mine?"
Rays of light stream forth from His Sacred Body and illuminate your conscience. Each wound you claim becomes a gateway to the confessional; the Precious Blood flowing from His wounds creates the pathway that leads you to absolution.
Look into the suffering and loving eyes of Jesus as He is scourged at the pillar. Tell Him you love Him, show Him compassion, thank Him for everything, and offer Him a firm purpose of amendment. He will help you accomplish it through the power of the Cross.
SACRIFICIAL LOVE
Sacrificial love is the most powerful force in the universe. Sacrificial love is so strong that the bonds formed by it cannot every be broken and the gates of hell cannot prevail against it. Allow sacrificial love to bind your soul to God, forever. Allow the Lord to use you as a magnificent channel of His love and grace for the massive conversion of sinners.
In those moments before the unfathomable scourging began, Jesus says to you as you stand Holy Face to holy Face, "Go through Me." To get to God and to heaven, we are to go Jesus, His Church, and His Sacraments. We are to make reparation for offenses against God through the powerful Devotion to His Most Holy Face.
Allow God to use you to guide others to Jesus.
As Jesus is scourged, the wounds formed on His Sacred Body become the gateways to our confessionals. Examine our Savior's barbarically battered body and ask Him, "Jesus, which of Your wounds should have been mine?"
Rays of light stream forth from His Sacred Body and illuminate your conscience. Each wound you claim becomes a gateway to the confessional; the Precious Blood flowing from His wounds creates the pathway that leads you to absolution.
Look into the suffering and loving eyes of Jesus as He is scourged at the pillar. Tell Him you love Him, show Him compassion, thank Him for everything, and offer Him a firm purpose of amendment. He will help you accomplish it through the power of the Cross.
SACRIFICIAL LOVE
Sacrificial love is the most powerful force in the universe. Sacrificial love is so strong that the bonds formed by it cannot every be broken and the gates of hell cannot prevail against it. Allow sacrificial love to bind your soul to God, forever. Allow the Lord to use you as a magnificent channel of His love and grace for the massive conversion of sinners.
THE CROWNING WITH THORNS
After you have completed the Second Sorrowful Mystery, the Christ Child leads you from the pillar to the place where our humble, obedient, submissive, gentle, forgiving, merciful, and loving Jesus is going to be mocked, scorned, rejected, ridiculed, insulted, and crowned with thorns.
In anticipation of His arrival, you place yourself on the spot face down in the shape of a cross. You pray the Third Sorrowful Mystery that way while preparing to surrender your will to God during your next sacramental confession.
As you pray, Jesus arrives along with the crowd. The sight and sounds of the cruelest treatment to the most loving of Men illuminates your conscience and reveals sins of pride, malice, hatred, impatience, speech, thought, intolerance, anger, slander, stubbornness, defiance.
THE CROWNING WITH THORNS AND THE CONFESSIONALS
Little Jesus helps you up because He has something
to show you. As Christ's Sacred Head is crowned with thorns, you see His
Precious Blood streaming from the thorn wounds.
At the same time, you see those thorn wounds as open confessional doors in a chapel. Christ's Precious Blood mystically pours forth from them like large and gentle yet incredibly powerful waterfalls. So much grace gushes forth from those dams built by mankind's defiance, dams which are disintegrating before your very eyes.
You see pathways being formed which guide precious souls toward holiness and toward God. These mystical paths stream outward through time and space seeking out all those who have not received, are not receiving, or will not receive this vital sacrament given to us by our Lord on Easter Sunday night.
At the same time, you see those thorn wounds as open confessional doors in a chapel. Christ's Precious Blood mystically pours forth from them like large and gentle yet incredibly powerful waterfalls. So much grace gushes forth from those dams built by mankind's defiance, dams which are disintegrating before your very eyes.
You see pathways being formed which guide precious souls toward holiness and toward God. These mystical paths stream outward through time and space seeking out all those who have not received, are not receiving, or will not receive this vital sacrament given to us by our Lord on Easter Sunday night.
After you finish praying this mystery, Little Jesus
takes you by the hand and leads you to the most important road you will ever
travel on. It is called the Way of the Cross, or the Way of Sacrificial
Love. There, you become part of a sacred procession.
THE CARRYING OF THE CROSSAsk Jesus to enlighten you as He carries the Cross to Calvary. Grab hold of it; doing so brings so many of your flaws to light. Rejoice! You will present these things to Christ in the confessional and if you are sincerely remorseful and intend to amend your life, you will be forgiven of all the sins you confess.
Nothing is hidden from God. He knows everything. Lord, may we be blind of nothing! You know us better than we know ourselves. Please reveal everything, so that we may be completely cleansed of sin by Your Precious Blood!
Continue along with Jesus on the sacred pathway that leads to your Redemption, sanctification, salvation, to God, and to heaven.
As Jesus drags His catastrophically injured Body along with the Cross to Calvary, He continues pouring forth everything to save us. Cooperate with Jesus; prepare your conscience and your soul to be cleansed completely of everything that distances you from the Lord. Prepare to be completely forgiven and healed.
Have you spit in the Lord's Most Holy Face? Have you insulted, rejected, or hurt Jesus externally or internally? Remember that His suffering was not only physical and through all five of His senses, it was also emotional and spiritual. Jesus suffered for us completely.
Jesus! I accept Your magnificent offers of salvation and sanctification! Please give me the strength and the courage to confess openly and honestly, with the sincere and contrite heart of a child. Help me carry my cross, empty myself of all that is not holy, and grow in sanctity. Fill me with your holiness, and use me as a tremendous channel of your love, mercy, and grace for others. I love You! Sweet and gentle Jesus, I thank You.
THE CRUCIFIXION
Little Jesus leads you to Calvary. You watch
as Jesus submits Himself to be nailed to a Cross by our defiance. Examine your
conscience and assess the degree to which you defy God. Do you obey His
Commandments?
You hear Jesus say, "I thirst." In what ways and how often do you reject Him? As He takes the guilt of every human person upon Himself, ask, "What am I guilty of?" Gluttony? Excesses, wastefulness, self-love, lack of fraternal charity, materialism, envy, hatred?
Do you value things with no value and worship things instead of the Lord? Do you see Christ on the Cross, do you see the needs of others around you, or do you treat God and others as if they are not even there...do you ignore your conscience. How do you treat the people who love you? Do you try and buck any systems? Jesus did not avoid even the smallest sacrifice for our sake.
Are your business practices pleasing to God? Include your domestic affairs, charitable endeavors, behavior at work, and within your parish. Do you solicit people, market to them, see them only as a means to sell/make/raise money? Do you allow others to mistreat people this way? Are your attempts to sell or raise money causing hardship for people? Do you care at all about the needs of these people, or do you only care about your own wants or needs?
Remember, there are no rules regulating so much behavior in our modern era...oh but there are! God gave us Ten Commandments. Do you follow them?
Are you exercising authority and making decisions that are pleasing to God? Are you listening to what good people are saying to you, or are you willful, defiant, and unwilling to change things for the better because of pride.
Be sure to listen to the concerns of others, and love everyone in imitation of Christ and Blessed Mother. Remember that the foot of the Cross is wherever we are. Christ died for every single person, not so we can see them as a means to an end or as things to be used to get our way. This behavior is absolutely rampant in our time and it is not. The devil has convinced many well intended people to view others as a way to obtain more money, or God help us as addresses that can be mass marketed to, instead of as people created in the image and likeness of God that we must love, value, and serve.
The Catholic world has been absolutely polluted by this behavior as have so many charities, notably the pro-life movement. Ask yourself: am I committing crimes against humanity while hoping to accomplish good things?
People are not created so we can sell them things or use them to fund our charities.
Ask yourself at the foot of the Cross, "How do I treat people in Your name, Lord?" Ask Him if you are guilty of blasphemy, because this is a very serious crime against God. Stand before your Crucified Savior and take a very good look within: "Remain."
Then, go to confession! Bring all these things into the confessional and ask God for His mercy, and also an illumination of heart and mind so that you may be transformed into His likeness.
May we live, love, serve, and suffer patiently and generously in imitation of Christ.
As Jesus is taken down following His Death on the Cross and placed into the arms of His Most Holy Mother, you take your small companion, the Divine Child, into your arms and hold Him lovingly and with tremendous gratitude and tears of sorrow while reverencing the Sacrament before you, in imitation of His Most Holy Mother.
You hear Jesus say, "I thirst." In what ways and how often do you reject Him? As He takes the guilt of every human person upon Himself, ask, "What am I guilty of?" Gluttony? Excesses, wastefulness, self-love, lack of fraternal charity, materialism, envy, hatred?
Do you value things with no value and worship things instead of the Lord? Do you see Christ on the Cross, do you see the needs of others around you, or do you treat God and others as if they are not even there...do you ignore your conscience. How do you treat the people who love you? Do you try and buck any systems? Jesus did not avoid even the smallest sacrifice for our sake.
Are your business practices pleasing to God? Include your domestic affairs, charitable endeavors, behavior at work, and within your parish. Do you solicit people, market to them, see them only as a means to sell/make/raise money? Do you allow others to mistreat people this way? Are your attempts to sell or raise money causing hardship for people? Do you care at all about the needs of these people, or do you only care about your own wants or needs?
Remember, there are no rules regulating so much behavior in our modern era...oh but there are! God gave us Ten Commandments. Do you follow them?
Are you exercising authority and making decisions that are pleasing to God? Are you listening to what good people are saying to you, or are you willful, defiant, and unwilling to change things for the better because of pride.
Be sure to listen to the concerns of others, and love everyone in imitation of Christ and Blessed Mother. Remember that the foot of the Cross is wherever we are. Christ died for every single person, not so we can see them as a means to an end or as things to be used to get our way. This behavior is absolutely rampant in our time and it is not. The devil has convinced many well intended people to view others as a way to obtain more money, or God help us as addresses that can be mass marketed to, instead of as people created in the image and likeness of God that we must love, value, and serve.
The Catholic world has been absolutely polluted by this behavior as have so many charities, notably the pro-life movement. Ask yourself: am I committing crimes against humanity while hoping to accomplish good things?
People are not created so we can sell them things or use them to fund our charities.
Ask yourself at the foot of the Cross, "How do I treat people in Your name, Lord?" Ask Him if you are guilty of blasphemy, because this is a very serious crime against God. Stand before your Crucified Savior and take a very good look within: "Remain."
Then, go to confession! Bring all these things into the confessional and ask God for His mercy, and also an illumination of heart and mind so that you may be transformed into His likeness.
May we live, love, serve, and suffer patiently and generously in imitation of Christ.
As Jesus is taken down following His Death on the Cross and placed into the arms of His Most Holy Mother, you take your small companion, the Divine Child, into your arms and hold Him lovingly and with tremendous gratitude and tears of sorrow while reverencing the Sacrament before you, in imitation of His Most Holy Mother.
USE
AN EXAMINATION OF CONSCIENCE GUIDE TO HELP YOU FINISH
Find an Examination of Conscience Guide to help you complete your examination of conscience and if it will help you, take notes on a piece of paper. Make every effort to not leave anything out because you are going in order to be forgiven of everything. Remember what little Jesus said to you: "Don't hide yourself from Me; I love you!"
Find an Examination of Conscience Guide to help you complete your examination of conscience and if it will help you, take notes on a piece of paper. Make every effort to not leave anything out because you are going in order to be forgiven of everything. Remember what little Jesus said to you: "Don't hide yourself from Me; I love you!"
GROW IN SANCTITY: MAKE REGULAR
SACRAMENTAL CONFESSIONS
Receive the Sacrament of Christ's Peace regularly. Place yourself at the foot of the Cross often and surrender your pride and your will. Obtain much needed graces for yourself and for others. Get really good at it as you fall absolutely in love with the love of your eternal life.
Being absolved of our sins when we make sacramental confessions prepares us to receive the Blessed Sacrament worthily, in the state of grace. That way, when we are unified with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, our union is deeper and our love for God is more pure.
Never forget that the Sacrament of Reconciliation is indispensable from the Blessed Sacrament. They are both Sacraments of Divine Intimacy! When we receive them both regularly and often, we grow in holiness and achieve greater Divine intimacy with our Lord.
Additionally, making a daily examination of conscience is indispensable from making sacramental confessions. From the teaching of Servant of God, Father John A. Hardon, S.J.: The Sacrament of Confession and daily examinations of conscience are mutually dependent.
"The better we are prepared spiritually when approaching the tribunal of penance, the more and greater graces we may expect from the sacrament thus received. In other words, the more humility and charity we have, the greater our detachment from creatures and attachment to the will of God, the more of sacramental blessings we shall be given. The genius of the daily examine consists in its ability to produce these valuable dispositions antecedent to sacramental confession." 18 ~ Servant of God, Father John A. Hardon, S.J., American Religious Life in Historical Perspective, Chapter 7, Confession.
Receive the Sacrament of Christ's Peace regularly. Place yourself at the foot of the Cross often and surrender your pride and your will. Obtain much needed graces for yourself and for others. Get really good at it as you fall absolutely in love with the love of your eternal life.
Being absolved of our sins when we make sacramental confessions prepares us to receive the Blessed Sacrament worthily, in the state of grace. That way, when we are unified with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, our union is deeper and our love for God is more pure.
Never forget that the Sacrament of Reconciliation is indispensable from the Blessed Sacrament. They are both Sacraments of Divine Intimacy! When we receive them both regularly and often, we grow in holiness and achieve greater Divine intimacy with our Lord.
Additionally, making a daily examination of conscience is indispensable from making sacramental confessions. From the teaching of Servant of God, Father John A. Hardon, S.J.: The Sacrament of Confession and daily examinations of conscience are mutually dependent.
"The better we are prepared spiritually when approaching the tribunal of penance, the more and greater graces we may expect from the sacrament thus received. In other words, the more humility and charity we have, the greater our detachment from creatures and attachment to the will of God, the more of sacramental blessings we shall be given. The genius of the daily examine consists in its ability to produce these valuable dispositions antecedent to sacramental confession." 18 ~ Servant of God, Father John A. Hardon, S.J., American Religious Life in Historical Perspective, Chapter 7, Confession.
NEVER FORGET THAT THE BLESSED SACRAMENT AND THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE ARE INSEPARABLE
Receive both Sacraments of Divine Intimacy, often. Jesus wants what is best for you, knows what is best for you, and wants you to live with peace and joy.
Accept His magnificent offers of salvation and sanctification, and agree to be a tremendous channel of His love and grace for others. God is at work in you! Thank you.
“We cannot content ourselves, as
the Pharisees did, with simply not doing harm to our neighbor; we must practice toward him a positive
fraternal charity. It is not enough ”not
to kill” in order to escape “the Judgment,” the Master teaches, but “whosoever
is angry with his brother, shall be in danger of the judgment.
"It is useless to make an
exterior display of goodness is this does not proceed from a good conscience, a
sincere heart. It does not suffice to
avoid giving outward offense to our neighbor;
we must avoid, or rather, repress our inner resentment. ... Jesus asks
great delicacy of us in all our exterior dealings with our neighbor He demands that we avoid not only offensive
acts but even words that might hurt another.
~ Father Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen, O.C.D., Divine Intimacy, pp. 670-671.
~ Father Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen, O.C.D., Divine Intimacy, pp. 670-671.
A Reconciliation Prayer
Oh sweet Author of Life, Your pardon I seek as I kneel before Your Cross. Lord, forgive me. Immerse me in Your compassion, for I have so little to offer you. Even my petition for forgiveness comes from You.
You long for my approach, though wounded, so generously willing to exchange human iniquity
with the Love that annihilates and saves, when the soul but accepts Your invitation. I give my nothingness entirely to You.
Divine Justice, have mercy on me, and may all my brothers and sisters benefit also, especially those most in need of Your saving grace. Blood of Christ wash over me, and transform my self into You. Make of me the mirror that reflects Your love to Your beloved.
I thank You for Your sacrifice and invitation, for Your patience while awaiting my response,
as I seek Your will while You encourage me to make my own choices. For lovingly creating, guiding, and consoling me, for all You have generously given me, including the grace to recognize that which on my own I cannot see.
Lord, thank You for allowing me to lose, that I may win, and for giving me the opportunity to journey with You along Your Way of the Cross. I accept Your love, and return to You my heart united with Yours along with my obedience.
Oh sweet Author of Life, Your pardon I seek as I kneel before Your Cross. Lord, forgive me. Immerse me in Your compassion, for I have so little to offer you. Even my petition for forgiveness comes from You.
You long for my approach, though wounded, so generously willing to exchange human iniquity
with the Love that annihilates and saves, when the soul but accepts Your invitation. I give my nothingness entirely to You.
Divine Justice, have mercy on me, and may all my brothers and sisters benefit also, especially those most in need of Your saving grace. Blood of Christ wash over me, and transform my self into You. Make of me the mirror that reflects Your love to Your beloved.
I thank You for Your sacrifice and invitation, for Your patience while awaiting my response,
as I seek Your will while You encourage me to make my own choices. For lovingly creating, guiding, and consoling me, for all You have generously given me, including the grace to recognize that which on my own I cannot see.
Lord, thank You for allowing me to lose, that I may win, and for giving me the opportunity to journey with You along Your Way of the Cross. I accept Your love, and return to You my heart united with Yours along with my obedience.
I thank You for everything, Thy will be done. Accept my petition to fill this dry well
with Your Divine Presence. Amen.
with Your Divine Presence. Amen.
ONE MORE THING
Don't ever just be Catholic; be PROFOUNDLY Catholic! There is so much
more of God's love to discover and then keep rediscovering. He is so in love with you!
"The Church is a ship, and even if the ship is in difficulty,
© Joseph Karl Publishing /Michele Bondi Bottesi
Thirsting for more?
To access a fishing boatload full of PROFOUNDLY Catholic material
including award-winning books, images, articles, audio, and video,
all immeasurably and eternally valuable and free, just like God's love, visit: www.josephkarlpublishing.com.
all immeasurably and eternally valuable and free, just like God's love, visit: www.josephkarlpublishing.com.
God is at work in you!
Images taken at Ss. Cyril and Methodius Slovak Catholic Church,
Sterling Heights, Michigan, U.S.A. Parish Website.
THE POWERFUL DEVOTION TO THE HOLY FACE OF JESUS
To learn more about the Work of Reparation through the Devotion to the Holy Face,
which our Lord, Jesus Christ called "the most beautiful work under the sun,"
visit: Work of Reparation Through the Devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus
Please share the information with others.
God is at work in you!!
To learn more about the Work of Reparation through the Devotion to the Holy Face,
which our Lord, Jesus Christ called "the most beautiful work under the sun,"
visit: Work of Reparation Through the Devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus
Please share the information with others.
God is at work in you!!
