Bad Confessor
by VP
Posted on Tuesday February 15, 2022 at 12:00AM in Quotes
"(...) The bad or careless confessor, who is ignorant, imprudent, lazy, and negligent, is a plague in Christ's Holy Church. He is not an emissary of God, but an agent of the devil. He is not a doctor of heaven but of hell, for as God has his patriarchs so the devil has heresiarchs. As God has His prophets, apostles and martyrs, so , too the devil has his prophets, apostles and martyrs.
The unworthy confessor is not a divine judge, but another Pilate, pronouncing sentence upon Christ and the souls that the Son of God died to redeem. He is not a mediator for God, but for the devil, not a dispenser of heavenly blessings but a profaner of divine mysteries and sacraments. In a word, instead of being another Christ, he is a very devil.
No tongue can tell the evil the bad confessor commits. He does great harm to the Church, persecuting it more cruelly than Nero, Diocletian, and the tyrants of history. Would to God that all priests who administer the Sacrament of Penance might meditate seriously on these truth! Would to God that they might consider the inestimable good that they would accomplish if they were animated with the same spirit an if they followed the same maxims! They would completely overthrow the devil's tyranny and snatch souls from perdition. Would they might open their ears to the words of the Holy Spirit: "Take heed what you do; for you exercise not the judgment of man, but of the Lord." (2 Par. 19,6) Take heed in very truth for what you do is not temporary, but eternal. What you perform does not concern an earthly kingdom, but the kingdom of God. You handle the treasure of heaven; you are responsible for the salvation or the damnation of souls. Remember to bring to your task the care and application demanded; have the necessary qualifications. Otherwise, the absolution you give may become so many damnation for you. Never forget that when you say the words: Ego to Absolvo, the eternal judge may reply, if you are unworthy, Ego te condemno."
Source: The Priest his dignities and obligations, St. John Eudes
