CAPG's Blog 

David Wilkie: The Confessional

"Christ, rising from the dead, is our instruction at this time, that whoever pretends to be His disciple, ought not to lie buried in the grave of sin, but rise with His Lord to a life of grace, obeying the summons of St. Paul: "Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall enlighten thee". No one can be a true disciple of Christ, who believes not what He teaches; neither can any one seriously judge himself His disciple, if he does not what Christ commands. He commands you now, O Christian, to awake and arise from sin. If you do it not, how do you belong to Him? For this end, the Church now calls upon you by confession and sincere repentance to purify your soul from whatever can defile, and present it a pure offering before God, if not without spot nothing that can render It may be easily known or blemish, at least so that there be you unfit to accompany your Lord. How near you are come to be this happy soul, if you consider yourself by St. Paul's measures: "If you are risen with Christ, seek the things that are above, mind the things that are above, not the things that are upon the earth". Not that a Christian is entirely to banish from his heart the thoughts of all worldly things. This cannot be in this life, where our duty in several ways links us to this world; but that our hearts be so possessed with the love of God, that using this world only as far as necessity requires, our great concern and solicitude in the main body of our actions may be how to perform the Will of God, and work out our salvation.

This is the method, and these are the marks of a soul risen with Christ: and where these are not, it is to be feared that the soul goes not beyond the ceremony of a resurrection and repentance. Deceive not then yourself any more, Christian soul; for you cannot deceive Him, who is the searcher of hearts. If at this time you have thoughts of repenting, see that your repentance be accompanied with a change of yourself, and with amendment for otherwise, though Christ be risen, yet you can expect no part in the resurrection of the just." The Catholic Year by Rev. Fr. John Gother