THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH Her Doctrine and Morals Low Sunday 15 April 2012

The Sunday Sermon

Dear Friends,

We saw on Holy Thursday that Jesus instituted the Sacrifice of the Mass, the Holy Eucharist, and the Priesthood: to continue until the end of time the unbloody renewal of the Sacrifice of Calvary. Today we see Jesus giving His priests the power to forgive sins.

"Receive ye the Holy Ghost; whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them: and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained."

This same power has been passed on and therefore continues even to the present day in the true priests of the Catholic Church.

St. John Chrysostom says that we should "- treat with reverence those to whose hands the work of the Spirit has been entrusted. For great is the dignity of the priesthood." He continues: "For you have but the care of what concerns yourself; and if you look well after that you will not be held accountable for what others do. But the priest, even should he order his own life in a fitting manner, yet does not scrupulously have due care for both your life, and the lives of those about him, shall go with the wicked into everlasting fire; and so he oftentimes while not failing in his own conduct will perish because of yours, if he has not done all that belonged to him to do.

"Knowing then the greatness of their danger, treat them with much consideration, for as Paul goes on to say They watch for your souls; and not simply this, but as having to render an account of them. Because of this you must treat them with honor. And should you join with others to insult them, then neither will your own affairs prosper. For as long as the helmsman is in good heart those on board are safe. But, if he is grieved by their abuse, and by their hostile behavior, he can neither keep a good watch, nor perform his task properly, and unwillingly involves them in many disasters. And so likewise the priest. If he is held in honor by you, he will be able to take care of what relates to yourselves. But if you throw them into despondency, weakening their hands, and making them easily overcome, you expose both them and yourselves to the waves, however courageous they may be."

The priest has personal faults and failings, but as long as he represents Christ we must reverence him. St. John also says: "Remember what Christ said of the Jews: The Scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses (Mt. xxiii. 2, 3). Now we can say that the priests are seated, not upon the chair of Moses, but upon the chair of Christ. For it is from Him they have received their teaching. Because of this, Paul says: For Christ therefore we are ambassadors, God as it were exhorting by us (II Cor. V. 20)."

Considering these things it becomes obvious that the burdens of the priesthood are great and that the accusations of so many Protestants, that the Church has established the Sacrament of Penance so that She can control the people, is completely false. The priest of necessity feels the consequences of the sins of all the flock entrusted to him. It is to him a burden to have to listen to the miseries of our lives in the confessional, but with this burden comes also great joy. When determining a penitent worthy, the priest is able to pronounce these words: I absolve you in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost; and at once all that was once sad, bitter, and painful, is turned into great peace and joy - not only for the penitent but also for the priest confessor.

Let us never forget the many graces that we have received through the hands of the priests and offer our prayers for them likewise, never forgetting to always show our respect and gratitude by doing all that we can to assist them in carrying their crosses because if they fall, we too will inevitably fall.