Choose a topic from Part 3 Suppl:
1. Confession of sins is necessary for the normalreception of the sacrament of penance. As penance is necessary forthe salvation of one who has committed mortal sin after baptism, soalso confession of these sins is necessary.
2. Confession is not a requirement born of the naturallaw, but is requisite by the supernatural institution of Christ.Our Lord gave his priest the power to forgive sins, setting up thesacrament as a kind of judgment in which testimony (or confession)indicates whether sins are to be forgiven or retained.
3. All who are bound to contrition and satisfaction arebound to confession. And, since all who have sinned are bound tocontrition and satisfaction, all who have sinned are required toconfess. The Church, by her law, imposes on all her children theduty of confession.
4. Confession is to be made in truth and sincerity. Hence,a man would do wrong, no matter what his motive, if he were toconfess a sin he had not committed.
5. A person who has committed mortal sin should confess itas soon as he reasonably can do so. But we cannot say that he isstrictly obliged to take the earliest opportunity ofconfessing.
6. Confession is required of all adult children of theChurch. There is no such thing as dispensation from the duty ofconfessing.
"Lord, take from me everything that hinders me from going to You. give me all that will lead me to You. Take me from myself and give me to Yourself."
St Nicholas Flue
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"For what would it profit us to know the whole Bible by heart and the principles of all the philosophers if we live without grace and the love of God?"
Thomas á Kempis
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"Whoever wants to stand alone without the support of a master and guide will be like the tree that stands alone in a field without a proprietor. No matter how much the tree bears, passers-by will pick the fruit before it ripens.
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St John of the Cross, OCD - Doctor of the Church
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