SERMON XXIV.

THE TENTH AND ELEVENTH ARTICLES OF THE CREED.

FORGIVENESS OF SINS AND RESURRECTION OF THE BODY.

"I believe in the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body."-APOSTLES' CREED.

IN In my last instruction, my Brethren, I endeavored to explain to you what is understood by the communion of saints. We acknowledge in the Church of Jesus Christ a holy community of spiritual goods and riches, which our divine Saviour has established between the different members that compose this great body of which He is the head. Happy communion of saints, that makes us partakers of the good works and merits of all our brethren in Jesus Christ, and establishes such sweet and precious relations between the saints of heaven, the saints on earth, and the saints in purgatory! Today, my Brethren, I wish to direct your attention to two other articles of our creed, which are thus expressed: "The Forgiveness of Sins, the Resurrection of the Body." The exposition of these two dogmas of our holy religion is of great moment to all Christians; I therefore hope that you will pay a due attention.

What does the tenth article of our creed,-"the Forgiveness of Sins," teach us? This inestimable article of our faith discloses to us one of the greatest blessings which the bounty of God has granted to man. Can our mind conceive a more endearing or more consoling truth, than that contained in these few words," the Forgiveness of Sins?" Yes, we firmly believe, and with a certainty founded on the word of God, that our bountiful Saviour has intrusted to the wisdom of His Church, the sovereign power of Forgiving Sins, and has opened in the bosom of the holy city this abundant source of consolation and peace. We were conceived in

sin,

we were born children of wrath," as the Holy Ghost declares to us; every day we learn more and more our own weakness, and we find it to be immense. In fact, too often is our soul stained with sin, for the just man falls seven times a day. But does not the word of God declare that nothing impure, nothing defiled, shall ever enter the kingdom of heaven? What then would have become of us, how great would be our despair, did not the cheering light of faith show us in the bosom of the Church an inexhaustible treasure of bounty and mercy? Yes, we can yet attain heaven, for in the Church there is Forgiveness of Sins.

But let us understand well the meaning of this article of our creed. To whom has our Lord and Saviour given power to Forgive Sins? This power, which He possesses by His own nature, for He is God; this power, which He obtained by the efficacy of His merits, in His quality of Saviour, He has communicated by grace to His Church, because it is His spouse. This truly divine power, the greatest that can be given to man, Jesus has communicated to men, and even to sinners; not to all men, not to all the children of the Church, but to His Apostles, to those whom He has appointed to the government and care of His flock. To them, He says: "Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven; whose .sins you shall retain, they are retained." Divine Saviour, God, Thy Father, sent Thee among us to destroy sin, to blot out the iniquity of the world, to save poor sinners; be Thou praised, O my Jesus! Thou hast accomplished the will of Thy Father, and behold, to complete Thy divine work, and continue Thy heavenly mission, Thou didst command Thy Apostles to go and preach to all nations that the justice of God had been satisfied on Calvary, that heaven was again thrown open to man, and that the sins Thy ministers would forgive, should be forgiven, and the sins they would retain, should be retained.

It was to the Church in the person of the Apostles, that our bountiful Saviour granted this supreme power of Forgiving Sins: it will always subsist, for the Church will subsist to the very end of time, and there will always be sinners to seek grace and pardon. This divine power passed from the Apostles to their successors, and these communicate it to priests at the moment they impart to them the Holy Ghost by the imposition of hands. The fruits of Christ's

death will last forever; it must, therefore, be perpetually applied and communicated; the remission of sins will, therefore, always be continued in the Church till the consummation of the world. Jesus Christ will be with His Church to the very end of ages, and every day He will employ the tongues and the hands of His priests to remit the sins of men; not some sins, but all sins, no matter how enormous they may be, no matter how numerous.

But how shall we obtain the pardon of our sins? Principally, my Brethren, by receiving those sacraments instituted by our Saviour, Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, especially baptism and penance. It was to these sacred signs our Saviour was pleased to attach His grace. When the holy water of baptism was poured upon your heads, you were washed, purified from original sin, and from all actual sin, which you had committed since your birth; you were justified and regenerated in Jesus Christ, and, children of wrath as you were, you became the children of God by grace. But there are few who preserve the grace of this baptism; there are few who keep without stain the beautiful robes of innocence with which they were clothed at the moment of their regeneration. Therefore our divine Lord instituted the sacrament of penance, in which we can obtain Forgiveness of Sins committed after baptism. In it we find a second plank after shipwreck. "It is the second gate," as Tertullian calls it, "which God placed in His city, that those who knock might enter; it was placed there, as baptism can be received but once, that, after this door of innocence was closed, the misfortune of sinners might not be without resource." These two inestimable sacraments, therefore, are justly called the sacraments of the dead; in fact, they raise us from the spiritual death inflicted on the soul by sin, and restore us to life by reëstablishing us in grace.

I doubt not that the sentiments which reign in your souls, are those of the most profound gratitude toward God. You justly owe it to the Lord, my Brethren, for His bounty has granted you to be born in the bosom of the Church established by His divine Son, in the bosom of the only spouse of Jesus, to which alone He granted the high and truly divine power of remitting sins. It is there, and there only, that you will obtain pardon for the faults which sully your souls; it is there only that fallen man can be restored to life,

to grace, and can advance toward the endless happiness of heaven, where virtue finds its recompense. Alas! our lot would have been most deserving of pity,-most unfortunate, if God, in punishment of our infidelity to His service, had refused to grant us the pardon of our sins; if He had taken from us the hope of being ever restored to His favor. Our misfortune would have been irremediable, and we would all have been victims of the devouring fire of hell; for who among us dare flatter himself that he has never committed one single mortal sin from the day he was baptised? Let us then bless from the bottom of our hearts the divine mercy, for an immense favor has been betowed upon us, an adorable grace imparted to us from heaven! God condescends to promise the pardon of our sins, and, to merit it for us, the Son of God shed every drop of His blood! But is it not with difficulty we can obtain this pardon, which is the price of the death of a God? How great is the charity of the Lord, since, to restore us to His grace and His love, He requires only a sincere repentance and a frank and open avowal of our sins, in the tribunal of penance. But do not deceive yourselves; without repentance, there is no pardon: "God is just as well as merciful," says St. Fulgencius; "His justice prevents Him from overlooking sin, as His mercy prevents Him from refusing pardon to the repenting sinner." You ask of me salvation, says the Lord to us, and on my part I require from you the conversion of your heart. Do what I command, and you shall have what I promise. "Be converted to me, and you shall be saved."* "He will not reject the humble and contrite heart, and He always yields to the sacrifice of the tears of penance,-to those tears which are the blood of the heart," as St. Augustine says. Behold, my Brethren, the consoling doctrine contained in this article of the creed, "the Forgiveness of Sins." "the Forgiveness of Sins." What is promised us by the other part of the article, "the Resurrection of the Body?" "Thy dead men shall live," says Isaias; "my slain shall rise again" saith the Lord. And again: Thus saith the Lord concerning these dry bones: "ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord God to these bones: behold, I will send spirit into you, and you shall live. And I will lay sinews upon you,

and will cause flesh to grow over you, and will cover you with skin: and I will give you spirit; and you shall know that I am the Lord."* On the last day our souls will be again united to our bodies,—to those bodies which we have at present, and which soon will be laid in the grave. Yes, we can all repeat those beautiful words of holy Job: "I know that my Redeemer liveth; and in the last day I shall rise out of the earth: And I shall be clothed again with my skin, and in my flesh I shall see my God; whom I myself shall see, and my eyes shall behold: this my hope is laid up in my bosom."t It will be so, my Brethren, for the Son of God himself has said it: " Amen, amen I say unto you, that the hour cometh, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God.... Wonder not at this; for the hour cometh, wherein all that are in the graves shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and they that have done good, shall come forth unto the Resurrection of life; but they that have done evil, unto the Resurrection of judgment." Behold the reason why we shall be called to life again; it is "that every one may receive the proper things of the body," which was the instrument of the soul, "according as he hath done, whether it be good or evil."§

There will be a great difference, as far as regards the bodies, in the Resurrection of the dead. The bodies of the just will rise from the tomb, radiant and glorious; they will, says the Holy Ghost, shine like stars in the firmament, and thus they will ascend to the abode of eternal delights. The frightful hideousness of sin will be depicted in every feature of the face, and in every part of the sinner's body; the reprobate will be horrified at his own appearance, and will precipitate himself into the dreadful torments of hell. Oh ! my Brethren, the Resurrection of the dead, like the general judgment, is a terrible, though consoling truth! Let us meditate upon it frequently and with attention; it will inspire us with the fear of sin and animate us to the love of virtue; it will console us when pressed down by grief and disappointment; it will fortify us in our sorrows, encourage us in our labors, and support us in adversity. I will be rewarded both in my soul and my body, if I do good; I will do so, for I wish to attain heaven. The remembrance of my past sins shall not frighten me; for the Lord makes it a duty for me

* Ezech., xxxvii : 4-6. † Job, xix: 25-27. John, v: 25, 28, 29. § 2 Cor., v : 10.