April 4, 2023
Holy Spirit Parish/Calgary Alberta
Hi! How is each and every one? We are already in
Holy Week and I am consoled by the fact that last week’s post and today’s are
apt for the season. It is my hope that somehow
you and I will be helped and whatever needs to be done personally by each one of us, may be facilitated by the same Spirit who leads us to this path. I see that this is not coincidence, rather it
is providential. The Holy Spirit who is
in our midst, in fact within each one of us, if allowed and listened to, is very
active and truly leads us to what is good for us always. And He facilitates
things if you and I just correspond and let Him lead.
May I share in this post the
prayer to the Holy Spirit Adsumus, Sanctae
Spiritus which I find very useful in daily life as well as in meetings, group
gatherings etc.
We stand before You, Holy Spirit, as we gather
together in Your name. With You alone to guide us, make Yourself at home in our
hearts; Teach us the way we must go and how we are to pursue it. We are weak
and sinful; do not let us promote disorder. Do not let ignorance lead us down
the wrong path nor partiality influence our actions. Let us find in You our
unity so that we may journey together to eternal life and not stray from the
way of truth and what is right. All this we ask of You, who are at work in
every place and time, in the communion of the Father and the Son, forever and
ever. Amen.
(Adsumus, Sancte Spiritus Prayer of invocation to
the Holy Spirit for an ecclesial assembly of governance or discernment (thus
synodal) Every session of the Second Vatican Council began with the prayer
Adsumus Sancte Spiritus, the first word of the Latin original meaning, “We
stand before You, Holy Spirit,” which has been historically used at Councils,
Synods and other Church gatherings for hundreds of years, being attributed to
Saint Isidore of Seville (c. 560 - 4 April 636). As we are called to embrace this
synodal path of the Synod 2021-2023, this prayer invites the Holy Spirit to
operate within us so that we may be a community and a people of grace. For the
Synod 2021-2023, we propose to use this simplified version, so that any group
or liturgical assembly can pray more easily.
Title revised from Latin, to have a proper incipit,
different from the Adsumus Dominus Sancte Spiritus. The Caeremoniale
Episcoporum 1984ss., n. 1173, only proposes the use of the Adsumus but does not
give the text. The German version Das Zeremoniale für die Bischöfe, n. 1188,
gives a German translation based on the Latin text of the Acta Synodalia of the
Council, vol. I/1, p).
Following is another
excerpt on the topic of confession and spiritual direction.
Advice
to Confessors and Spiritual Directors (from Joseph Tissot, How to Profit from Your Faults, pp.
91-93)
St. Francis de Sales wanted people responsible for
the behavior of others to be especially careful, so as to give them courage and
strengthen their trust. For this reason,
he wrote to a superior who had become notorious, sadly, because of a young girl
whom he had recommended to her care (Letter to Mother Angela Arnauld, Abbess of
Port Royal). “But you see, you are a little too severe toward this poor
girl. You must not reprimand her so
much, because she is full of good will.
Tell her, even if she makes a lot of mistakes, that she should never be
too surprised at this.
St. Leander Catholic Church
Let her rather gaze at our Lord, who, from heaven
above, looks on her as a father at his child who is still too weak to walk
firmly, and says: ‘Slowly, my child.’ If
she falls, he encourages her, saying:
‘What a lovely leap! How clever!’
Then he goes close to her and holds her hand. If this daughter is humble, and
if she knows that she is a child, she will never be surprised at her fall; then
she will never fall from a great height” (Complete Works, XIX, 196).
The saintly Doctor gave similar and even more specific
instructions for confessors. Having
reminded them that penitents address them in the name of the Father, he advises
that they should have “a fatherly heart for them, receiving them with extreme
love, despite their defects.’ He
adds: “Thus, even though the prodigal
child returns completely naked, dirty, and smelling because of the swine, this
good father nevertheless embraces him with love, and weeps over him. He does this because he is a father, and the
hearts of fathers are tender for their children.”
Quora
Pope on Confession: 'Forgiveness
is a human right'
Pope Francis tells confessors that Catholics who come to the
Sacrament of Reconciliation have the right to be heard with faith and with the
charity which the Father reserves for His children. (By Robin Gomes)
“Forgiveness is a human right” which
priests at the confessional should dispense by welcoming, listening to and
accompanying penitents, thus helping contribute to a “spiritual ‘ecology’ of
the world.”
“Forgiveness is a ‘right’ in the
sense that God, in the Paschal Mystery of Christ, has given it in a total and
irreversible way to every person willing to accept it, with a humble and
repentant heart.”
Pope Francis made those remarks on
Friday to some 400 participants in the 32nd course on the Internal Forum,
organized in the Vatican by the Apostolic Penitentiary, held on 21-25 March.
Spiritual
‘ecology’ of the world
“By generously dispensing God's
forgiveness,” the Pope said, “we confessors cooperate in healing people and the
world; we cooperate in bringing about that love and peace for which every human
heart yearns so intensely; we contribute, if I may say so, to a spiritual
'ecology' of the world.”
He regarded the participation of
some 800 clerics in the hybrid course as encouraging, given that today’s
widespread mentality finds it hard to understand the supernatural dimension, or
even wants to deny it.
He lamented the temptation to reduce
confession to a dialogue of two or three psychological advice, which he said
deprives the sacrament of its essence.
With regard to the Internal Forum,
which consists of sacramental confession and the privacy of one’s conscience
before God, the Holy Father urged confessors on the path of welcoming,
listening to and accompanying penitents, to which he said we must add joy which
always accompanies confession.
Welcoming
By welcoming, the confessor helps
the penitent to open himself or herself to the fatherhood of God.
“Welcoming is the measure of pastoral charity, which matures
in the course of a priest’s formation, bearing rich fruits both for the
penitent and for the confessor himself, who lives his fatherhood, like the
father of the prodigal son, full of joy at the return of his son.”
Listening
Listening is more than hearing. A
confessor needs attention, willingness, patience, which helps the confessor
leave behind his own thoughts and patterns.
“If, while the penitent is speaking,
you are already thinking about what to say, what to answer, then you are not
listening to him or her, but to yourself. Listening is a form of love that
makes the other person feel truly loved," said Pope Francis. A
confessor who listens to himself is not doing his duty of listening and
pardoning.
Pope Francis asked confessors to
avoid the habit of inquisitiveness at the confessional. At times, penitents
feel ashamed to say their sins and don’t know how to express themselves but
only give a hint. "Don’t ask further questions about how it happened
or how many times, as if to evaluate whether to impart forgiveness."
“Please,” the Pope pleaded, “you are not a torturer; you are a loving father!”
“Would Jesus treat you this way?” he asked, drawing applause from his
listeners. Listening, he said, is a form of love that makes the other person
feel truly loved. “Don’t be a judge. Forgive what you have understood. Period!
It is true, sometimes it is a judgment, but it is also mercy.”
Aleteia
In this regard, Pope Francis
recalled watching a pop opera on the Parable of the Prodigal Son in a modern
setting. In the final part, the poor son soiled by sins wants to return
home but is not sure if his father will receive him. A friend
advises him to write to his father that he is repentant and wants to return but
is afraid that he may not be received. So the son writes to his father
asking him to put a white handkerchief in the window, so he can return home,
otherwise, he would go away. In the last act of the opera, the Pope said,
as the son walks down the road leading to his father, he finds the house full
of white handkerchiefs. “That,” the Pope said, “is God's mercy; it has no
limits.” And the mercy of a confessor is the same.
Often, the confession becomes an
examination of conscience for the confessor, the Pope said, adding it has
happened to him. It helps the priest to empty himself of his ego to
welcome the other.
Penitents have the right to be heard
with faith, and with that charity which the Father reserves for His children,
which generates joy.
Accompanying
By accompanying the penitent, the
Pope pointed out, the confessor does not decide for the other, as he is not the
master of the conscience of the other.
The confessor simply accompanies,
with all the prudence, discernment and charity of which he is capable, the
recognition of the truth and the will of God in the concrete experience of the
penitent.
In giving advice to the penitent,
the Pope encouraged only a few right words but not a “Sunday homily”;
otherwise, the person would want to walk away as soon as possible.
Here, he said, one should
distinguish between the seal of confession and the dialogue of spiritual
accompaniment, which is also reserved, although in a different form.
The Pope expressed concern that in
certain quarters of the Church, the seal of confession or the sacramental seal
is being relativized, saying only the part of narrating sins has the seal, not
which precedes and follows the sins. The Pope said, “everything is under
seal.” It is the common doctrine, at least in this pontificate, that the
seal is from the beginning to the end and not “up to here” and “up to there”.
And this is the doctrine to be followed.
Catholic News Agency
God’s
mercy for all
The confessor should always have as
his objective the universal call to holiness. From his conversation, he clearly
discerns the needs of the penitent and accompanies him or her to an
understanding and acceptance of God's will, which is always the way to the
greatest good, the way to joy and peace.
Pope Francis also encouraged
confessors to confess themselves saying it is healthy for us.
“Everyone needs forgiveness, that is, to feel that they are
loved as children by God the Father.”
The confessor’s final absolution is
a very powerful medicine for the soul, and also for everyone's psyche.
The Pope set aside his text and
recalled two great confessors whose testimonies he still carries in his
heart. One was a 93-year old priest, Father Aristi, who was the confessor
of all the clergy in Buenos Aires. Even the lay people, including himself, went
to him.
One Easter Sunday, the future pope
came to know Fr. Aristi had died and his coffin was in the basilica with only
two old ladies praying the rosary. He felt pained that the man who
forgave the sins of so many had no flowers at his funeral.
So the Pope bought flowers and while
arranging them noticed Fr. Aristi’s rosary and wanted to have its cross.
The Pope said, “I stole the cross of the rosary, praying to him, ‘Give me half
of your mercy", thinking of Elijah and Elisha.” Pope Francis said he asked
for that grace and still carries the crucifix with him always.
The other testimony is of a
96-year-old Capuchin priest, who still continues to hear confessions at the
Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii in Buenos Aires. At his confessional, there is
always a long queue of priests, bishops, nuns, young people, old people, poor
people, rich people, everyone ...
One day, the priest came to Pope
Francis, who was then Archbishop of Pompei, asking him to be relieved of “this
torture”. When the Pope asked why, he answered, “You know I always
forgive, I forgive everything, I forgive too much. Sometimes I feel the
scruples." So the Pope asked him what he does when he feels the
scruples. The Capuchin priest said he goes to the chapel and asks the
Lord for forgiveness. “But immediately I feel something inside: 'But be careful
Lord, because it was You who gave me the bad example'."
In conclusion, Pope Francis reminded the Apostolic
Penitentiary of the 2025 Jubilee Year. He said that penitence is the
“profound nucleus” of every Jubilee, and hence they should take care to make
the Holy Year as fruitful as possible, so that God's mercy may reach everywhere
and to everyone.
I pray you, myself, and many others all
over the world may discern what is truly good for oneself and hence love
herself for God by turning His divine mercy in the Sacrament of Confession.
See you in the next post, “May tomorrow be a perfect day; may you find love and
laughter along the way; may God keep you in his tender care; ‘til He brings us
together again.”
Affectionately,
Guadalupinky
Comments
Post a Comment