that will have everlasting
reward. "When concupiscence hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin; but
sin, when it is completed, begetteth death."[8] Well, therefore, are
we told: "Flee from sins as from the face of a serpent; for if thou
comest near them, they will take hold of thee; the teeth thereof are
the teeth of a lion, killing the souls of men."[9]

Deadly sin accordingly puts us at enmity with God, and deprives us of
all claim on His justice. These are days when men talk much of their
own rights. Little do they think to assert and uphold the rights of
the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords. And so it escapes them that
having violated their obligations to their Creator, their Redeemer,
their Sanctifier, by grievous sin, they have no claim for pardon on
the ground of justice; they can only appeal suppliantly to the
infinite mercy and goodness of God, that their iniquities may be
blotted out, that they may be restored to the position whence they
have fallen, and that they may regain the habitual grace necessary for
keeping the solemn obligations of baptism. This being the case, the
Almighty can and does impose His conditions for reconciling the sinner
and for restoring the prodigal child to the lost sonship. It is not
for sinful man to dictate what such terms shall be. It is for an
outraged God to enact, for the transgressor to comply with the
command.

Of these conditions, one flows from the infinite holiness of His own
nature, namely: contrition or repentance. The other, which is judicial
absolution from sin, implying previous confession of it, is imposed by
the revealed law of God, and is therefore a divine command obliging
all--popes and bishops, priests and people. Let us deal with these
separately.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] John i, 8.

[2] James iii, 2.

[3] Prov. xxiv, 16.

[4] Ps. v, 6.

[5] Wisd. xiv, 9.

[6] Ezech. xviii, 24.

[7] Rev. xxi, 8.

[8] James i, 15.

[9] Ecclus. xxi, 2.

I.

The necessity of repentance as the essential condition for the sinner
obtaining God's forgiveness is plainly taught both in the Jewish and
Christian dispensations.

Prophets and penitents throughout the Old Testament bear evidence to
this truth. The words of the Psalms of David, the exhortations of
Jeremias and Isaias to the people of God to be converted, have become
household words in our books of piety, exciting the soul in sin to
arise and go to the God of mercy.

The New Dispensation was ushered in