| “The Sacrament [of Penance] is aimed first at those who are deeply distressed at the knowledge of some gross sin they have committed. It is directed first and foremost at those who are conscience-stricken. There are, I suspect, a great many people in this condition, who, from ignorance, do not use this means of quieting their consciences. They are worried and saddened and grieved by the knowledge of past sin; they are unable to find their own way back to God and to rest in His assured forgiveness. They are in real and grave need of this ‘benefit of absolution’. But they do not know of it. Yet it stands ever ready for their use. And it is their duty to seek a quiet conscience by every means in their power.
“The second benefit of this Sacrament is ‘ghostly counsel and advice’. There are, I suspect, very many who need this ministry but do not know that they need it, whose consciences need to be awakened by ‘ghostly counsel and advice’. These are the people who have drugged their consciences.
“Sometimes they are just complacent, and refuse to admit to themselves that there can be anything wrong with them. They are sure that they lead good, decent lives and that they have nothing to be ashamed of and no need of absolution. It is for such people that it is a good rule ‘to go to Confession once a year’. It may help them to know themselves better. For their quiet conscience is a drugged and sleeping conscience: it needs first to be awakened and then set truly at rest.
“But there are those who out of shame will not disclose their sins, lest they should be seen to be worse than they have persuaded themselves to believe. These are the people who have become the victims of bad habit. They are ashamed of it, but have become accustomed to it. They have half-convinced themselves that it is not really so bad, or that their case is a very special case which makes this habit excusable or unavoidable.
“These persons have a bad conscience and are deliberately refusing to ‘seek a quiet conscience’. They gravely need the benefit of absolution, and know that they need it, but shame holds them back. For them confession is an imperative duty. For the unforgivable sin, perhaps, is to acquiesce in sin, to act as though what is over is done with, and to allow the wounded conscience to fester.”
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