“The ministry of divine mercy”[1]
God… has reconciled us to himself through Christ and given us the ministry of reconciliation.[2] The words of the Apostle are particularly challenging to us who, as priests, are responsible for the sublime exercise of the ministry of divine mercy.
“Man has never needed mercy like he does today,” Saint John Paul the Great had already said in the ‘80s. In this same sense, Pope Francis reminded us in his Apostolic Letter, Misericordia et misera: “The Sacrament of Reconciliation must regain its central place in the Christian life. This requires priests capable of putting their lives at the service of the ministry of reconciliation,[3] in such a way that, while no sincerely repentant sinner is prevented from drawing near to the love of the Father who awaits his return, everyone is afforded the opportunity of experiencing the liberating power of forgiveness.”[4]
For this reason, to speak of the priesthood implies speaking of the care of souls, and to speak of priests means to speak of men who, through the sacrament of Holy Orders, have been called to be “living and effective signs of God’s mercy,”[5] knowing themselves to be “the first to be forgiven.”[6]
1. The frequent pastoral practice of Confession[7]
As members of the Institute of the Incarnate Word, we are particularly called to evangelize the culture. “But how does one evangelize a culture? How does one assist the work of the Holy Spirit in your midst? One begins by evangelizing people, for culture is produced by people and is shaped by the quality of the relationships that they have with one another and with God. And thus the first step is to evangelize as Jesus himself did, namely by calling people to conversion.”[8] A conversion that implies the vital need to unite oneself to Christ through an intense Eucharistic life and to continually renew oneself through receiving the sacrament of Reconciliation.
Understood in this way, the mission of the Institute is the same as that of the Church, that is, “to bring all men to conversion to God, to ‘a complete and sincere adherence to Christ and His Gospel through faith,’[9] which must result in the worthy reception of the Sacraments.”[10] From which it follows that the reception of the sacrament of Confession constitutes a special – or better, essential – help when evangelizing the culture. Indeed, we are convinced that “mercy is essential to the spiritual progress of each soul, as it is for human, civil, and social progress,”[11] and therefore, we consider that our mission is effective when, as John Paul II said, “it impels to conversion, that is to say, the return to the truth and to God’s friendship of those who have lost their faith and grace because of sin; it calls routine Christians to a more perfect life, it gives fervor to souls, it convinces people to live the beatitudes, and it attracts priestly and religious vocations.”[12] It never ceases to amaze that we must remind ourselves and reassure ourselves and others of these truths in our times, when it often seems that a veil is spread over the foundational and fundamental mission of the Church in the world. On its part, the apostolate of the confessional is explicitly and forcefully emphasized by our proper law when it says: “our priests and the whole Institute, should be known for the frequent pastoral practice of confession […]. People should know that everywhere they find a priest of our Religious Family, they will always find a ‘spiritual father’.”[13]
The Exhortation Reconciliatio et Paenitentia, written by the Spiritual Father of our Religious Family, maintains that “the Son of God, coming as the Lamb who takes away and bears upon himself the sin of the world[14] appears as the one who has the power both to judge[15] and to forgive sins,[16] and who has come not to condemn but to forgive and save.[17]”[18] And this power that Jesus has to forgive sins, he conferred upon the Apostles and their successors, who are responsible for continuing his work of evangelization and redemption. From this follows the greatness of the figure of the minister of Penance, who has to act in Persona Christi as “the brother of man,[19] the merciful high priest, faithful and compassionate,[20] the shepherd intent on finding the lost sheep,[21] the physician who heals and comforts,[22] the one master who teaches the truth and reveals the ways of God,[23] the judge of the living and the dead,[24] who judges according to the truth and not according to appearances.[25]”[26]
Now, the frequent pastoral practice of Confession demands from us great pastoral charity and great mercy in order to bring relief to the souls entrusted to our care.
Confession is often spoken of as the “tribunal of penance,” and it is not wrong, because the Sacrament of Penance has something of tribunal, and the priest is the judge, but it is much more than this. “Unlike purely human tribunals, more than an instrument of justice, it is an instrument of mercy. For this reason, it is also called the Sacrament of Reconciliation. When he absolves, the priest frees the penitent from the sin that held him prisoner. In the confessional, besides judges, we have to be fathers, teachers, doctors, in a word, true pastors of the little sheep placed at our feet. We must consider the circumstances, background, and psychology of the penitent, have hearts of a father, of the Good Samaritan who binds the wounds caused by the robbers. If God has waited, showing infinite patience, what right do we have, who are also sinners like the one in front of us, to get angry, or to treat him harshly?”[27] And from where does the priest learn mercy? He learns it from the profound conviction that God does not treat us as we deserve,[28] as the Venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen said.
The exercise of the sublime office of confessing assumes for us, priests of the Institute of the Incarnate Word, certain characteristics that our proper law particularly underlines, echoing the abundant treasury of the Magisterium of the Church, and which we should keep in mind if we do not want to betray our identity and mission in the Mystical Body of the Church. Let us pay attention:
- “Maximum availability of priests for confession must be something proper to our parishes, ensuring that there are always one or more priests available to hear confession during Mass. He must also invite other priests from outside of the parish to hear confessions and, where possible and appropriate, install permanent centers for confession.”[29] Our proper law elsewhere repeats something very similar when it declares that “ministry to sinners must be exercised in a particular way through the administration of the Sacrament of Reconciliation: being available at any time to hear confessions.”[30]
This maximum availability asked of us means being always available for such a sublime ministry, not just during the “hours of confession.” But it is also true that this availability must be visible to the people. One of the ways this availability of the IVE priests to hear confessions can be made visible to souls is called by Saint Manuel González “early worship.” “A church that is open very early, at least an hour before the people begin to work, with a priest who is the first to enter and the last to leave, and who sits waiting in the confessional, and this in a constant and regular way, is a church that will soon be crowded. […] A priest seated in his confessional from before sunrise, ready not to get tired or bored from being alone, will not have to wait long before seeing Samaritan men and women arrive, asking him for the water that wells up to eternal life.”[31] “How are we to promote daily meditation at a fixed hour, frequent confession, and spiritual direction among our faithful, especially among the busy ones, if we do not give them the open church and tabernacle and a confessor who is available to them a fixed and early hour?”[32] A holy suggestion to keep in mind, in parishes both in the most isolated villages and in the big cities.
This availability is also shown when attending to the sick with promptness (without delay), which often requires the sacrament of divine mercy. “Illness provides an opportunity for many sick persons to approach the Sacraments for the first time. For this reason, it is important that we take great care, working with the family, especially when they oppose the Sacraments of Penance and Anointing, out of fear of the fear that this could produce in the patient.”[33] Comforting the sick with the sacraments, especially Confession, the Anointing of the Sick, and the Viaticum of the Eucharist, is an act of true love – the last before they see God beyond the sacramental signs. For this reason the Polish Pope insistently recommended to priests: “Be always diligent and fervent in the administration of these sacraments of mercy, without sparing energy or time, profoundly aware that ‘The Church lives an authentic life when she professes and proclaims mercy – the most stupendous attribute of the Creator and of the Redeemer – and when she brings people close to the sources of the Savior’s mercy, of which she is the trustee and dispenser.’[34]”[35]
On the other hand, for popular missions, we should not be remiss in dedicating one day of the mission as “a penitential day, in which confessions are heard all day. Strictly speaking, a missionary priest would ideally remain the whole day in the mission center and that, from the first day of the mission, the people would know that he is at their disposition.”[36]
Convinced of the importance of the life of grace and of the immense value of the sacrament of Confession, we can declare that the majority of our pastoral activities should include this availability for confession. This we have learned countless times from the beginnings, for example, when there were always priests with the purple stole praying the rosary next to our processions, whose presence alone was a silent but eloquent call to reconciliation with God for those who participate in or see the procession pass by. The same thing happens in our camps, in encounters with youth, with families, and in oratories, in which the priest waiting patiently, ready to hear confessions, can never be lacking.
Given the special circumstances in which we are living because of the pandemic, how edifying and praiseworthy has been the example of several of our members who, even at the risk of contagion, with great courage and priestly spirit, went to the sick to hear their confessions and to bring them the last sacraments. This is the true mettle of a priest of the Incarnate Word! “Don’t be frightened in the face of any difficulty, and don’t shrink back from any obstacle!”[37]
From what has been said up to here, we can conclude that each priest of the Institute should dedicate a generous part of his time to the ministry of the sacrament of Penance – which the grace of God will make fruitful – and to instructing souls on the value and importance of said sacrament for the Christian life. This brings us to the second characteristic of the exercise of this ministry that is highlighted in the documents of our Institute.
- “It seems very beneficial for priests to preach about the marvelous benefits of frequent confession.”[38] In this regard, the Directory of the Preaching of the Word specifies – following the teachings of Saint Alphonsus Liguori[39] – that at the moment of choosing the subject for preaching, the priests of the Institute should “take care to choose those which especially move to detesting sin and to loving God,”[40] “… of the love that Jesus Christ has for us, of that which we should profess for Him, and of the trust that we should always have in his mercy when we want to amend,”[41] “… of the means for remaining in God’s grace, like fleeing dangerous occasions and bad company, frequenting the sacraments,”[42] “… of bad confessions made when sins are hidden out of shame,”[43]
For this reason, the Constitutions point out that we have to help people (including our own members and especially those in formation) to “discover the beauty and joy of the Sacrament of Penance, amid a world that has lost a sense of sin and divine mercy.”[44]
- “He must endeavor to possess pertinent knowledge and to bring himself up to date on moral issues.”[45] For the members of the Institute, “knowledge of pertinent moral science is indispensable,”[46] and this on two levels: first, to exercise the ministry of reconciliation[47] and then, “to fulfill the purpose of our Institute – to evangelize cultures –, which implies ordering them so that they help man to reach his end, and therefore, a discernment of their morality, since morality is the transcendental relationship of the human towards the ultimate end.”[48] It is for this reason that all “priests should be knowledgeable in spiritual theology and practiced in the discernment of spirits.”[49] Since priests are “educators of the faith, formers of consciences, and guides of souls, to permit each Christian to carry out his personal vocation,”[50] it is very advisable to prepare well – remotely and proximately – for the administration of the sacrament of Confession.
In Reconciliatio et Paenitentia, we read that for the effective performance of the ministry of confession, the priest “must likewise have a serious and careful preparation, not fragmentary, but complete and harmonious, in the different branches of theology, pedagogy, and psychology, in the methodology of dialogue, and above all in a living and communicable knowledge of the word of God. But it is even more necessary that he should live an intense and genuine spiritual life. In order to lead others along the path of Christian perfection, the minister of penance himself must first travel this path. More by actions than by long speeches, he must give proof of real experience of lived prayer, the practice of the theological and moral virtues of the Gospel, faithful obedience to the will of God, love of the Church and docility to her Magisterium.”[51]
It is said of the great confessor, Saint Leopold Mandic, that “he had taken the preparation for performing such a delicate ministry very seriously, not only studying dogmatic theology, law, morality, asceticism, and mysticism thoroughly during the period of his studies prior to priesthood, but also continuing afterwards to apply himself very seriously to this kind of studies during his whole life.
“His favorite authors were Saint Augustine, Saint Thomas, and Saint Alphonsus Liguori. Besides them, he always had other modern authors on hand […]. He also gave great importance to the encyclicals of the Popes, since, according to what he would say, in them is found the easiest and surest way to solve the most difficult questions, including from the point of view of moral casuistry.”[52]
In our efforts to gain knowledge and to exercise ourselves in the discernment of spirits, these are particularly recommended to us: prayer, the study of Sacred Scripture and of the writings of the Fathers, the great Theologians, and Mystics, and experience in the spiritual life, as well as familiarity with and profound knowledge of St. Ignatius of Loyola’s[53] Rules for the Discernment of Spirits – all these elements occupy a prominent place.
“Do not leave off studying and praying, in order to live up to the ministry of the pacification of man with God, a power so unheard-of that it made some exclaim with astonishment, Who but God alone can forgive sins?”[54]
- Finally, and above all, after the example of Christ, we must exercise this precious ministry of Confession showing a heart of true mercy.[55]
“The priest must live out mercy in a truly heroic manner. […] Heroic mercy should be manifested in a particular way in hearing confessions, that great sacrament of mercy that implies hours upon hours and great fatigue. At some point it comes to be something boring for the priest who, after so many years, is always hearing more or less the same things, with their more and less, with some little thing added […]. We must have the disposition that comes only from a merciful heart.”[56]
Saint Alphonsus, Patron of confessors, merited this title because, from the first years of his priesthood, he confessed often, especially during spiritual exercises and popular missions, gaining incomparable experience in this field.
In his Praxis confessarii, he indicates the conditions so that the exercise of this ars atrium – as he liked to call it, following the example of St. Gregory the Great – would be fruitful: “The confessor cannot consider himself satisfied with a holiness that limits itself to the simple state of grace, but rather should be filled with charity, meekness, and prudence.”[57]
“Thanks to these virtues,” Saint John Paul II commented, “the confessor will be able to become a minister of divine charity, exercising the difficult task of father, doctor, teacher, and judge.
“As a father, he will welcome the penitents with sincere love, manifesting greater understanding to those who have sinned more, and afterwards, he will send them away with words steeped in mercy, in order to encourage them to return to the path of Christian life.[58]
“As a doctor, he will have to prudently diagnose the roots of the evil and suggest to the penitent the appropriate therapy, thanks to which he will be able to live according to the dignity and responsibility of a person created in God’s image.[59]
“As a teacher, he will seek to know God’s law thoroughly, going in depth into different aspects of moral theology, in order to not give the penitent personal opinions, but rather what the Magisterium of the Church authentically teaches.[60]
“Finally, as a judge, he will practice equity. It is necessary that the priest always judge according to the truth and not according to appearances, concerning himself with making the penitent understand that in the paternal heart of God, there is also room for him.”[61]
In imitation of the Incarnate Word, in all our pastoral cares we must have the patience and goodness of which the Lord Himself gave us an example, having come, not to judge, but to save.[62] “Like Christ, be intransigent with evil, but merciful with the person. In the difficulties that they might have, the faithful must find, in your words and in your heart of pastors, the echo of the voice of the Redeemer, meek and humble of heart,[63]”[64] said Saint John Paul II.
Fulton Sheen tells about a woman who decided to go to confession after thirty years. The confessor, a priest who in thirty years had never made a meditation before Mass, barked at her, “Why have you stayed away from the Church for thirty years?” To which the woman replied, “Because thirty years ago I met a priest just like you.” “The depth of a priest’s compassion is the measure of his apostolic success,”[65] concluded the Venerable American archbishop.
“The priest is often very busy, but he must learn how to busy himself in the primary things of ministry, and not in accidental or secondary things. Souls need to speak with a priest, and they need to tell him their problems, because the priest is also a doctor of souls.”[66]
Last but not least, let us say that if in the recent past, and even more in the present, there is a crisis in the sacrament of Confession, we ought to recognize that among the many factors that could contribute to such a situation, often the lack of enthusiasm or availability for the exercise of such a demanding and delicate ministry has a negative effect. Therefore, if the pastoral ministry of the Institute in every setting must be forceful, enthusiastic, and with proposals, so it should also be in the moment of carrying out, with firmness and conviction, the apostolate of the reconciliation of man with God. In this sense, “we ought to celebrate the Sacrament in the best possible way, according to the forms laid down by liturgical law, so that it may lose none of its character as the celebration of God’s mercy.”[67] In this sense “it is important that the minister of reconciliation should fulfil his role correctly. His ability to be welcoming, to be a good listener, and to engage in dialogue, together with his ready accessibility, is essential if the ministry of reconciliation is to be seen in all its value. The faithful and uncompromising proclamation of the radical demands of God’s word must always be accompanied by great understanding and sensitivity, in imitation of Jesus’ own way of dealing with sinners.”[68]
2. Personal experience of the Sacrament of Reconciliation
It has always been the teaching of the Church that the mercy of God who pardons sins in the sacrament of Penance is shown through priests. And although the administration of the sacrament of pardon is “undoubtedly the most difficult and sensitive, the most exhausting and demanding ministry of the priest, [it is] also one of the most beautiful and consoling.”[69] “Be therefore,” Saint John Paul II said to priests and religious, “the first to receive this sacrament of authentic faith and devotion frequently.”[70] Because, to be faithful and to adequately carry out our ministry of sanctification, our personal experience of the sacrament of reconciliation through frequent confession is essential. Because the joyful experience of being pardoned by Christ nourishes the desire to offer His pardon to others.[71]
For this reason, “The holy sacrament of Reconciliation or Penance holds a preeminent place in the spiritual life of our small Religious Family. We therefore advise that one receive the sacrament weekly.”[72] This has been and continues being the normal practice according to our way of living religious life in the Institute. And our proper law paternally exhorts us to “be devoted to frequent confession,”[73] enumerating the “many fruits [that] come from it: ‘… genuine self-knowledge is increased, Christian humility grows, bad habits are corrected, spiritual neglect and tepidity are resisted, the conscience is purified, the will strengthened, a salutary self-control [of the conscience] is attained, and grace is increased in virtue of the Sacrament itself.’”[74]
That is to say, in the same way that they should be available to administer the sacrament of Confession, our members should frequently receive it, that Christ may constantly purify our hearts and make his ministers less unworthy of the mysteries they celebrate.[75]
It is notable that the Liturgy in the Roman Canon very correctly calls priests “sinners”: “To us, also, your servants, who, though sinners….”[76] Priests hold a treasure in earthen vessels.[77] For this reason, it is important “to protect and care for it, through daily prayer, through the celebration of the Mass, and through the frequent reception of the sacrament of Confession,”[78] said the Spiritual Father of our Religious Family. Our members should never underestimate the importance that the sacrament of Penance, along with the Eucharist, has for strengthening the soul for times of trial.
“Who does not see that the priest, constituted by God a minister of Christ’s reconciliation, is called to be the first to experience in himself the gift of reconciliation, making it operative in his own life? We are persuaded that it is not possible to propose the message of reconciliation to others if we are not able to experience its saving power in ourselves.
“In a Church called to renewal, priests should go before their brothers with their example and life. Also, this personal valuation of the sacrament of penance as the royal road to purification and growth in the faith will lead to a further appreciation of the immense gift that the Lord has given us in choosing us for His priests, in order to pardon sins in His name.”[79]
The priest who is familiar with the Lord in prayer is the one who has the clearest awareness of being a sinner, even if he had never committed a mortal sin in his life. For this reason, in his first Letter to Priests for Holy Thursday in 1979, John Paul II, insisted: “Being converted means returning to the very grace of our vocation; it means meditating upon the infinite goodness and love of Christ, who has addressed each of us and, calling us by name, has said: Follow me. Being converted means continually ‘giving an account’ before the Lord of our hearts about our service, our zeal, and our fidelity, for we are Christ’s servants, stewards entrusted with the mysteries of God.[80] Being converted also means ‘giving an account’ of our negligences and sins, of our timidity, of our lack of faith and hope, of our thinking only ‘in a human way’ and not ‘in a divine way’.”
The priestly vocation is a special call to holiness so that, acting in the person of Christ, they may sanctify others. In this way, then, as ministers of the sacraments, priests bring the gift of salvation to the people of God and nourish them with the divine life that they themselves have received from Christ. Now, the challenge of presenting Christ requires constant conversion. “The priest,” said Fulton Sheen, “who has been crucified and has endured his passion with patience will always be found to be the merciful priest. If there is a long line outside one confessional on Saturday and only one or two penitents outside another, it is time for a priest to ask himself some questions. Holiness draws penitents to holy priests. The attraction of such priests is the attraction of Christ Himself.”[81]
If for all the members of the Institute, considering oneself a sinner will always be greatly beneficial, how much more for the ministers of the sacred mysteries, who need continual conversion. Saint Joseph Cafasso would say, “To be an exemplary priest, the judgment of the world does not suffice. A priest can be considered a saint and not be one before God. A third of the virtues proper to the clergyman are enough for him to be considered a saint, but the Lord does not recognize him as such if he does not try with all his strength, not only to flee from mortal sin, but also from venial faults and from the appearance of sin.”[82] It is this clear awareness that we are sinners that should lead its ministers to be men of mercy.
With great realism, the Venerable American archbishop wrote: “Every time his knee bends in confession, he admits to the crucifixion of His Lord, and when his wiggling feet, like worms, stick out from under the veil, he rises from the dead. God did not choose angels for his priest-victims, for they would have lacked understanding of human weakness. He chose frail vessels who would know in their own weakness the hope that burns in the heart of the believer to be strong again. In hearing the confessions of others, the priest sees more tombs emptied than those the first Easter sun lighted in Jerusalem. When he himself confesses, his spirit feels the sweet indifference that comes from faith. If I die, I shall be with Christ; if I live, Christ shall be with me.”[83]
“There are priests,” said Saint Joseph Cafasso, “who go to confession, when they can, on the sly, in secret: it seems like they are afraid that the people know that they go to confession. Why so much mystery on our part when confessing? Are the faithful going to stop respecting us if they see us frequenting such a sacrament?”[84] On the contrary, the saint considered that seeing a priest going to confession is a good example for the people.
The overwhelming majority of the members of the Institute have the grace of living with another priest of the Institute, or at least near one. Whatever the case may be, our proper law stresses that the “confession of members to each other is an excellent manifestation of the exquisite charity that should reign in the community”[85] and points out that “each priest of the Institute of the Incarnate Word should consider attention and availability to his brothers in religious life as an absolute apostolic priority. For this reason, encouraging visits – especially of those who are farthest away and isolated – and being generous with one’s time with brothers in the priesthood and religious life is one of the clearest manifestations of the exquisite charity that our Family wants to live out.”[86]
These visits to priests who are farthest away, even when it implies long hours of travelling and only being there one or two hours and then having to go back, is something that we have grown up seeing our elders do, and is something that should not be lost. Rather, it is a precious example that we priests of the Institute should pass on to future generations.
In a word: let us love this sacrament, let us collaborate, through our availability, to give it the central place in the Christian life asked of us by the Holy Father, and let us frequently receive it ourselves.
*****
Let us conclude with the words of Reconciliatio et paenitentia, which, though written 36 years ago already, remain as relevant as ever:
“‘Have unity of spirit…. Do not return evil for evil…. Be zealous for what is right.’ [87] […] ‘It is better to suffer for doing right, if that should be God’s will, than for doing wrong.’ [88]
“This exhortation is completely permeated by words which Peter had heard from Jesus himself and by ideas which formed part of his ‘good news’: the new commandment of love of neighbor; the yearning for and commitment to unity; the beatitudes of mercy and patience in persecution for the sake of justice; the repaying of evil with good; the forgiveness of offenses; the love of enemies. In these words and ideas is the original and transcendent synthesis of the Christian ethic or, more accurately and more profoundly, of the spirituality of the new covenant in Jesus Christ.”[89]
Let us entrust to the Father, rich in mercy, to the Son of God, become man as our redeemer and reconciler, and to the Holy Spirit, source of unity and peace, the pastoral work of reconciliation carried out by the Institute in the whole world and which is so intrinsically united to our specific end.
May Mary Most Holy, in whom the reconciliation of man with God was achieved by Christ, increase our valuation of the need and importance of the Sacrament of Penance[90] and inspire in us an enthusiastic ministry in this regard. Likewise, let us beg the Virgin for the grace of recognizing that the sacrament of Confession is also support, guidance and healing for the priestly life.[91]
[1] Saint John Paul II, To members of the Sacred Apostolic Penitentiary, (January 30th, 1981).
[2] 2 Cor 5:18.
[3] Ibidem.
[4] Pope Francis, Misericordia et misera, 11.
[5] Saint John Paul II, To the clergy of Todi and Orvieto, (November 22nd, 1981).
[6] Misericordia et misera, 11.
[7] Directory of Spiritual Direction, 67.
[8] Cf. Saint John Paul II, Meeting with priests, religious and seminarians in the Cathedral of Maseru (Lesotho), (September 15th, 1988), 3. The emphasis is the Holy Father’s.
[9] Redemptoris Missio, 46.
[10] Constitutions, 165.
[11] Saint John Paul II, To the clergy of Todi and Orvieto, (November 22nd, 1981).
[12] Directory of Popular Missions, 3; op. cit. Saint John Paul II, The Announcement of the Gospel in Modern Society. To the First National Italian Conference on Popular Missions in the ’80s, (February 6th, 1981). Saint John Paul II particularly urged priests to see in spiritual direction and in the correct administration of the sacrament of penance an irreplaceable service of discernment, promotion, and orientation of vocations, especially contemplative. Cf. To the General Chapter of the Order of the Discalced Carmelites, (May 4th, 1985).
[13] Cf. Directory of Spiritual Direction, 67.
[14] Cf. Jn 1:29; Is 53:7, 12.
[15] Cf. Jn 5:27.
[16] Cf. Mt 9:2-7; Lk 5:18-25; 7:47-49; Mk 2:3-12.
[17] Cf. Jn 3:16 f.; 1 Jn 3:5, 8.
[18] Reconciliatio et Paenitentia, 29.
[19] Cf. Mt 12:49 f.; Mk 3:33 f.; Lk 8:20 f.; Rm 8:29: “the firstborn among many brothers.”
[20] Cf. Hb 2:17; 4:15.
[21] Cf. Mt 18:12 f.; Lk 15:4-6.
[22] Cf. Lk 5:31 f.
[23] Cf. Mt 22:16.
[24] Cf. Acts 10:42.
[25] Cf. Jn 8:16.
[26] Reconciliatio et Paenitentia, 29.
[27] P. Alfredo Sáenz, In Persona Christi, Ch. 5.
[28] Cf. Those Mysterious Priests, Ch. 6.
[29] Directory of Parishes, 87.
[30] Directory of Parishes, 135; op. cit., Constitutions, 181.
[31] Cf. Saint Manuel González, Obras Completas, Lo que puede un cura hoy, 1678.
[32] Cf. Saint Manuel González, Obras Completas, Aunque todos… yo no, 26.
[33] Directory of Works of Mercy, 94.
[34] Dives in misericordia, 13.
[35] Saint John Paul II, To the clergy of Todi and Orvieto, (November 22nd, 1981).
[36] Directory of Popular Missions, 133.
[37] Fr. C. Buela, IVE, You Are Priests Forever, Part III, Ch. 3, 11.
[38] Cf. Directory of Spiritual Direction, 64.
[39] Saint Alphonsus Liguori, Obras Ascéticas, in “Sermones Abreviados para todas las Domínicas del año,” Introduction, BAC, Madrid 1954, pp. 449 ff.
[40] Directory of the Preaching of the Word, 51.
[41] Ibidem, 52.
[42] Ibidem, 54.
[43] Ibidem, 55.
[44] Constitutions, 205.
[45] Directory of Parishes, 135.
[46] Directory of Major Seminaries, 351.
[47] Ibidem.
[48] Ibidem.
[49] Cf. Directory of Parishes, 137.
[50] Saint John Paul II, To priests of Île de France gathered in the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris, (May 30th, 1980).
[51] Reconciliatio et Paenitentia, 29.
[52] Quoted by Fr. Miguel A. Fuentes, IVE, A quienes perdonéis, Part II, Ch. 2, 4.
[53] Cf. Directory of Spiritual Direction, 37.
[54] Saint John Paul II, To priests and religious in Montevideo, (March 31st, 1987).
[55] Cf. Directory of Parishes, 135.
[56] Fr. C. Buela, IVE, You Are Priests Forever, Part I, Ch. 2, 17.
[57] Saint Alphonsus Liguori, Theologia moralis, ed. Gaudé, t. IV, Roma 1912, p. 527.
[58] Cf. Ibidem, p. 528.
[59] Cf. Ibidem, p. 530.
[60] Cf. Ibidem, p. 537.
[61] Saint John Paul II, Meeting with the priests and religious at the Basilica of Saint Alfonso in Pagani (Italy), (November 12th, 1990).
[62] Cf. Jn 3:17.
[63] Mt 11:29.
[64] Saint John Paul II, To the clergy of Todi and Orvieto, (November 22nd, 1981).
[65] The Priest Is Not His Own, Ch. 6.
[66] Fr. C. Buela, IVE, You Are Priests Forever, Part I, Ch. 2, 17.
[67] Saint John Paul II, Letter to Priests for Holy Thursday, 2001.
[68] Ibidem.
[69] Cf. Reconciliatio et paenitentia, 29.
[70] Mass in Plaza de Armas in Cuzco, Peru, (February 1st, 1985).
[71] Saint John Paul II, Mass for priests, men and women religious of Santo Domingo, (October 10th, 1992).
[72] Directory of Spirituality, 101.
[73] Ibidem.
[74] Ibidem; op. cit. Pius XII, Mystici Corporis Christi, 88.
[75] Cf. Saint John Paul II, Letter to Priests for Holy Thursday, 2001.
[76] Roman Missal, Eucharistic Prayer I, 56.
[77] Cf. 2 Cor 4:7.
[78] Saint John Paul II, Meeting with the ecclesial community of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, (May 16th, 1985).
[79] Saint John Paul II, To priests and religious in Bari, Italy, (February 26th, 1984).
[80] 1 Cor 4:1.
[81] The Priest Is Not His Own, Ch. 9.
[82] A. Grazioli, Modelo de Confesores: San José Cafasso (Madrid s/f), 30-31.
[83] Fulton Sheen, Those Mysterious Priests, Ch. 9.
[84] Quoted by Fr. Miguel A. Fuentes, IVE, A quienes perdonéis, Part II, Ch. 6, 1.
[85] Directory of Spiritual Direction, 54.
[86] Ibidem, 56.
[87] 1 Pt 3:8-9.13
[88] 1 Pt 3:17.
[89] Reconciliatio et paenitentia, 35.
[90] Cf. Directory of Consecrated Life, 161.
[91] Cf. Saint John Paul II, Letter to Priests for Holy Thursday, 2001.
