The Catholic Church was founded by Jesus Christ as a perfect society, with authority to make laws, with power to punish the guilty, and to expel rebellious subjects from her midst. This power was [pg 080] given to the Church by Christ when He said, “And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven.” It is clear that Christ intended His Church to be our guide in all our actions, as an authority to teach us what the revelation is concerning our future state. We should, therefore, be obedient and faithful children of the Church. We should be grateful to God, Who in His mercy has established certain fountains of grace, which are found in the Church, and are guarded by her. These fountains of grace are the sacraments, which point out the holy states of life, and the true manner of pleasing God. We should use the Sacraments of Penance and Holy Eucharist for the remedy of our faults, and the strength of our weakness.
Prayer.
O most loving Jesus, etc., etc.
Twelfth Day.
Confession is the correction of our faults, and if we have sinned let us remember we have an advocate in heaven, to Whom we wish to return in the sincerity of our hearts. The Holy Eucharist is the body and blood of Christ and communion the partaking of it.
We should not, therefore, be deterred from frequenting these sacraments by human considerations, or by the mockery of the people of this world. We should have these words of Christ deeply engraven in our hearts: “Except you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, you shall not have life in you.”—John vi. 54. A devout Catholic is [pg 081] easily distinguished from the crowd of careless ones, when we see him humbly and frequently going to confession and to holy communion.
Prayer.
O most loving Jesus, etc., etc.