THE HEALING POWER OF CONFESSION #The Apostolate of Being # Beggars at the Throne of ...

32 Pages·2016·1.44 MB·English

P
E
VOLUME LXVIII NO.6 JUNE 2016 1.55
IONEER
“Bless me,
Father...”
THE HEALING POWER OF CONFESSION
l The Apostolate of Being l Beggars at the Throne of Grace
June 2016
Volume LXVIII Number 6
The Official Publication of the
Pioneer Total Abstinence Association
of the Sacred Heart
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Pioneer Total Abstinence Association
of the Sacred Heart Thank you for your ongoing support to our fundraising initiatives.
Your generosity is greatly appreciated. – Bernard J McGuckian, SJ, Editor
Cover:
“A man is never more a man than when
he is on his knees.” – Blaise Pascal, the
seventeenth century French genius whose
concept of binary mathematics provides the
basis for the development of the computer
in the 20th century. For Pope Francis the
Sacrament of Penance is the door that
opens the human heart to the outpouring of
Divine Mercy.
See pages 8-9.
PIONEER OFFERING
“For Thy greater glory and
consolation, O Sacred Heart of
Jesus, for Thy sake to give good
example, to practise self-denial,
to make reparation to Thee for
the sins of intemperance, and
for the conversion of excessive
drinkers, I will abstain for life
from all intoxicating drink.”
S
T
SACRED
N
The
E
T
HEART JESUS
of N
O
PIONEER RAFFLE
The Feast of the Sacred Heart is celebrated on 3 June this year. As the C
timing of this feast is ultimately linked to the date of Easter it can be
early or late. In fact it can vary from the end of May to the beginning of
Page 16: The Apostolate of Being
Pioneer Annual Members’ Raffle 2016 July although it is mostly celebrated in the month of June. It originated
in a request in the seventeenth century to Saint Margaret Mary during
We are giving away CASH PRIZES to three lucky winners one of her extraordinary apparitions at Paray-le-Monial, in the Charollais 4 Christ Plays in Ten
of the ANNUAL RAFFLE 2016 region of eastern France. The Lord asked that a special feast be added Thousand Places
to the Liturgical Calendar of the Church to draw attention to the infinite Alan Mowbray SJ
FIRST PRIZE: €2,000 love of God for every member of the human race. At the time in many 6 Beggars at the Throne of Grace
circles in the Church there was such an emphasis on God’s justice, as a Fr Joseph Illo
SECOND PRIZE: €500
result of the influence of Jansenism, that his infinite mercy was being 8 The Healing Power of Confession
THIRD PRIZE: €250 marginalised. The aim of the new feast was to redress this imbalance. Fr Eamonn McCarthy
What Saint Margaret Mary received was a private revelation. Private
10 The Repatriation of
To the Seller of Each Winning Ticket: €40.00 revelations do not add anything to the Public Revelation of Christianity
Thomas Kent
Tickets are €2 each or €10 for a book of 6 tickets (1 free ticket per book) which ended with the last book of the Scriptures, the Apocalypse of
Tadhg Kelleher
Saint John. But what private revelations can add is a renewed emphasis
12 Be Gentle In Carrying Out
on some aspect of the Public Revelation which is being downplayed
The drawing of winning tickets will take place on Your Business
or indeed ignored at a particular period in history. During the ‘Great
THURSDAY 30 JUNE 2016 at Pioneer Central Office Apparition’ of June 1675, the Lord said to her, showing her His Sacred Fr Thomas Lane
Heart, “Behold this Heart that has so loved men … instead of gratitude 14 From the Gutters of Chile to
I receive from the greater number only ingratitude…" and asked St Peter's Square
Tickets are available from your local Pioneer Centre
for a feast of reparation on the octave of the Feast of Corpus Christi Fr Chris Saenz
or from Central Office on 01 874 94 64
Please return counterfoils and remittances to: and instructed her to seek help from Claude La Colombiere, a Jesuit 16 The Apostolate of Being
Fr B McGuckian, SJ, 27 Upper Sherrard Street, Dublin 1 priest. Through the exertions of Margaret Mary and Claude, especially Fr Rodney Kissinger SJ
no later than Tuesday 28 June 2016 their heavenly influence after their deaths, the Feast would finally be 18 Wise Owl Things
extended almost two centuries later - in 1856 - to the Universal Church.
19 Sound Bytes
The two saints were canonised at different times in the twentieth
20 It's Time to Do the State Exams
Thank you for your ongoing support to our fundraising initiatives.
century.
Billy Ryle
Your generosity is greatly appreciated. – Bernard J McGuckian, SJ, Editor While Devotion to the Sacred Heart emphasises the mercy of God
22 Twist and Gout
it still requires cooperation on our part. It is not compatible with
Ann Marie McMahon
negligence in religious practice. Margaret Mary passed on faithfully this
message. Rarely did she pass on personal comments of her own. One 24 Love Poems In The Bible
however does stand out. James Kelly SJ
‘It is a terrible thing in death to fall into the hands of a living God (cf. 26 Cookery
Hebrews 10: 31) if during life we have refused the embrace of a dying Terri Jones
God’. 27 Obituaries and Crossword
Bernard J McGuckian SJ, Editor 28 Pioneers: Here, There
and Everywhere
“Promoting Sobriety for a Better Society”
With this title
extracted from 'As
Kingfishers Catch
Fire', by Jesuit and
poet, Gerard Manley
Hopkins, FR ALAN
MOWBRAY SJ helps
us to see God’s love in
all good things, places
and people.
Christ Plays in Ten
Thousand Places
T Touch
he first Christians had great difficulty It would have been an immense challenge to accept
in recognising Christ as truly risen. that Christ would rise after such suffering and death. It
One scene in the Gospels shows us Mary is really striking how these first followers simply fail to
bringing spices to anoint His body which recognise their Lord after three years in His company. It
is no longer in the tomb. We see her looking around the can be helpful to think over our own experience of
garden and mistaking Him for a gardener. touch. Many of us can sense the presence of a person in
a room even without seeing them. In a hospital scenario,
Giving your Hand quite a few patients who are rather ill know well that a
The disciples had the same problem. We find them son or daughter has come into the room.
fishing on the lake and mistaking Jesus on the shoreline You will resonate with this recent experience: think
for a stranger. Yet it is Jesus. Thirdly, Thomas would only of a very ill grandfather lying on his bed asleep and his
believe if he could put his hand into the Lord’s wounds. grandson slips into the room and lies on the duvet right
Thomas gives us some insight into the difficulty we beside him. The grandfather wakes up later and simply
have in seeing the Lord present in our lives. Jesus had is aware that his grandson is there without turning his
forewarned the Twelve three times that He would die head or asking a question. Is it something to do with
and rise again only for the same disciples to argue and presence? We can turn to the experience of presence in
protest at that very thought. Christian life.
4 Pioneer, June 2016
Finding a Path
30
OVER
In the experience of the early Christians, could it be that
WAYS
they could not believe that the path to glory was through
suffering? How were they to grasp that suffering was a
gateway to a new way of life? Yes, Jesus had told them TO IMPROVE YOUR LIFE
that He would die and rise … Sure, but, but ... Could it
be because Christ had entered into the darkness; that
He had been left with a chalice He did not want to drink?
Yet, He walked into that darkness, accepting it and COURSE CATEGORIES:
forgiving the world He had created. In taking that path Proven Track Record:
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LEAVING CERT COURSES
the death of Christ as a deeply shameful act and, in some Details of over 30 courses are
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assemblies, covered the cross during Lent. Is it possible available in our free 2006 prospectus.
that some could not deal with suffering?
Face-to-Face
We have our own difficulties in recognising the Risen
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Christ. Modern style media is remarkable for bringing
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violence and suffering on to our screens; onto our
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mobiles. Could we think of one newscast that does not
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contain at least one report featuring violence? Yet one
way or another, media outlets are a mirror of the culture For your free prospectus, please fill in today and return to:
FREEPOST, Kilroy’s College, Wentworth House, Grand Canal Street Lower, Dublin 2.
we live in. On top of that, suffering comes to family and
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Another Way
Countless ways are being presented to find a circle of
compassion for people caught up in loss of limbs or lack
of basic food. Many give with great generosity financial
aid to Trocaire and Concern. Other equally wonderful
groups show the other face of our world; a world of
compassion. And then there are so many young Irish
volunteers who give time, kindness and, indeed, of Congregation of
themselves to people on the ground. They are restoring
Alexian Brothers
hope and renewal of body and mind to men, women
and children in countries torn apart. The Alexian Brothers, as followers of Jesus the Healer,
dedicate their lives to serving the sick and those on
Change from Within
the margins of society. They do this with the support
But something else is happening to these volunteers:
of prayer and community life.
they are being changed by their experience. It is not
all ’one-way giving’. They are picking up a response of
new life, of simple gratitude from those they look after.
Many volunteers experience a renewal of faith and a
renewal of energy for their tired limbs and hearts. This
renewal comes from the interaction between the healer
and the wounded.
There are times too when we hear the call to enter into
Is Jesus Calling You?
powerlessness and experience our own helplessness.
I quote Pope Francis in his response to the suicide
FOR INFORMATION CONTACT:
bombing in Pakistan at Easter time, when he said:
“When we have touched the bottom of our weakness, Website: www.alexianbrothers.ie
the Risen Christ gives us the strength to pick ourselves up. Contact: [email protected]
If we trust Him ... He saves us, for mercy and love have won
Phone: [phone]
out over sin.”
Pioneer, June 2016 5
Beggars

at the
Throne
Grace
of

What do we think when a friend or stranger begs from us? FR JOSEPH ILLO found himself in that
very situation and reminds us that we should never be too proud to beg from God.
We are all beggars at the Throne of Grace. Some “But nobody told me about any tax; I have only five
know they are beggars, and some do not. The dollars!” I told her.
Pharisee in St Luke’s Gospel (18.9-14) claims “You’re an American,” she said. “You can beg from your
he does not need God’s help, while the Publican begs fellow Americans here.”
as a drowning man begs for a lifeline. The public sinner I looked around at the stony-faced travellers behind
goes home justified, even though he does not feel holy, me. After a few minutes, I got the courage to walk up
because he knew, and he confessed, his complete to an American lady and stammer: “Excuse me, I need
dependence on God. Blessed Mother Teresa (soon to be seven dollars to pay the airport tax. Could you help me?”
saint) said: “I don’t think there is anyone who needs God’s I’ll never forget how hard it was to ask that question, to
help and grace as much as I do. … I rely on Him twenty- put myself at the mercy of a stranger. The American lady
four hours a day. If the day had even more hours, then I was embarrassed and mumbled something about not
would need His help and grace during those as well.” having money for that kind of thing, but a Mexican lady
behind her smiled at me kindly and put a twenty-dollar
A Beggar in Mexico City bill in my hand.
Have you ever had to beg? I am a white American male
with several college degrees and I don’t have to beg The Mercy Seat
anything from anybody. That’s the American dream, My humility was sincere, and my gratitude to the
after all, to have everything I want and need, and to Mexican lady was deeply heartfelt. I was helpless and
depend on nobody. But once I had to beg. During my alone, and a stranger helped me. It’s a very good thing
seminary years, I spent a summer in Mexico studying to have to beg, and to have a personal experience of
Spanish. At the end of the course, I had five dollars left God’s providence. Poor people, simple people and often
and was checking in for my flight home. The lady at the very rich people who have been through some personal
counter told me I needed to pay a 12-dollar airport tax. affliction, will often say “God is so good,” but that sense
6 Pioneer, June 2016
of gratitude becomes personal only when we have to people pray: “receive O Lord this sacrifice with humble
beg for help and receive it from the hand of God. hearts …”, knowing that they are not worthy to receive
In the gospel story, the Publican approaches the the Holy Eucharist. During the Mass the priest says in
temple, the throne of grace, the mercy seat, and he almost every prayer: “we beg, we beseech you …”. You
begs. The Lord had directed the Levites to place the Seat should know the meaning of that word, and use it
of Mercy in the very centre of the Jerusalem temple, yourself: “I beg you, dear and sovereign Lord, to help
within the holy of holies, behind the veil. It was the solid me, who is so frail, so prone to sin.” This word ‘beseech’
gold cover over the Ark of the Covenant, itself covered was omitted in the English translation for many years
by the wings of two hammered gold cherubim. In most and has, thankfully, been restored. Let us know that we
Catholic churches, the golden tabernacle sits in the are not worthy to receive God’s favour, and yet He has
centre of our sanctuary, and it is from there that God commanded us to beseech Him, to beg Him, for mercy.
bestows mercy upon everybody who kneels before Him. So let us pray: only in the Holy Spirit can anyone even
Prayer is always essentially a plea for mercy, for healing begin to pray as Saint Paul tells us in the Epistle. Jesus is
reconciliation with God and neighbour. We beg Him to Lord, and we have nothing to fear if we know our need
lift us from our loneliness and shame, our frustration and His Providence. We have everything to fear if we
and anger. It must come from the heart to be heard. think we do not need Him. Let us imitate Our Lady, who
Notice that the Pharisee, who thinks he does not need came to her own son at Cana – not commanding, but
mercy, prays to himself: he is speaking about himself to asking, begging Him to help. He graciously responded,
himself. Why would God listen to a speech that is not with abundance, to her heartfelt humility and trust.
even directed to Him? The Publican, on the other hand,
does not lift his eyes. He knows that he is not worthy

to even be near God. But, in fact, God has established a
Fr Joseph Illo was born in a little Italian part of the
mercy seat in the temple for all people; He wants us to
come to Him, as suppliants trusting in His loving mercy. Bronx, City Island, and baptised at Our Lady Star of
the Sea. He has worked for the Catholic publishing
Not Worthy but Graced  house, Ignatius Press. He is currently ministering in
In the Mass, the priest turns to the people, and the San Francisco, California.
Pioneer, June 2016 7
THE HEALING POWER OF
Confession
Forgiveness is at the heart of the teaching and ministry of Our Divine
Saviour, yet, as the song goes, ‘sorry seems to be the hardest word.’
FR EAMONN McCARTHY takes a closer look at the Sacrament of
Reconciliation during this Jubilee Year of Mercy.
8 Pioneer, June 2016
W
hy is it that many people have such great many areas in need of attention. We begin to see things
difficulty going to confession when the TV differently when we are open to the light of God’s grace.
and radio chat shows endlessly indulge Seeing others in that same light, it becomes easier to
audiences with the often less-than- excuse and even forgive where previously we had so
edifying lives of their rich and famous guests? ‘Celebrity easily found fault. The words of Jesus take on a new
gossip’ they call it. It is as if there is a built-in human need meaning for the enlightened soul: ‘the measure in which
to tell our story, warts and all. This is why confession is you forgive is the measure in which you will be forgiven.’
sometimes understood as a natural sacrament. Even the So too, with the other fruits of frequent confession –
non-believer knows that for any relationship to last, it is healing, peace, strength and growth. Deliverance from
necessary to be able to say, ‘I am sorry.’ evil brings physical and spiritual relief. Letting go of
And yet, how quick we are to excuse ourselves! ‘At some hurt or some addiction brings real bodily relief.
least I’m not that bad,’ we might say. Perhaps you have How much lighter we also feel in spirit when we have
heard the story about the penitent who said to the honestly shown our wounds to the divine physician in
priest, “‘Sure, I have no sins,” to which the priest wryly this grace-filled sacrament!
responded, “Well, in that case, do you know what you’ll Jesus is the author and source of peace. At the Last
do? Go out into the Church and take the statue of Our Supper, He told His disciples, ‘my peace I give you, a
Lady down from the pedestal and you stand up there peace the world cannot give.’ The world longs for peace.
instead, and we’ll all light candles in front of you!” This is In hearing those words of absolution, ‘I absolve you...’ the
a true story, by all accounts. heart of Jesus reaches out to your heart. Going in peace,
‘But, I don’t like going to confession!’ Ah, now that’s we praise afresh the Divine Mercy, ‘Jesus, I trust in you.’
a bit better! At least it is a more honest approach to Our fighting of the good fight is impossible without
the question. Confession is humiliating. Well, if that supernatural help. Regular confession gives us real
is so, then, perhaps, as Blessed Mother Teresa says, strength and stamina to continue ‘running the race to
‘humiliation is a path to humility.’ And maybe herein lies the finish.’ When our wills are more closely attuned to
the answer. Pride blocks me from grace and mercy. Pride the Divine Will, there is an assurance there. The truth
fools me into thinking I have no sins. Pride, that original sets us free. Others will begin to notice the difference
sin, that darkens my intellect and weakens my will, it is making in us. They will want a share in this joy that
prevents me from coming into the light of God’s grace. living the Gospel offers.
Is this not what Hell is all about – refusing to come out And, like any beautiful garden, that demands constant
of my own selfish world - remaining in the dark? How weeding and cultivation, so too the life of the soul
miserable is that? demands regular attention. Fortnightly or monthly
This explains why the only sin that cannot be forgiven confession turns over that soil. The beautiful flowers of
is the one that is not confessed. This is ‘the sin against the virtue, which take time and patience to cultivate, will
Holy Spirit’ – the denial of mercy. There is no such thing bloom by God’s healing grace in the soul of those who
as a sin that cannot be forgiven, but God will not bestow are faithful to this sacrament. Who does not like to stop
His unfathomable love and mercy upon us unless we ask and admire a beautiful garden? Such are the lives of the
for it. Love can’t be forced upon someone who does not Saints, who, by regular weeding and fertilising, were
want to receive it. God’s grace is always there – all we enabled to bear such great fruit and become part of the
have to do is ask. Lord’s rich harvest.
Perhaps this also clarifies why Jesus instituted Put it off no longer. This is the Jubilee Year of Mercy.
confession by way of a personal encounter with Him Now is the time to allow the Lord to lavish His gifts of
through the priest, because in this way, it demands grace upon you. Drink from the fountain - bathe in its
authentic humility. And, not only is it extremely waters – come and be healed!
therapeutic to ‘tell’ and thus unburden myself of my
sins to another person, it allows me to face up to them
FREE CD FROM FR EAMONN
honestly, to begin to account for myself, to obtain good
counsel and seek to make amends. So, like the doctor, I As one of my own little efforts for the Year
am not there as a priest to embarrass or make penitents
of Mercy I would like to offer our readers
feel guilty – our merciful God has already built that into
a free CD talk – a Radio Maria programme
our nature to prompt us to confess. All I want to do is
I did last year on ‘the Healing Power of
heal in the name of Jesus. But how can I heal you, in His
Confession’. If you would like a copy, just
name, if you won’t come, or you don’t show me all your
wounds? text “Confession CD” with your name and
Did you ever notice the interior effect of a good address and I’ll gladly send it on to you.
confession? Just as a ray of morning sunlight in the (085) 85 85 308.
window catches the plethora of dust motes in the air,
so too, a ray of God’s grace enlightens the soul to see so
Pioneer, June 2016 9
T
he
Repatriation of
Thomas Kent
TADHG KELLEHER was present at the repatriation of Thomas Kent in September 2015. Here
he recalls the life of the 1916 volunteer, among whose last requests was that his Pioneer pin be
returned to his native parish of Castlelyons.
On Friday, 18 September 2015, in the beautiful and Mary Rice, of Bawnard House, Castlelyons. As a young
historic village of Castlelyons, Thomas Kent was laid to man, he emigrated to America like so many more of
rest in a yew-shaded grave alongside his brothers, David, his generation, to earn his living and make his way as
Richard and William. For ninety-nine years, his remains a furniture maker in the city of Boston. Unfortunately,
lay buried in a lonely grave in a lonely yard, forgotten due to ill health, he had to return home to Castlelyons.
by many but warmly remembered by those whose lives But the Ireland to which he returned was one of both
he had touched by his fearless defiance of injustice and instability and injustice. Joining his brothers, Thomas
steadfast loyalty to family, to comrades and to the land was quickly caught up in the campaign for land reform
he loved. and the efforts being made to establish a more stable
Thomas Kent was born in 1865, the fourth in a and equitable life for the rural community. For this work
family of nine children to David Kent and his wife, with the Land League, Thomas was jailed in 1889.
10 Pioneer, June 2016