You, dear reader, have an immortal soul.

You, dear reader, have an immortal soul.

One of the most important things we pray in the Litany of Saints … those who know and use only the Novus Ordo perhaps have never heard this… is

“A subitanea et improvisa morte… From a sudden and unprovided death, spare us O Lord.”

A sudden death can be a blessing.

A sudden and unprovided death is a horrifying prospect.   Unprovided means no access to the sacraments.  No way to make a confession, be absolved or anointed.  Viaticum.  Apostolic Blessing.

We don’t know when our time will be up.

It could be soon.  It could be unforeseen.

As an analogy… a photo taken in my native Minnesota along the North Short of Lake Superior.

It will happen.

Try to imagine for a moment, those first few moments of a soul which has newly been consigned to Hell.  Try to imagine the shock of dawning realization: “This can’t be happening to me!”

But it is.

Dear readers, it is not my job to watch out for imprudent rodents, but it is my job to strive to keep as many of you out of Hell and in the Heaven lane as I can.

I can’t shove you into a confessional.  I can’t hear your confessions and absolve you via the internet.

Therefore, I will use this blog, my force multiplier, to get you to go.

I implore you.

GO TO CONFESSION.

Confess ALL your mortal sins in both kind (what they were) and number (how many times, even if you have to guesstimate).   Never never never purposely hide a mortal sin of which you are fully aware.  Even if seems terribly embarrassing, just say it without mincing words.   The priest will not think badly of you.  He will be impressed by your sincerity.

I wonder sometimes if laypeople understand how their good confessions help the priest himself make a good confession.

A more glorious reason for this blog I cannot imagine: one good confession by someone who really needed to go.  And by all accounts there are an awful lot of people who have done just that, some after a long time.

Tips for making a good confession HERE.

GO TO CONFESSION.

For a good Examen, I like to recommend one that my good friend Fr. Tim Finigan created quite some time ago. Downloadable and printable.

HERE