Day 239 · Christ First

Scripture

Psalms 44–48

Psalms 44

Eructavit cor meum. The excellence of Christ’s kingdom, and the endowments of his church.

Unto the end, for them that shall be changed, for the sons of Core, for understanding. A canticle for the Beloved.

My heart hath uttered a good word: I speak my works to the king: My tongue is the pen of a scrivener that writeth swiftly.

Thou art beautiful above the sons of men: grace is poured abroad in thy lips; therefore hath God blessed thee for ever.

Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O thou most mighty.

With thy comeliness and thy beauty set out, proceed prosperously, and reign. Because of truth and meekness and justice: and thy right hand shall conduct thee wonderfully.

Thy arrows are sharp: under thee shall people fall, into the hearts of the king’s enemies.

Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever: the sceptre of thy kingdom is a sceptre of uprightness.

Thou hast loved justice, and hated iniquity: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.

Myrrh and stacte and cassia perfume thy garments, from the ivory houses: out of which

The daughters of kings have delighted thee in thy glory. The queen stood on thy right hand, in gilded clothing; surrounded with variety.

Hearken, O daughter, and see, and incline thy ear: and forget thy people and thy father’s house.

And the king shall greatly desire thy beauty; for he is the Lord thy God, and him they shall adore.

And the daughters of Tyre with gifts, yea, all the rich among the people, shall entreat thy countenance.

All the glory of the king’s daughter is within in golden borders,

Clothed round about with varieties. After her shall virgins be brought to the king: her neighbours shall be brought to thee.

They shall be brought with gladness and rejoicing: they shall be brought into the temple of the king.

Instead of thy fathers, sons are born to thee: thou shalt make them princes over all the earth.

They shall remember thy name throughout all generations. Therefore shall people praise thee for ever; yea, for ever and ever.

Psalms 45

Deus noster refugium. The church in persecution trusteth in the protection of God.

Unto the end, for the sons of Core, for the hidden.

Our God is our refuge and strength: a helper in troubles, which have found us exceedingly.

Therefore we will not fear, when the earth shall be troubled; and the mountains shall be removed into the heart of the sea.

Their waters roared and were troubled: the mountains were troubled with his strength.

The stream of the river maketh the city of God joyful: the most High hath sanctified his own tabernacle.

God is in the midst thereof, it shall not be moved: God will help it in the morning early.

Nations were troubled, and kingdoms were bowed down: he uttered his voice, the earth trembled.

The Lord of armies is with us: the God of Jacob is our protector.

Come and behold ye the works of the Lord: what wonders he hath done upon earth,

Making wars to cease even to the end of the earth. He shall destroy the bow, and break the weapons: and the shield he shall burn in the fire.

Be still and see that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, and I will be exalted in the earth.

The Lord of armies is with us: the God of Jacob is our protector.

Psalms 46

Omnes gentes, plaudite. The Gentiles are invited to praise God for the establishment of the kingdom of Christ.

Unto the end, for the sons of Core.

O clap your hands, all ye nations: shout unto God with the voice of joy,

For the Lord is high, terrible: a great king over all the earth.

He hath subdued the people under us; and the nations under our feet.

He hath chosen for us his inheritance, the beauty of Jacob which he hath loved.

God is ascended with jubilee, and the Lord with the sound of trumpet.

Sing praises to our God, sing ye: sing praises to our king, sing ye.

For God is the king of all the earth: sing ye wisely.

God shall reign over the nations: God sitteth on his holy throne.

The princes of the people are gathered together, with the God of Abraham: for the strong gods of the earth are exceedingly exalted.

Psalms 47

Magnus Dominus. God is greatly to be praised for the establishment of his church.

A psalm of a canticle, for the sons of Core, on the second day of the week.

Great is the Lord, and exceedingly to be praised in the city of our God, in his holy mountain.

With the joy of the whole earth is mount Sion founded, on the sides of the north, the city of the great king.

In her houses shall God be known, when he shall protect her.

For behold the kings of the earth assembled themselves: they gathered together.

So they saw, and they wondered, they were troubled, they were moved:

Trembling took hold of them. There were pains as of a woman in labour.

With a vehement wind thou shalt break in pieces the ships of Tharsis.

As we have heard, so have we seen, in the city of the Lord of hosts, in the city of our God: God hath founded it for ever.

We have received thy mercy, O God, in the midst of thy temple.

According to thy name, O God, so also is thy praise unto the ends of the earth: thy right hand is full of justice.

Let mount Sion rejoice, and the daughters of Juda be glad; because of thy judgments, O Lord.

Surround Sion, and encompass her: tell lye in her towers.

Set your hearts on her strength; and distribute her houses, that ye may relate it in another generation.

For this is God, our God unto eternity, and for ever and ever: he shall rule us for evermore.

Psalms 48

Audite haec, omnes gentes. The folly of worldlings, who live on in sin, without thinking of death or hell.

Unto the end, a psalm for the sons of Core.

Hear these things, all ye nations: give ear, all ye inhabitants of the world.

All you that are earthborn, and you sons of men: both rich and poor together.

My mouth shall speak wisdom: and the meditation of my heart understanding.

I will incline my ear to a parable; I will open my proposition on the psaltery.

Why shall I fear in the evil day? the iniquity of my heel shall encompass me.

They that trust in their own strength, and glory in the multitude of their riches,

No brother can redeem, nor shall man redeem: he shall not give to God his ransom,

Nor the price of the redemption of his soul: and shall labour for ever,

And shall still live unto the end.

He shall not see destruction, when he shall see the wise dying: the senseless and the fool shall perish together: And they shall leave their riches to strangers:

And their sepulchres shall be their houses for ever. Their dwelling places to all generations: they have called their lands by their names.

And man when he was in honour did not understand; he is compared to senseless beasts, and is become like to them.

This way of theirs is a stumblingblock to them: and afterwards they shall delight in their mouth.

They are laid in hell like sheep: death shall feed upon them. And the just shall have dominion over them in the morning; and their help shall decay in hell from their glory.

But God will redeem my soul from the hand of hell, when he shall receive me.

Be not thou afraid, when a man shall be made rich, and when the glory of his house shall be increased.

For when he shall die he shall take nothing away; nor shall his glory descend with him.

For in his lifetime his soul will be blessed: and he will praise thee when thou shalt do well to him.

He shall go in to the generations of his fathers: and he shall never see light.

Man when he was in honour did not understand: he hath been compared to senseless beasts, and made like to them.

Catechism

An Explanation of the Baltimore Catechism of Christian Doctrine, Lesson 19, Question 216

216 Q. Is it a grievous offense willfully to conceal a mortal sin in confession?

A. It is a grievous offense willfully to conceal a mortal sin in confession, because we thereby tell a lie to the Holy Ghost, and make our confession worthless.
"A lie to the Holy Ghost." God sees every sin we commit, and in His presence we present ourselves to the priest in the confessional, and declare that we are confessing all. If, then, we willfully conceal a sin that we are bound to confess, God is a witness to our sacrilegious lie. If I see you in some place to which you were forbidden to go, and you, knowing that I saw you, positively deny that you were there, your guilt would be doubly great, for, besides the sin of disobedience committed by going to the forbidden place, you also resist the known truth, and endeavor to prove that I, when I declare I saw you, am telling what is untrue. In a similar manner, concealing a sin in confession is equivalent to denying before God that we are guilty of it. Besides, it is a great folly to conceal a sin, because it must be confessed sooner or later, and the longer we conceal it the deeper will be our sense of shame for the sacrileges committed. Again, why should one be ashamed to confess to the priest what he has not been ashamed to do before God, unless he has greater respect for the priest than he has for the Almighty God—an absurdity we cannot believe. Moreover, the shame you experience in telling your sins is a kind of penance for them. Do you not suppose Our Lord knew, when He instituted the Sacrament of Penance, that people would be ashamed to confess? Certainly He did; and that act of humility is pleasing to God, and is a kind of punishment for your sins, and probably takes away some of the punishment you would have to suffer for them. Often, too, the thought of having to confess will keep you from committing the sin. There is another thought that should encourage us to gladly make a full confession of all our sins, and it is this: it is easier to tell them to the priest alone than to have them exposed, unforgiven, before the whole world on the Day of Judgment. Do not imagine that your confessor will think less of you on account of your sins. The confessor does not think of your sins after he leaves the confessional. How could he remember all the confessions he hears—often hundreds in a single month? And what is more—he does not even wish to recall the sinful things heard in the confessional, because he wishes to keep his own mind pure, and his soul free from every stain. The priest is always better pleased to hear the confession of a great sinner or of one who has been a long time from the Sacraments, than of one who goes frequently or who has little to tell. He is not glad, of course, that the sinner has committed great sins, but he is glad that since he has had the misfortune to sin so much, he has now the grace and courage to seek forgiveness. Our Lord once said (Luke 15:7) while preaching, that the angels and saints in Heaven rejoice more at seeing one sinner doing penance than they do over ninety-nine good persons who did not need to do penance. The greater the danger to which a person has been exposed, the more thankful he and his friends are for escape or recovery from it. If your brother fell into the ocean and was rescued just as he was going down for the last time, you would feel more grateful than if he was rescued from some little pond into which he had slipped, and in which there was scarcely any danger of his being drowned. So, also, the nearer we are to losing our, souls and going to Hell, the more delighted the angels and saints are when we are saved. One who has escaped great danger will more carefully avoid similar accidents in the future: in like manner, the sinner, after having escaped the danger of eternal death by the pardon of his sins, should never again risk his salvation.