Page:Meditations For Every Day In The Year.djvu/253

 after having  risen  with  Christ,  like  Him,  "  to  die  no more"  (Rom.  vi.  9),  and  not  to  relapse  again  into  your former sins  and  failings.

III. " Whose  sins  you  shall  forgive  they  are  forgiven, and  whose  sins  you  shall  retain  they  are  retained." (John xx. 23.)  Ponder  the  power  and  dignity  expressed  in these  words. God never  gave  the  same  power  to  the priests of  the  old  law,  nor  to  the  angels  themselves. He did not  confine  this  power  to  any  determinate  number  of priests,  nor  to  the  quality  of  the  priests,  or  of  the  sins, but gave  it  for  the  benefit  of  all,  in  the  sacrament  of Penance. Admire the  riches  and  bounty  of  God's  mercy, and thank  Him  for  such  an  easy  remedy  for  your  sins. The sacrament  of  Penance  is  truly  "a  fountain  open  to the  house  of  David,  and  to  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem, for.  the  washing  of  the  sinner." (Zach. xiii.  1.)

I. As  yet  one  of  the  Apostles  refused  to  believe  in  the resurrection of  his  Master. St. Thomas  had  fallen  into this incredulity,  because  he  was  separated  from  the  rest when Christ  had  first  appeared  to  the  disciples,  because he stubbornly  refused  his  assent  to  the  fact  of  his  Saviour's resurrection  on  the  sufficient  testimony  of  others, and because  he  presumptuously  prescribed  to  God  the condition on  which  alone  he  would  consent  to  believe. "Unless I  shall  see  in  His  hands,"  he  said,  "the  print  of the  nails,  and  put  my  finger  into  the  place  of  the  nails, and  put  my  hand  into  His  side,  I  will  not  believe." (John xx.  25.)  During  the  space  of  eight  days  he  persisted obstinately  in  his  incredulity,  in  spite  of  all  the persuasions and  reasons  of  the  other  Apostles. Learn