Book 4, Chapter 7: The Examination of Conscience, and a Resolution of Amendment.
Chapter Focus: Chapters 6 and 7 should be read together. And you may want to go back and look at Chapter 4 again. Chapter 6 leads naturally into 7 since Thomas just asked our Lord for clarity and humility and guidance on preparing to receive Holy Communion. Thomas readily admits that he is unworthy to receive the Blessed Sacrament or to celebrate its mysteries. And yet he is compelled and commanded by our Lord Jesus Christ to receive. Thomas pleads for our Lord to teach him the right way – with suitable exercises to prepare his soul for devout reception.
And the Voice of Christ does not disappoint.
In Chapter 7, the “so” chapter, Jesus directs the Priest and Disciple to exercise full humility, full faith, full contrition; heart, mind, and soul, in the celebration and reception of the Holy Eucharist. God wants us to be free of the shackles of sin in order that we may approach the throne with boldness (Heb 4:16).
The Voice of Christ then provides a reflection that going through it myself, caused me great unease in my own unworthiness in receiving so great a gift from God. There are 19 lines of “so”, each with a comparison of some worldly craving balanced against some related spiritual discipline. I tried to pick a favorite, best bad choice but decided they all applied. Frankly, I think Thomas lets us off easy as I can think of many other “So’s” that are equally convicting. Perhaps this is a good opportunity to post this list on my nightstand or on the refrigerator.
This is what the Voice recommends.
We are to offer ourselves to Christ on the altar of your heart as a perpetual whole burnt-offering. We must truly repent, and draw near to Him as a result.
So easily said, so difficult to be done.
Chapter 7, In Short.
1. The priest of God must draw near, with all humility of heart with full faith, to celebrate, minister, and receive this Sacrament.
2. Sigh and grieve and be sorry, because you are still so carnal and worldly.
3. When you have confessed your shortcomings, make a firm resolution of continual amendment of your life.
Scripture Memory Verse: “None of the crimes [you have] committed shall be remembered against [you; you] shall live because of the justice [God] has shown. Ezekiel 18:22.
Question: Which of the “So’s” below cause you the greatest discomfort?
Key Quote: For there is no oblation worthier, no satisfaction greater for the destroying of sin, than that you offer yourself to God purely and entirely with the oblation of the Body and Blood of Christ in Holy Communion.
The text of Chapter 7: The Examination of Conscience, and a Resolution of Amendment.
The Voice of Christ: Above all things, the Priest of God must draw near with all humility of heart and supplicating reverence, with full faith and pious desire for the honor of God to celebrate, minister, and receive this Sacrament.
Diligently examine your conscience and with all Your might, with true contrition and humble confession cleanse and purify it, so that you may feel no burden, nor know anything which brings you remorse and impedes you approaching freely.
Have displeasure against all Your sins in general, and especially be sorrowful and mournful because of Your daily transgressions. If You have time, confess to God all miseries of your own passion within the secret of your heart.
2. Sigh and grieve and be sorry, because you are still so carnal and so worldly:
so unmortified from your passions, so full of the motion of concupiscence;
so unguarded in your outward senses, so often entangled in many vain fancies;
so much inclined to outward things, so negligent of internal;
so ready to laughter and ill-discipline, so unready to weeping and contrition;
so prone to ease and indulgence of the flesh, so dull to zeal and fervor;
so curious to hear novelties and behold beauties, so unwilling to embrace things humble and despised;
so desirous to have many things, so grudging in giving, so close in keeping;
so inconsiderate in speaking, so reluctant to keep silence;
so disorderly in manners, so inconsiderate in actions;
so eager after food, so deaf towards the Word of God;
so eager after rest, so slow to labor;
so watchful after tales, so sleepy towards holy watchings;
so eager for the end of them, so wandering in attention to them;
so negligent in observing the hours of prayer, so lukewarm in celebrating, so unfruitful in communicating;
so quickly distracted, so seldom quite collected with yourself;
so quickly moved to anger, so ready for displeasure at others;
so prone to judging, so severe at reproving;
so joyful in prosperity, so weak in adversity;
so often making many good resolutions and bringing them to so little effect.
3. When you have confessed and bewailed these and your other shortcomings with sorrow and sore displeasure at your own infirmity, make a firm resolution of continual amendment of your life and of your progress in all that is good. Then with full resignation and with your entire will, offer yourself to the honor of My name on the altar of your heart as a perpetual whole burnt-offering, even by faithfully presenting your body and soul to Me, to the end that you may be accounted worthy to draw near to offer this sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving to God, and to receive the Sacrament of My Body and Blood to your soul’s health.
For there is no oblation worthier, no satisfaction greater for the destroying of sin, than that you offer yourself to God purely and entirely with the oblation of the Body and Blood of Christ in Holy Communion. If you have done what lies in you and truly repent, then you may draw close to Me for pardon and grace often. “As I live,” says the Lord, “I take no pleasure in the death of a sinner, but rather that you should be converted, and live. All your transgressions you have committed shall not be mentioned (Ez 18:22, 23).”