By Henry Aloysius Barry
Ultimate impenitence brings to a close the list of sins against the Holy Ghost. When this is committed hope vanishes forever, it seals despair. They are guilty of it, who go on in their wickedness to the, end of their days and resist at the last moment, at the parting gasp, the Holy Ghost, Who softly whispers confidence, mercy, pardon, peace, filling the fancy the while with softening recollections of our Lord and His Immaculate Mother, of His Saints and of pious parents gone to their eternal reward, wooing the heart to the last instant with a divine lover's ardor. But, no! life-long obduracy has done its work too well; it has utterly depraved the mind and petrified the heart. St. John has said, "There is a sin unto death; for that I say, not that any man ask." (i, 16.) Tears, sighs and scourges, heaven and earth's commingled prayers are vain to aid when a soul shall have gone before the Judgment without his credentials from the Church, the seal of a Redeemer's tender love engraven upon a heart made like the soft wax by the flames of holy repentance. It makes »ne shudder to think that a soul on the threshold of eternal life could scorn the Redeemer's love and disbelieve His promises.
The Apostle James' words remind us, however, that it does happen, and St. Paul is not wasting words when he says, "Take heed, brethren, lest perhaps there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, to depart from the living God, but exhort one another whilst it is called to-day, that none of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin, for we are made partakers of Christ, yet so if we hold the beginning of His substance firm unto the end." (Heb. iii, 12, 14.) Lifelong virtue counts for nothing if one should die impenitent; lifelong impenitence on the other hand does not count against one who is finally converted to God—so far as being saved is concerned. It is in all likelihood that a devout man, whose footsteps have been ever guided by the Holy Ghost will respond to the old familiar voice; though a slip occur ere the cup of penance and sweetness touches the lips. It is, of course, unfortunately, more likely that the man, whose heart all through the years passionately loved some creature, will not respond, so promptly, to the repentant call. The surest and shortest path, therefore, to final perseverance, is to live always in the grace of God, obedient to the Spirit's voice. St. Augustine says, —"When Christ said, 'He that shall have sinned against the Holy Ghost or spoken a word against the Holy Ghost,' He did not mean every sinful word and deed against the Holy Ghost, but a certain peculiar one. This sin consists in hardness of heart lasting up to the end of this life whereby a man declines to accept, in the unity of the body of Christ, which the Holy Ghost vivifies, the remission of his sins. For, when the Lord said to His Disciples, (John xx, 22, 23,) 'Receive ye the Holy Ghost,' He immediately subjoined, 'whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them, whose sins you shall retain, they are retained.'
Whosoever, therefore, shall have resisted the gift of God's grace and repelled the same or shall have been in any way a stranger to it to the end of this temporal life, he shall not be forgiven, neither in this life nor in the life to come. This is the great sin, the epitome, namely, of all sins which it is not sure that one has committed until one shall have withdrawn from the body. So long, however, as one lives, as the apostle assures us (Rom. ii, 4,) the patience of God is for leading to repentance. But if one, as the apostle adds, by the most perverse wickedness, by a heart hardened and unrepentant, treasures up to himself wrath in the day of anger and revelation of the just judgment of God, it will not be forgiven him, neither in the present life nor in the life to come. Let us not despair in our conduct towards them whilst they yet tarry in the flesh, but let them not seek the Holy Ghost, except in the body of Christ." (Ep. 50, ad. Bonnifacium Comitem.) It is clear from these words of St. Augustine that resistance to the repentant grace is an offense against the Holy Ghost and that the power to forgive sins on the part of God's minister is the communication of the same Holy Spirit. If at the last moment the sight of our past wickedness dejects us, let us implore the Holy Ghost to illumine and invigorate us, for, it counts for much, if in spite of our miserable life, we still have and confess our "Faith in the Holy Ghost," and the infinite mercy of Our Blessed Redeemer.
Ultimate impenitence brings to a close the list of sins against the Holy Ghost. When this is committed hope vanishes forever, it seals despair. They are guilty of it, who go on in their wickedness to the, end of their days and resist at the last moment, at the parting gasp, the Holy Ghost, Who softly whispers confidence, mercy, pardon, peace, filling the fancy the while with softening recollections of our Lord and His Immaculate Mother, of His Saints and of pious parents gone to their eternal reward, wooing the heart to the last instant with a divine lover's ardor. But, no! life-long obduracy has done its work too well; it has utterly depraved the mind and petrified the heart. St. John has said, "There is a sin unto death; for that I say, not that any man ask." (i, 16.) Tears, sighs and scourges, heaven and earth's commingled prayers are vain to aid when a soul shall have gone before the Judgment without his credentials from the Church, the seal of a Redeemer's tender love engraven upon a heart made like the soft wax by the flames of holy repentance. It makes »ne shudder to think that a soul on the threshold of eternal life could scorn the Redeemer's love and disbelieve His promises.
The Apostle James' words remind us, however, that it does happen, and St. Paul is not wasting words when he says, "Take heed, brethren, lest perhaps there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, to depart from the living God, but exhort one another whilst it is called to-day, that none of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin, for we are made partakers of Christ, yet so if we hold the beginning of His substance firm unto the end." (Heb. iii, 12, 14.) Lifelong virtue counts for nothing if one should die impenitent; lifelong impenitence on the other hand does not count against one who is finally converted to God—so far as being saved is concerned. It is in all likelihood that a devout man, whose footsteps have been ever guided by the Holy Ghost will respond to the old familiar voice; though a slip occur ere the cup of penance and sweetness touches the lips. It is, of course, unfortunately, more likely that the man, whose heart all through the years passionately loved some creature, will not respond, so promptly, to the repentant call. The surest and shortest path, therefore, to final perseverance, is to live always in the grace of God, obedient to the Spirit's voice. St. Augustine says, —"When Christ said, 'He that shall have sinned against the Holy Ghost or spoken a word against the Holy Ghost,' He did not mean every sinful word and deed against the Holy Ghost, but a certain peculiar one. This sin consists in hardness of heart lasting up to the end of this life whereby a man declines to accept, in the unity of the body of Christ, which the Holy Ghost vivifies, the remission of his sins. For, when the Lord said to His Disciples, (John xx, 22, 23,) 'Receive ye the Holy Ghost,' He immediately subjoined, 'whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them, whose sins you shall retain, they are retained.'
Whosoever, therefore, shall have resisted the gift of God's grace and repelled the same or shall have been in any way a stranger to it to the end of this temporal life, he shall not be forgiven, neither in this life nor in the life to come. This is the great sin, the epitome, namely, of all sins which it is not sure that one has committed until one shall have withdrawn from the body. So long, however, as one lives, as the apostle assures us (Rom. ii, 4,) the patience of God is for leading to repentance. But if one, as the apostle adds, by the most perverse wickedness, by a heart hardened and unrepentant, treasures up to himself wrath in the day of anger and revelation of the just judgment of God, it will not be forgiven him, neither in the present life nor in the life to come. Let us not despair in our conduct towards them whilst they yet tarry in the flesh, but let them not seek the Holy Ghost, except in the body of Christ." (Ep. 50, ad. Bonnifacium Comitem.) It is clear from these words of St. Augustine that resistance to the repentant grace is an offense against the Holy Ghost and that the power to forgive sins on the part of God's minister is the communication of the same Holy Spirit. If at the last moment the sight of our past wickedness dejects us, let us implore the Holy Ghost to illumine and invigorate us, for, it counts for much, if in spite of our miserable life, we still have and confess our "Faith in the Holy Ghost," and the infinite mercy of Our Blessed Redeemer.
