The same Apostle beautifully describes to us in one sentence of his Epistle to the Corinthians the arrangement of Divine Providence in the reconciliation of sinners: “God,” he says, “hath reconciled us to Himself through Christ, _and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation_.... For Christ, therefore, we are ambassadors; God, as it were, exhorting through us.”(438) That is to say, God sends Christ to reconcile sinners; Christ sends us. We are His ambassadors, reconciling sinners in His name. When I think of this tremendous power that we possess I congratulate the members of the Church, for whose benefit it is conferred; I tremble for myself and my fellow-ministers, for terrible is our responsibility, while we have nothing to glory in. Christ is the living Fountain of grace: we are but the channels through which it is conveyed to your souls. Christ is the treasure; we are but the pack-horses that carry it. “We bear this treasure in earthen vessels.” Christ is the shepherd; we are the pipe He uses to call His sheep. Our words sounding in the confessional are but the feeble echo of the voice of the Spirit of God that purified the Apostles in the cenacle of Jerusalem. But have we Gospel authority to show that our Savior did confer on the Apostles and their successors the power to forgive sins? We have the most positive testimony, and our Savior’s words conferring this power are expressed in the plainest language which admits of no misconception. In the Gospel of St. Matthew our Savior thus addresses Peter: “Thou art Peter, and on this rock I will build My Church.... And I will give to thee the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound also in heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed also in heaven.”(439) And to all the Apostles assembled together on another occasion He uses the same forcible language: “Whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound also in heaven, and whatsoever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed also in heaven.”(440) The soul is enchained by sin. I give you power, says our Lord, to release the penitent soul from its galling fetters, and to restore it to the liberty of a child of God. In the Gospel of St. John we have a still more striking declaration of the absolving power given by our Savior to His Apostles. Jesus, after His resurrection, thus addresses His disciples: “Peace be to you. As the Father hath sent Me, I also send you.... Receive ye the Holy Ghost; whose sins ye shall forgive, they are forgiven them, and whose sins ye shall retain, they are retained.”(441)