Original draft posted on
christianchat by saintmichaeldefendthem (me).
During the Sacrament of Reconciliation, we confess our sins, recounting first our capital sins and then our lessers. The priest, in the name of Jesus and by the authority of Christ's Church pronounces absolution in accordance with Christ's words,
John 20:23
If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
Then the priest assigns penance. This usually takes the form of certain prayers, charity, or acts of kindness to another. Protestants often are confused over this thinking that the penitant is being asked to pay for sins that Jesus already paid for on the cross. But what is the real reason for penance?
Quote:
Luke 19:
8 Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold.”
9 And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham; 10 for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
Was Zacchaeus trying to pay for the salvation so freely given by Jesus? Not at all and that's not the reason for penance. When we sin, we get into a rut. We've turned our back on God and gone down a different path. It's not without effort that our course is changed and we are free of the rut. Forgiveness is given liberally to all who ask.
1 John 1:9
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
So we are clean before God, but our inclination to sin remains until, by an act of righteousness, we set our feet firmly back on the path of righteousness so that we do not easily fall into the same pattern of sin again. An act of penance is a pledge of good faith, a commitment to change our ways, and a sign that we are the sons of righteousness even when we occasionally sin. You don't even have to be Catholic to perform an act of penance and I recommend that all baptized Christians do so for the reasons stated.
There's no better way to realign ourselves to the holiness we're called to.
