The Sacrament of Penance

I hope you don’t mind, Patrick if I mix blogs, but I read your remarks on penance and had more to say than was reasonable in a comment slot. I also just wanted to make sure it didn’t get lost because it was a post from some time ago. I was also deeply moved again by your post about Lauren. I wish I could be there to encourage and pray with you. Lord, so much I don’t understand. But I was grateful to see that we have the elite French forces to fall back on if all else fails.

I am thankful Patrick that you touch on subjects that get most people in trouble. I wanted to comment on your post about PENANCE. This is not a controversial topic among Protestants simply because it is not a topic at all, but it should be. I agree with your need for more in the repentance process, and with your concern to guard against saying that somehow we need to share with Jesus in the payment of our sins. As people who are trying to follow Biblical teaching, we believe that Christ died for our sins, and that we must confess our sins to God and repent. You are introducing the idea of confessing to another person, which I think is good (cf. James 5:16). I have also always wondered if there is something more to John 20:23, where Jesus apparently gives the disciples power to communicate God’s forgiveness to confessing sinners. But that is another topic.

I would like to advocate an additional step, and that is something that looks like the traditional form of penance as extra activities after confession, good works in some form. And why? Because sin harms and damages us, body and soul. Let me explain.

In the Old Testament, when a person stole something (Leviticus 6:2-7), the person was required to do at least three things: 1) make a sacrifice to God for forgiveness, 2) restore what was taken, 3) and (and this is the interesting part to me here) add one-fifth to what was being restored in step two. What is this third step? Is it payment for sin? No, that was dealt with in step one. You don’t pay for sin twice. God required something more than simple restitution. But why?

Isaiah 1:4-6 describes sinful Israel in terms of sickness. The truth is sin harms us. When we sin, we damage our soul. We do not only need forgiveness, we need healing. Let me quote from the Catholic Cathecism which I feel like at least on this point has some good things to say (hopefully I haven’t lost everybody at this point):

“Many sins wrong our neighbor. One must do what is possible in order to repair the harm (e.g., return stolen goods, . . .). Simple justice requires as much. But sin also injures and weakens the sinner himself, . . . Absolution takes away sin, but it does not remedy all the disorders sin has caused. Raised up from sin, the sinner must still recover his full spiritual health by doing something more to make amends for his sin.

“The penance the confessor imposes must take into account the penitent’s personal situation and must seek his spiritual good. It must correspond as far as possible with the gravity and nature of the sins committed. It can consist of prayer, an offering, works of mercy, service of neighbor, voluntary self-denial, sacrifices, . . .” (Taken from the Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 1459-1460).

When I sin through hate, it makes an impression on my heart, soul and mind such that it is easier for me to hate more the next time the occasion arises. If I look at pornography, I can quickly develop that practice into a habit, and it gets stronger each time I sin. I need to counteract that habitual tendency of hate, lust, greed, whatver, with new actions, new habits.

Now, how do these “extra activities” at the time of repentance relate to normal activities in a healthy, Christian life? We can go with the analogy of a physical illness or injury. If I spend too much time out in the cold without a coat, etc., I may get a bacterial respiratory infection. I may need some special treatment to get rid of the infection like antibiotics, staying home, etc. But when I return to normal life, I will try to be more careful to live in a careful healthy way. Penance is like the antibiotic, after which a spiritually healthy way of life can keep us stable.

Alcoholics and drug addicts sometimes go into a 30 day or so rehab to break the initial hold that those chemicals have on the person, and then they have a follow-up program after that. That program could be understood as a kind of penance, extraordinary measures taken to help restore order to body and soul.

So, sin creates guilt before God and disorder in the soul. Forgiveness through the cross of Christ removes guilt, but penance in the form of an extra, additional, and temporary program activities can help bring some healing for the disorder that sin creates.

I look forward to your comments.