Penance is the traditional word for reconciliation or confession.  The conferring of our sins, however, is only one part of a broader understudy of penance.  Penance embraces a multitude of expressions and subsequent results.  During Lent, we highlight penance as one of the ways by which our spiritual life can be enhance, developed and deepened.

From the beginning, penance was the way we “made up” for our offenses against God.  The way this was achieved was by way of sacrifice, to atone for the sin we committed.  Or, one performed some sort of physical discipline to atone for said sin or offense against God.  The basic structure of atonement (making oneself whole or one with God again, as sin fractures our adhesion to God) remains to this day.

To make right a serious sin or offense against God, we need to go to sacramental Confession to right the offense and make our souls one with God.  Remembering that God wishes everyone to be saved and no one to be lost, Christ gave us this sacrament of Penance as the normal way to confess our sin and live, again, in a state of Grace that allows us to live as God desires—with Him through all eternity.

Over the centuries, additional ways to atone, that build on sacramental confession but, do not replace it, have presented themselves to us as ways to seek forgiveness for lesser lapses in our passions and desires.  These include, but are not exhaustive:

1) Fasting—from physical abuses of food or of the flesh

2) Acts of charity—which help us to develop a sense of selflessness to overcome our selfishness.

3) Increasing our devotional life of saying the Rosary daily, the Divine Mercy Chaplet, or a devotion to a particular saint who can help with a particular habit or reoccurring sin.

4) Deepening our spiritual life by regular, weekly Mass attendance, participation in Bible studies or our faith enhancing programs, or spending time in adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.

Penance is not an onerous task to dislike.  It is a spiritual remedy that pleases God and makes us more pleasing to Him.  Make this part of a good Lent!