- Where is penance in the NT?
- I can’t remember specific events at the moment, but I do know that sacrificing animals was a form of it.
- However, we don’t do that anymore because of Christ’s sacrifice.
- However, shouldn’t that apply to penance as well? Does the idea of penance render Christ’s sacrifice insufficient?
Hi There, here’s what comes to mind:
Answer 1 Found more references than I cared to count in my Douay. Scroll down a bit, and you’ll see the NT references:
biblegateway.com/quicksearch/?qs_version=DRA&quicksearch=penance&startnumber=1&limit=500
A1b 1 Cor 9:24-27: “Know you not that they that run in the race, all run indeed, but one receiveth the prize? So run that you may obtain. And every one that striveth for the mastery, refraineth himself from all things: and they indeed that they may receive a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible one. I therefore so run, not as at an uncertainty: I so fight, not as one beating the air: But I chastise my body, and bring it into subjection: lest perhaps, when I have preached to others, I myself should become a castaway.”
A1c Matthew 3:6-8: “And were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins. And seeing many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them: Ye brood of vipers, who hath shewed you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruit worthy of penance.” (No doubt there are more, but these two popped to mind.)
Answer 2 Let’s talk about “sacrifice,” i.e. depriving/ridding ourselves of something of value, or something we desire? “Penance” means a couple of things: “external acts such as fasting, prayer, and almsgiving, as well as internal changes: a conversion of the heart toward God and away from sin, which implies the intention to change one’s life because of hope in divine mercy” (CCC p 892).
Also, when thinking of “sacrifice,” consider these verbs too: immolate, offer, consecrate, dedicate, devote; give, hand over, surrender, & yield.
In the Old Testament, Jews would sacrifice something of value to God – animals, as you mentioned.
Now, we still offer up things of value, or things we prize, things we might think are “ours” in various ways. Along with that, there is “ascesis: the practice of penance, mortification, and self-denial to promote greater self-mastery and to foster the way of perfection by embracing the way of the cross” (CCC p. 867).
Answer 3 Because of Christ, yes you are right. “The Paschal mystery of Christ’s cross and Resurrection stands at the centre of the Good News that the apostles, and the Church following them, are to proclaim to the world. God’s saving plan was accomplished ‘once for all’ by the redemptive death of his Son Jesus Christ” (CCC 571).
Answer 4 Nope. Check this out: “Then Jesus said to his disciples: If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For he that will save his life, shall lose it: and he that shall lose his life for my sake, shall find it. For what doth it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and suffer the loss of his own soul? Or what exchange shall a man give for his soul” (Matthew 16:24-26)?
And from one of our Church Fathers, Ignatius Bishop of Antioch: “For as many as are of God and of Jesus Christ are also with the bishop. And as many as shall, in the exercise of penance, return into the unity of the Church, these, too, shall belong to God, that they may live according to Jesus Christ” (Letter to the Philadelphians 3 [A.D. 110]).
Lastly, how about this: "Raised up from sin, the sinner must still recover his full spiritual health by doing something more to make amends for the sin: he must “make satisfaction for” or “expiate” his sins. This satisfaction is also called “penance.” 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, and above all the patient acceptance of the cross we must bear. Such penances help configure us to Christ, who alone expiated our sins once for all. They allow us to become co-heirs with the risen Christ, “provided we suffer with him.”
The satisfaction that we make for our sins, however, is not so much ours as though it were not done through Jesus Christ. We who can do nothing ourselves, as if just by ourselves, can do all things with the cooperation of “him who strengthens” us. Thus man has nothing of which to boast, but all our boasting is in Christ . . . in whom we make satisfaction by bringing forth “fruits that befit repentance.” These fruits have their efficacy from him, by him they are offered to the Father, and through him they are accepted by the Father" (CCC 1459-60).
I left off penance (self-denial) as a means for the acquisition of virtues. Our Catechism has just wonderful things on that.
Hope that helps.
