Point of penance?

[thechrismyster]

ok, the priest can loosen or bind sin by Jesus’ direction. So at the moment of absolution he says “your sins are forgiven”.
isn’t that the ultimate forgiveness?
so why do i have to say “3 hail Mary’s, 3 Our Fathers”… is that penance a condition of forgiveness? if i leave without saying the prayers the priest tells me to, am i still forgiven?
SO am i forgiven by his words of absolution OR am i forgiven only after saying my penance?

this has always made me wonder!

 

[baltobetsy]

Well, since nobody else has answered, I’ll take a shot at it. I don’t have my CCC at hand or time to search online, so I’m relying on my memory.

Take the classic story of the kid who hits the baseball through the neighbor’s window. He apologizes to the neighbor, and the neighbor forgives him, but the window is still broken and in need of repair. Since the kid is responsible for the damage, he is expected to pay for the repair.

Two things have been broken here. First, the relationship with the neighbor, which is repaired by the apology and forgiveness, which represents the sin being forgiven by God and the eternal punishment due to sin being remitted. The other broken thing is the window, which represents the temporal punishment due to sin. By sinning, we have created disorder in the universe, which must be fixed, or atoned for. Just as the kid will do chores or give up his allowance to pay for the broken window, we say our penance to fix the temporal disorder our sins have caused.

I have nothing official to back this up, but what I think is that the absolution forgives the sin no matter what, but we have a serious obligation to do the assigned penance. To neglect or refuse to do the penance would be a new sin. To forget to do the penance, because it is involuntary, would not be a sin, but without doing it, the temporal punishment it was meant to remit, would remain. Purgatory awaits. Another important point is that it’s always easier to pay our debts before we die than after. Doing our penance is the most effective and efficient way to clean up the mess our sins have made.

Betsy

 

[Christy_Beth]

Penance also reminds us of the seriousness of our sins. A reminder that sin leads to punishment. Now, when Jesus died on the cross, He took the punishment for our sins. He became sin so that we may be forgiven. Yet we do penance. Forgive me for my lousy memory, but St. Paul said that we must suffer also, to fulfill the suffering that Jesus didn’t do. Well, not in those exact words. I can’t remember the exact words right off the top of my head.

By doing penance, we are saying that we understand the seriousness of our sins. Those sins put Jesus on the cross. They are a form of apology.

 

[Tantum_ergo]

Excellent responses.
Yes, the point of penance is to remove the TEMPORAL effect of a given sin.

From the Catechism, this might help to explain a bit further:

<<<< 1459 Many sins wrong our neighbor. One must do what is possible in order to repair the harm (e.g., return stolen goods, restore the reputation of someone slandered, pay compensation for injuries). Simple justice requires as much. But sin also injures and weakens the sinner himself, as well as his relationships with God and neighbor. Absolution takes away sin, but it does not remedy all the disorders sin has caused.[62] 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.”

1460 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.”[63]
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.[64] >>>>

 

[Joe_Kelley]

Consider if you break a leg. The doctor sets the leg and it heals, but it has a weakness. You require physical therapy to restore the full health of the leg.

In the same way you require spiritual therapy to restore a full relationship with God after you break it off by sin.