Proof that we must do penance

[joclucsylv]

I was asked today why we as Catholics must do penance in order to be forgiven for our sins. How do I explain this to bring light to this person who was in a faith that never believed in penance. Thank you in advance!

 

[Todd_Easton]

The consequences of sin which prevent us from eventually going to heaven are the eternal consequences which are gratuitously forgiven in Confession when the priest absolves you. Doing penance in this life helps to break sin’s hold on us and helps to ameliorate the injury our sins have done to others but it is not absolutely necessary since, in the afterlife, Purgatory ameliorates any remaining (temporal) consequences due to sin.

 

[kepha1]

We don’t do penance to be forgiven of our sins, we do penance to cover the consequences of sins. If I throw a rock through your window, I can repent, confess, and be forgiven, but the window is still broken. Jesus doesn’t pay for the window, that’s my responsibility. Penance has NOTHING to do with forgiveness, but satisfying God’s justice for the (metaphorical)broken windows we have no way of paying for. Our loving Father accepts our prayers as penance. The priest has the authority to assign penance and when we sincerely do our penance after confession most of us experience much relief.

 

[smichhertz]

Hi joclucsylv!

The problem with penance isn’t really the idea but just the word. When you say “penance” to the average person, immediately images of monks whipping themselves come to mind. But in reality, penance can be any small sacrifice you make for God. Something as simple as drinking water instead of a soda.

In reality, we do penance all the time in terms of our relationships with others. Anytime we do something nice for someone, or help out a friend in need in any small way, we are doing penance for that particular individual. So if we sacrifice for our friends, why not do so for God too?

Hopefully that helps!

 

[WesleyF]

CCC 1459-1460 (Emphasis mine)

“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. 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 (1 John 2:1-2). They allow us to become co-heirs with the risen Christ, “provided we suffer with him” (Romans 8:17).
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 (Phil 4:13). Thus man has nothing of which to boast, but all our boasting is in Christ (1 Cor 1:31, 2 Cor 10:17, Gal 6:14). . . in whom we make satisfaction by bringing forth "**fruits that befit repentance**" (Luke 3:8). These fruits have their efficacy from him, by him they are offered to the Father, and through him they are accepted by the Father."

 

[Brywan]

I was listening to an evangelical radio station yesterday, and the speaker was saying that even though God has forgiven us of our sins, our sins still have consequences which we have to work to clean up. He gave the examples of a drug addict whose health has been ruined by drugs and has to be repaired, even though he is forgiven—or a married person caught in adultery who still has to work at repairing the marriage even though the sin of adultery is forgiven.

So if the Lamb of God takes away our sins–(which Catholics and protestants both believe) then why are we still facing the temporary consequences of those sins that have been forgiven?

Sometimes I think that Catholics and evangelicals aren’t that far apart in our understanding of these things, but it’s the language that gets in the way–

 

[WesleyF]

I was listening to an evangelical radio station yesterday, and the speaker was saying that even though God has forgiven us of our sins, our sins still have consequences which we have to work to clean up.

That’s absolutely right.

 

[JonNC]

When Jesus told the woman He had saved from stoning, “Go and sin no more”, was that a call for penance? In other words, is a change of heart, a desire to live a more Godly life the kind of penance God wants to see in us?

Jon

 

[WesleyF]

When Jesus told the woman He had saved from stoning, “Go and sin no more”, was that a call for penance? In other words, is a change of heart, a desire to live a more Godly life the kind of penance God wants to see in us?

Jon

I remember an apologist or a priest once said that it was a penance, although I don’t remember who.

 

[Brywan]

When Jesus told the woman He had saved from stoning, “Go and sin no more”, was that a call for penance? In other words, is a change of heart, a desire to live a more Godly life the kind of penance God wants to see in us?

Jon

John the Baptist told the Pharisees: “Produce good fruit as evidence of your repentance.” (Matthew 3:8) This is penance. So yes–choosing to live " a more Godly life" in tangible ways is penance. In the Catholic sacrament of reconciliation, I am given a penance by the priest as a tangible way for me to now CHOOSE godliness rather than sin. Depending on the form of the penance, it also can help deal with some of the messy temporal consequences of sin. It doesn’t buy more forgiveness, but is a grateful response from the changed heart you are talking about…

“Let us not love in word or speech but in deed and truth” (I John 3:18)
“Faith without works is dead” (James 2:26)

 

[Todd_Easton]

The consequences of sin which prevent us from eventually going to heaven are the eternal consequences which are gratuitously forgiven in Confession when the priest absolves you. Doing penance in this life helps to break sin’s hold on us and helps to ameliorate the injury our sins have done to others but it is not absolutely necessary since, in the afterlife, Purgatory ameliorates any remaining (temporal) consequences due to sin.

My earlier response dealt only with post-baptismal sins… In Baptism, all the consequences of our past sins are forgiven gratuitously and so no penance in this life or time in Purgatory in the afterlife is necessary for those past sins. However, doing penance for pre-baptismal sins is still a good thing, remember Zacchaeus’ praiseworthy response to his encounter with Jesus Christ, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have defrauded any one of anything, I restore it fourfold.” (Luke 19:8)
.