As a priest I would add two things. First, we can never do sufficient penance for our sins. Therefore the penance given in confession should be understood as the minimum, if you will, or the starting point. We are commanded by Our Lord to constantly do penance for our sins by prayer, fasting, and works of mercy. No day should ever pass without acts of penance. The second thing I would add is that it’s important to understand and be intentional about penance. Rushing through three Our Fathers and three Hail Marys while thinking about what you’re going to pick up at the store for dinner on the way home doesn’t cut it. Neither does throwing a few bucks into the poor box on your way out of church or sending off a check if your penance is to give alms. Penance is labor. It might be small, but is not mindless. It should hurt, even if only a pin prick, and unite us with the suffering of Christ. Otherwise it avails little or nothing.
I think I'm glad for the Sacrament of penance because it meets the need to restore love and be reconciled to Christ. I don't know if the Church meant for that to be the primary reason for penance, but on a basic natural level, it brings some sort of closure to my sins. It seems not dissimilar to a human relationship that you have violated and want to make up for in some way.
As a priest I would add two things. First, we can never do sufficient penance for our sins. Therefore the penance given in confession should be understood as the minimum, if you will, or the starting point. We are commanded by Our Lord to constantly do penance for our sins by prayer, fasting, and works of mercy. No day should ever pass without acts of penance. The second thing I would add is that it’s important to understand and be intentional about penance. Rushing through three Our Fathers and three Hail Marys while thinking about what you’re going to pick up at the store for dinner on the way home doesn’t cut it. Neither does throwing a few bucks into the poor box on your way out of church or sending off a check if your penance is to give alms. Penance is labor. It might be small, but is not mindless. It should hurt, even if only a pin prick, and unite us with the suffering of Christ. Otherwise it avails little or nothing.
I think I'm glad for the Sacrament of penance because it meets the need to restore love and be reconciled to Christ. I don't know if the Church meant for that to be the primary reason for penance, but on a basic natural level, it brings some sort of closure to my sins. It seems not dissimilar to a human relationship that you have violated and want to make up for in some way.