Lent

Dear Friends in Christ,

How is your motivation now that we are 2 ½ weeks into Lent? Have you been faithful to your resolutions so far? Have you slacked off and given up? Don’t lose hope; probably a lot of other people feel the same way. Lenten practices can be renewed and revised. As for motivation, let’s examine why penance is important in our spiritual life.

First of all we have the example of Jesus Himself whose entire life and especially His death was penitential. He was born in a cave. He lived with Mary and Joseph in poverty for most of His life. During His public ministry He declared, “Foxes have dens and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head”(Matt. 8:20). Finally, He died tripped of everything and was even buried in someone else’s tomb. He suffered hunger and thirst and exposure to the elements. And yet Jesus was innocent, free from all sin. He was in no way obliged to do penance to make up for His own sins. As the prophet says, “By his stripes we were healed” (Isaiah 53:5). He suffered; we benefit from those sufferings.

Now let us look at our own situation. We were baptized, which removes all sin and the punishment due to sin (Catechism #1263). However, we are responsible for the sins committed after Baptism. That is why the Church provides for us the Sacrament of Reconciliation or Confession, so that by confessing our sins we may have them forgiven. Now Confession is not like Baptism, which also removes the punishment due to sin. We confess our sins and receive absolution; after confession we receive a “penance” from the priest. The penance usually consists of prayers and other good works that we complete after leaving the confessional. This is an essential part of the Sacrament of Reconciliation because we not only need forgiveness of our sins, we also need to make reparation for the sins we committed.

Here is an example: A man steals a car, but then is sorry and asks the owner to forgive him. Let’s suppose the owner forgives him. That’s not the end of the thief’s obligations. He has to return the stolen car. Most of our sins don’t have to do with material injustices like stealing, but we still have the obligation to make reparation, either in this life or the next (purgatory) for our sins of anger, pride, lust, intemperance, lying, and any others which offend God and neighbor.

The penances we receive in confession are usually much lighter than what we deserve. In other words, we can’t expect that we will make up for the sins we commit just by saying a few prayers. The season of Lent is our opportunity to make reparation for our sins and even the sins of others, including the deceased. This is possible because of the grace won for us by Christ Who permits the merits of His Passion and Death to be shared through the Church.

Let us look on the cross of Christ to see the price He paid for our sins. United with Him and strengthened by His grace let us continue our Lenten penances, especially our charity. We shall then have greater joy in celebrating the Lord’s Resurrection.

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Fr. Hildebrand