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one Catholic family 24/7
Penance, mercy and hope
One sunny Saturday, the last time I went to confession, I saw people from all walks of life waiting patiently for their turn in the confessional. There were about 10 of us, including a young couple, a college student, an elderly lady, a young man with some interesting tattoos, a middle-aged businessman and myself — a middle-aged lady in my Saturday grocery-getting clothes. Who knows what fun activities they delayed or interrupted for the privilege of participating in the sacrament of penance? My preferred Saturday activities include a nice morning run, coffee with friends or getting a pedicure.
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Some may ask: What’s the point of penance? Doesn’t each person set his or her own standard of behavior? That is what the current culture and the media tell us. But that is not how we, as Catholics, are supposed to conduct our lives. It is a given of Catholic life that there is a God, and it is not me — or you — or anyone on this earth. In other words, we don’t set the standards for our behavior. Instead, we seek to align our lives with the standards of our Creator, outlined for us in the deposit of the faith. Specifically, we look at the Ten Commandments and the five precepts of the Church. The sacrament of penance is a sacrament of healing and an experience of God’s great mercy. It also provides an increase in spiritual strength for the Christian battle, which is vital during a time when society continues to cast off traditional Christian beliefs and become more secular. Seeing the line-up for confession on a recent Saturday gave me hope that a remnant of society still strives to live as God would have us because we are grateful for His many gifts — the most important of which is the gift of his Son in the Eucharist. Everyone in that line had to examine his conscience and consider whether he had gossiped or coveted, cursed or lied, been impatient or angry, practiced chastity or given into lust. And the list goes on. With true contrition, we all had to list our sins for the priest, who was acting in persona Christi. Finally, we all had to make the act of contrition, receive absolution and do our penance. That sounds like a tall order for a SaturI f you want to see something really countercultural, stop by a Roman Catholic church some Saturday day afternoon. But I am so glad it is part of Catholic life, because being willing to see ourselves in all our human frailty is around 3 p.m. There, you will see people of all ages lined the beginning of wisdom because it is the beginning of humility. up to tell another human being all of their failings. And The sacraments are available to help us grow in holiness and grow closer to they are interrupting a perfectly pleasant day off to do this. God. The rewards of the sacrament of Of course, I am talking about the sacrament of penance. penance are many: reconciliation with God, reconciliation with the Church, remission of the eternal punishment for mortal sins and partial remission of temporal punishment from sin. And don’t forget hope. Participating in the sacrament of penance is an act of hope because we make our confession in the hope of God’s mercy. It also brings hope because every time you go to confession, you will see a line of people who are trying, too. People who are trying to live by God’s light, rather than their own. People who are trying to clean up any harm they have caused and live better lives. People who love God and seek to do His will. We are not alone. We are all sinners striving to be saints in a fallen world.
ONE CATHOLIC FAMILY 24/7
LEIGH ANN ROMAN
is a professional writer, parishioner at Holy Rosary Catholic Church in Memphis and avid reader of all things Catholic. She and her husband have two children.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY KAREN PULFER FOCHT
