Penance or Reconciliation

Whenever I hear the word “penance” in reference to the sacrament, I think of the movie The Mission. In the movie, 18^th century Spanish Jesuits try to protect native South Americans from abuses from European colonists.  There is a famous scene where a penitent is forced to carry a heavy bag up a steep cliff as a penance. When I watch that scene, I always think to myself, thank God I live in the 21^st century!

During the middle ages, Irish Church set up a pattern for penance. In some cases, clerical penitents would, “Do penance for a half year with the allowance of bread and water and for a whole year abstain from wine and meats.” (Johnson 275-276). Should the sin be murder, penance could last up to seven years!

Since Vatican II, we have changed the focus of the sacrament to Reconciliation. The name change alone speaks volume to what the sacrament is. Although penance is a part of the sacrament, our focus is now on reconciling our relationship with God after having sinned. Now, even our absolution comes before the penance.

I have never understood how strict penances can help a person reconcile a relationship with God. If we sinned against our friend, would we expect our friend to demand that we torture ourselves until we have atoned for the sin? Would the suffering of the penitent help our relationship? I do not think God is any different. We still need to do a penance to show that we are sorrowful; however, the focus of our apology should be how do we move forward to maintain a strong relationship? Did Jesus expect sinners to fast for six months before he forgave sins in the Gospels?