The Penance Assigned By The Priest

 

An Integral Part. After a person confesses their sins, and before the priest offers absolution, the priest imposes a penance. This is stipulated by Canon Law: “The confessor is to enjoin salutary and suitable penances in keeping with the quality and number of the sins but with attention to the condition of the penitent; the penitent is obliged to perform the penances personally” (Can. 981).

 

Purpose. The penance is supposed to “make satisfaction” for one’s sins, to reconcile or strengthen one’s relationship with God and neighbor, and to help the person grow in holiness.

 

Penances Old and New. The old stand-by penance, the one routinely given for many years was three Our Fathers and three Hail Marys. This penance has the advantage of being simple for the priest to assign and uncomplicated for the penitent to complete. While the priest may still assign a short prayer penance, since the liturgical renewal priests try to pay more attention to the penitent’s individual circumstances and then to tailor a penance that would be most helpful for their unique situation. Many excellent options are available.

 

The Four Major Categories of penance are prayer, fasting, almsgiving, and works of charity. Prayer ranks first. Conversation strengthens a relationship, prayer is conversation with God, and prayer improves a relationship damaged by sin. The penance could be a single Our Father, a scripture passage, a decade of the rosary, a full rosary, a holy hour, spiritual reading, attending a Mass, or the reception of Holy Communion, just to name a few.

 

Fasting is self denial which strengthens spiritual self-discipline. The usual penance is to refrain from eating solid food between meals for one day. Fasting can take other forms such as from candy, soft drinks, alcoholic beverages, television, or computer games, and the duration is variable, usually one day, sometimes more.

 

Almsgiving is a gift of money or some other form of assistance to the poor or needy. Scripture says, “Almsgiving expiates every sin” (Tob 12:9a); “Almsgiving covers a multitude of sins” (Sir 3:29b). The most typical penance is to offer a special, one-time monetary gift to a food shelf or non-profit agency that helps the disadvantaged.

 

Works of Charity is an act of kindness which can be as simple as quality time spent with someone, a gift, a favor, a compliment, or a task completed. Charitable deeds express love, and “love covers a multitude of sins” (1 Pt 4:8). The penance can be chosen from the Corporal Works of Mercy: to feed the hungry, give a drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, shelter the homeless, visit the sick or imprisoned, or to bury the dead; or from the Spiritual Works of Mercy: to counsel the doubtful, instruct the ignorant, admonish the sinner, comfort the afflicted, forgive offenses, bear wrongs patiently, and to pray for the living and the dead.



Recommended Timeline. Penances should be completed as soon as possible after the Confession, preferably within a day or two.

 

Measurable and Completable. The penitent should know exactly how much the penance entails, and should know when the penance is finished. For example, if the person has missed their morning prayers, an appropriate penance would be to assign a five-minute period of prayer the next morning, which would make the penance measurable, reasonable, and finishable. But it would be inappropriate to require the person to say their morning prayers for the next month, next year, or the rest of their life. Penances are not supposed to be open-ended.

Subject to Approval. The penance is not to be imposed by the priest unilaterally. Instead, the confessor is to propose a possible penance, and together they are to come to a mutual agreement. For instance, a penitent might confess, “I don’t pray enough,” so the priest might say, “Would ten minutes of scripture reading be alright for your penance?” The penitent is entitled to say, “No, Father, I’m blind, that penance does not work for me, could you give me something else?” Then the priest is supposed to propose a suitable alternative which is agreeable to the penitent.

 

Restitution, a special mandatory penance. Whenever stealing is involved, restitution is a required part of the penance. Restitution is to pay back to the rightful owner what has been taken or to restore what has been damaged. Restitution is serious business. Absolution is conditional until restitution has occurred; the forgiveness of the sin does not take effect until stolen item is returned or the damaged property repaired. The biblical standard for restitution is widely misunderstood: the pay-back is not one-for-one. If a person steals $10, restitution is not $10. The Mosaic Law stipulates that the offending party must “make full restitution of the thing itself, and in addition, give the owner one-fifth of its value” (Lev 5:24), a twenty percent surcharge. Therefore, full restitution for $10 is $12.

 

Indirect Restitution. Sometimes restitution will get the guilty individual into more trouble. If someone has taken a CD from a store, and if the person returns it, the person might get arrested for shoplifting; or if the person has stolen a valuable tool at work, if it is discovered by the employer, the person could get fired. Restitution is supposed to “make satisfaction,” to make that which was wrong right, not to add further consequences. Therefore, if the CD was worthy $20, or the tool was worth $150, twenty percent should be added, and then the proper amount, either $24 or $180, is to be given to a non-profit charitable third party, an organization like Caring and Sharing Hands, a food shelf, a religious community, or a church.