Bringing Joy to the Angels…a reflection on Penance
How can penance give joy to the angels in heaven? Our Lord Jesus Christ said it and He meant it. So our task as the lost sheep is to let the Good Shepherd find us and carry us back to the fold so that the eternal family of God will be one hundred per cent complete. Only perfection brings with it the joy that can carry the union with the Lord. Not only are we the lost sheep but while in this world we can be the lost silver piece that the woman, the Catholic Church, ought to seek out because of the value of a single soul. Now both the Good Shepherd and the Mystical Body have the same goal to bring the lost sheep and the lost silver coin back to the goal of all life: union with the Blessed Trinity. So we ought to reflect upon the meaning of penance.
In penance we note that it applies to us on three levels: the physical, the intellectual and the spiritual. Let us divide and then unite these three levels. In the first we can all recall the penances that the holy Church asks of her children when we deny our bodies what they crave (e.g. sweets, various beverages, entertainment, sports etc.) In fact we recall the tradition of the Church to call us to ember days every quarter to thank God for the gifts of that quarter of the year. Lent is another expression of the need to carry on penance. Remember abstaining from meat on each Friday in union with the sufferings of Christ on the Cross. It is clear that physical penance is and will always be an integral part of our spiritual lives.
From the physical aspect we turn to the intellectual which is necessary to guide our physical expression of reparation for sin. The intellect studies the character which we possess and judging whether we are choleric, phlegmatic, sanguine or melancholic. We must adjust our penance to the character which dominates in our day to day lives. Hence the intellectual penances come in the form of examination of our lives in reference to the suffering of Christ, the good Shepherd, seeking us out. In our examination we discover our predominant passion that must be curbed. The act of controlling our passion is an act of penance for the good of our soul and for the souls we apply our merit to.
Our intellect develops through the penance of serious spiritual reading, good confessions, listening to spiritual conferences that develop our faith life. The ability of the intellect to recognize the truth about ourselves and others leads us to many expressions of penance that we might have overlooked before.
Once I was asked to visit an institution that had classes for kids of all ages. I went from class to class speaking and observing the attitudes of the students. I came to a class of second graders and as I spoke to them I walked around the class and began picking up papers on the floor. I worked my way to the trash can and dropped them in and then asked: “What did I do?” The kids in unison cried out: “You were cleaning our classroom. “I responded “No, I was saving souls as the Little Flower taught us that picking up a littlelost paper was like saving a soul.” From that point I taught them to look beyond the physical to the spiritual and they could save a million souls in their lifetime.
After being there a week a mother came up to me and asked about that class and told me: “My son has not stopped making sacrifices since he learned that from you.” The intellect wants the truth and the will seeks to put it into our spiritual lives. Now we must turn to the penance of the spirit. Simply stated our spiritual life is the determination of our heart and soul to interpret all that takes place in our lives from the Cross of Christ. It is the Cross which gives power to the soul to seek out salvation for the dying and those known to be sinners.
In their cases we are the good Shepherds and we are the expression of the Church seeking the silver of a soul confused by this demon infested world. Once we have passed through the penance of the body and into the penance of the intellect then we can unite the two in the desire to sanctify our souls and save the souls of our wavering neighbor. What greater love can there be than to lay down one’s life for the soul of my neighbor. This sacrifice is a true penance and it can be found from the simplest act of picking up a piece of paper to the greatest of all penances…to lay down one’s life for the soul of a sinner.
Penance is called for by our Lady of Fatima who showed the children the reality of hell where many poor souls go because they have no one to pray and make a sacrifice for them. What an opportunity we have today with so many of our brothers and sisters wandering from the path of true faith; so many thinking that Jesus is just one of the many ways to heaven; these souls crave for the help to pay the price for their salvation. Penance calls us to plan our physical denials, our intellectual pursuits and our soul’s development of desire to pay the price to bring the angels of God the joy of another sinner doing Penance.
You and I can bring that joy to the angels and to God by the penance plans that we will construct now so that daily we can save at least one sinner who has no one else to pay the price for his soul. God bless you for paying the price and sanctifying yourself in the process.
In the hearts of Jesus, Mary and Joseph,
Fr. Richard Voigt, S.D.B
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