Your Penance: Rejoice
Catholic, General November 13th, 2005
For starters, I think I’ve found my new parish. I’ve been attending several places, but I think this church is wonderful. They have classes on answering fundamentalists, practice perpetual adoration, teach Theology of the Body to their youth group, and prayed for an end to the evils of abortion during mass. Also, there’s a Speedway on the route and they have pumpkin spice creamer! Ok, that doesn’t matter in choosing a parish, but it’s a nice perk.
I went to confession at this parish and the priest gave me an unusual penance: to rejoice. He asked me if I’d ever been resentful and of course I said "yes." He explained how to resent means to "feel again" and how easy it is to dwell on the negatives and soon they fester out of control. Instead he asked me to dwell on joyful experiences. He reminded me that joy is a gentleman and won’t intrude in my heart unless I put it there. A joyful heart rarely falls into sin that results from despair. At first I thought it was an odd penance, but the more I dwelt on it, the more convinced I became that for me this was the perfect penance. In my life sometimes being joyful is more difficult than saying 1,000 Hail Marys.
When thinking about joyful moments in my life, I used the joyful mysteries of the rosary as a model. I prayed and tried to remember moments where I had heard good and happy news (the Annunciation), spent time with loved ones (the Visitation), celebrated life in general (the Nativity), lived out my Catholic Faith (the Presentation), and when things looked bad, God turned them to good (the Finding in the Temple). It really helped me think of joyful moments in my life.
Praise God for his Church and her ministers of salvation.
I will praise you, LORD, with all my heart; I will declare all your wondrous deeds.
I will delight and rejoice in you; I will sing hymns to your name, Most High. (Psalm 9:2-3, NAB)
Photo by Jonathan Bennett; taken at Our Lady of Lourdes shrine, Euclid, OH
November 19th, 2005 at 7:22 pm
That is a different penance! Last time I went my penance was to do 2 acts of kindness. Admittedly my first taught was come again? Then after a week I’m still trying to fill it.
Lol
Of course I think he meant outside my comfort zone, which is hard. Either way it is a penance that sticks with you as supposed to the typical 10 Hail Mary’s. (you say them, your done, and on your way.)
November 29th, 2005 at 6:02 pm
What church are you refering to? You seem to live in Seattle, as do I, so I am always interested in hearing about good parishes. Currently my finance and I attend St. Joseph’s on Capital Hill and love it to death.
November 29th, 2005 at 8:30 pm
Laura,
Actually I reside in a semi-rural part of the Diocese of Cleveland. It must be similar to Seattle! That’s great you and your fiance have a great parish. It’s a blessing.