PENANCE (Penitent · Penitential)
Sacred Scripture
Old Testament
Joel 2:12–13,
Tob 12:8,
Sir 2:17–18; 17:25,
Je 18:11; 25:5,
Eze 18:21; 30; 33:11; 36:26–27,
Is 1:16–17; Job 1:5; La 5:21,
Am 5:24,
2 Mac 12:45
New Testament
Mt 6:1–18,
Jas 5:20,
1 Pe 4:8,
Ac 2:36–38,
Mt 3:2, 4:17,
Lk 9:23, 15:11–24,
Jn 16:8–9
Church Teaching
Catechism CCC 1430–1439, 2043, 1447; 1032; Glossary “Penance”, “Penitent/Penitential”; Index “Penance”
Denzinger DS 1457*; 1668–1670; 1676–1678; 1705; 1713; 856; 1638
Roman Catechism RC 2.5.4
Papal Encyclicals Dom. et Viv. 27–48
Vatican II SC 109–110
Jones, Andrew, et al., editors. Catholic Topical Index. Verbum, 2013.
SACRED SCRIPTURE AND PENANCE
Job 1:22, 32:12
22
In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.
12
I gave you my attention, and, behold, there was none among you who refuted Job or who answered his words.
John 9:1-3
As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.
Psalms 32:4-5, 38:3
4 For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah
5 I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah
3 For your arrows have sunk into me, and your hand has come down on me. There is no soundness in my flesh because of your indignation; there is no health in my bones because of my sin.
Proverbs 28:13
13 Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.
Micah 6:13
13 Therefore I strike you with a grievous blow, making you desolate because of your sins.
Acts 3:19
19 Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out,
1 Corinthians 11:28-32
28 Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. 30 That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. 31 But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. 32 But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.
Ezekiel 18:30–31
30 “Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, declares the Lord GOD. Repent and turn from all your transgressions, lest iniquity be your ruin. 31 Cast away from you all the transgressions that you have committed, and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! Why will you die, O house of Israel? 32 For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord GOD; so turn, and live.”
All Quotes - English Standard Version Catholic Edition. 2019. n.p.: Augustine Institute.
THE WORD INCARNATE, CHRIST'S, REVELATION TO US
SHEOL[1]
The Hebrew name for the place of the dead, where they dwelt in utter silence and gloom (Ps 89:48; Prov 5:5, 7:27). Their existence was without “work or thought or knowledge or wisdom” (Eccl 9:10). It was a place where there was neither worship of God nor memory of him (Ps 6:5, 115:17; Isa 38:18). Nevertheless, God’s power extended over Sheol (Ps 139:7–8; Prov 15:11; Job 26:6; Wis 16:13) even if his presence was not felt there. There was also the genuine hope that God would not abandon his people (Ps 16:10) and that God would bring redemption for the people who were there (Ps 49:16; cf. 1 Sam 2:6).
In the New Testament, “Sheol” was translated by the Greek word Hadēs, which likewise denotes the underworld of the dead (cf. Phil 2:10; Acts 2:27; Rev 1:18; Eph 4:9). Sheol was a state for both the evil and the righteous while they awaited the Redeemer (Gen 44:31; Ps 9:17; Luke 16:22–26; see also Abraham’s bosom). The lot of those in Sheol, however, was not identical, because on Holy Saturday Jesus descended into Hades to deliver the righteous souls of Old Testament times; he did not deliver the damned (cf. Council of Rome [a.d. 745]; Benedict XI, Cum dudum [a.d. 1341]; Clement VI, Super quibusdum [a.d. 1351]; Council of Toledo IV [a.d. 625]). (CCC 632–35.) (See also Death; Gehenna.)
GEHENNA [2]
(Hebrew, “Valley of Hinnom” or “Valley of the son of Hinnom”) The valley of the son of Hinnom, south of Jerusalem, identified with the modern Wadi er-Rababeh. It became synonymous with a place of eternal torment and suffering for the damned. The name itself is taken perhaps from the original owner of the land, and in the Old Testament the valley separated ancient Jerusalem from the surrounding valleys (cf. Josh 15:8, 18:16; Neh 11:30). The valley earned an evil reputation from an early time as the location of an idolatrous cult that performed human sacrifices (2 Kgs 23:10; 2 Chr 28:3, 33:6). Because of this reputation, Jeremiah cursed it (Jer 7:31–32; 19:2–13; 32:35). Notably, Isaiah described it as a place where the rebels against the Lord will be strewn, “for their worm shall not die, their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be an abhorrence to all flesh” (Isa 66:24). In apocalyptic writings the valley subsequently assumed the character of a place of suffering and damnation.
In the New Testament, Gehenna is mentioned twelve times (seven times in Matthew, three times in Mark, once in Luke, and once in James), where it is the equivalent of hell, with unquenchable and perpetual fires; many English translations render the word as “hell” (Matthew 5:22; 18:9; Mark 9:43; Jas 3:6; cf. Matthew 3:10, 12; 18:8; 7:19; Luke 3:9, 17). It is a pit (Matthew 5:29; 18:9; Mark 9:45, 47; Luke 12:5) and a place of unspeakable misery (Matthew 5:25–26; 8:12; 13:42, 50; 22:13; 24:51). (See - Luke 12:45-46)
HADES [3]
(Gk. ᾅδης). The place or state of departed spirits. The word is used in the *Septuagint as a translation for the Hebrew ‘*Sheol’ (e.g., Is. 38:18). In later Judaism the term took on a more definite meaning, of a place of reward for the pious dead, or alternatively, and later, of a place of waiting before judgement. In English usage it first appears c. 1600, as a term used to explain the article in the Creed, ‘He descended into hell’, where the place of waiting (the place of ‘the souls in prison’, 1 Pet. 3:19) into which the Lord is there affirmed to have gone after the Crucifixion needed to be distinguished from that more usually called ‘hell’, i.e. the place or state of those finally damned. See also hell and descent of Christ into hell. (See Luke 12:47-48)
PURGATORY [4]
(Latin, “cleansing” or “purifying”) Defined by theologians as the condition of those who have died in the state of grace but with lingering attachment to sin. In purgatory these souls are purified for a time before being admitted to the glory and happiness of heaven. In this period of passive suffering, they are purged of unrepented venial sins, satisfy the demands of divine justice for temporal punishment due for sins, and are made ready for the beatific vision.
The doctrine of purgatory is found in Scripture but is not fully developed. The two passages most clearly related to it are 2 Macc 12:45 and 1 Cor 3:12–15.
In 2 Maccabees, Judas Maccabeus sends twelve thousand drachmas to Jerusalem to have sacrifices offered for the sins of the dead. This action clearly supposes that forgiveness of faults and the expiation of guilt are still possible for the deceased. And not only that but the actions of Judas Maccabeus indicate that prayers and liturgical rites conducted by the living can benefit the deceased. Thus, Catholic tradition concludes that it is “a holy and pious thought” to make “atonement for the dead, that they might be delivered from their sin” (2 Macc 12:45).
In 1 Corinthians, Paul is discussing the Lord’s scrutiny of our works on the Day of Judgment. Here it is said that each person’s works will be tested with “fire” to see whether they are worthy of a reward (1 Cor 3:13). If not, the person will “suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire” (1 Cor 3:15). It is clear from this text that even persons who are saved, if their deeds in life are shady and imperfect, will pass through a fiery process of suffering on the way to glory.
A third passage, Matthew 12:32, is likewise explained along these lines by Saint Gregory the Great: “As for certain lesser faults, we must believe that, before the Final Judgment, there is a purifying fire. He who is truth says that whoever utters blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will be pardoned neither in this age nor in the age to come. From this sentence we understand that certain offenses can be forgiven in this age, but certain others in the age to come” (Dialogues 4.39; cf. Saint John Chrysostom, Hom. 1 Cor 3.15; Saint Gregory of Nyssa, De iis qui in fide dormiunt) (CCC 1030–32, 1472).
Purgatory is therefore the fulfilment in Christ of Sheol/Hades of old. As the Apostles creed declares “…He Descended into Hell…” there He separated the righteous from the damned (Matthew 3:12, 25:32) and set those righteous into judgement for their sins, testing their works in the purifying fire (Purgatory) as St. Paul describes in 1 Corinthians 3:13 and St. Matthew in 12:32.
Whereas Gehenna is Hell as we know it, with unquenchable and perpetual fires, a pit and a place of unspeakable misery, ‘into the outer darkness where there will be weeping and the gnashing of teeth’ (Matthew 13:42, 13:50, 25:40).
Read Luke 12:35-48 You Must Be Ready
Luke 12:35-48 tells where Christ distinctly describes four states of our righteousness which in turn will decide our purification:
1) Those who fully obey and are ready, theirs is the kingdom of heaven, the Saints (43).
2) Those who know and outright refuse to obey to the extent of openly committing evil acts or mortal sins against God and man with no remorse, theirs is death, cut in pieces, eternal damnation (45-46).
3) Those who know but choose not to do the will of Our Lord but do not go as far as committing evil acts, remain in venial sin, theirs is a severe beating, not death nor eternal damnation (47).
4) And those who do not know the will of Our Lord and sin but do not go as far as committing evil acts, theirs is a light beating, again not death nor eternal damnation (48).
The ‘beatings’ are what St. Paul describes in 1 Cor 3:13-15 as the purification fires. All of our acts and or works are seen as potential treasures in heaven but they must be first tested by fire for their purity, the narrow gate (Matthew 7:13-14). Anyone who wants to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven must be pure and as perfect as our heavenly Father (Matthew 5:48). Those who are not pure must be cleansed or purified or, as Christ explains in plain terms we can understand, ‘beaten’ for their sins and not doing the will of Our Lord.
One way of looking at it is when a person sins against another causing pain, ill feelings, or hatred etcetera, they are in fact creating a situation whereby all the ill feeling, pain, or hatred belongs to the one who gives it, the one who intentionally sins or acts. This anguish does not belong to the recipient, and thus we must repent and ask for forgiveness as well as pay restitution for those sins, visa-vi our treasures in Heaven. It is one thing to be forgiven our sin in Reconciliation, it is another to repair the effects of our sins in our works here on earth as St. James describes in 2:18-26.
Therefore, Christ so commands us to save up those treasures of heaven (Col 3:1-2, Matthew 6:20-21, 13:44-52, 19:21…) for when we are judged these treasures are our ransom, our payment for our sins here on earth that in hope are acceptable to Our Lord (James 2:18-26). And as we are judged in the purifying fire and our treasures come up short we need the intersession and prayers of the living, that they may be acceptable to God, to help us pay our debt for those sins we committed while on earth (2 Maccabees 12:45).
Luke 12:35–48 (ESV-CE)
You Must Be Ready
(Back)
35 “Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, 36 and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks. 37 Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them. 38 If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them awake, blessed are those servants! 39 But know this, that if the master of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have left his house to be broken into. 40 You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”
41 Peter said, “Lord, are you telling this parable for us or for all?” 42 And the Lord said, “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom his master will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time? 43 Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. 44 Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. 45 But if that servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and get drunk, 46 the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know and will cut him in pieces and put him with the unfaithful. 47 And that servant who knew his master’s will but did not get ready or act according to his will, will receive a severe beating. 48 But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating. Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.
[1] Hahn, Scott, ed. 2009. In Catholic Bible Dictionary, 838. New York; London; Toronto; Sydney; Auckland: Doubleday.
CCC Catechism of the Catholic Church
[2] Hahn, Scott, ed. 2009. In Catholic Bible Dictionary, 305–6. New York; London; Toronto; Sydney; Auckland: Doubleday.
[3] Cross, F. L., and Elizabeth A. Livingstone, eds. 2005. In The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, 3rd ed. rev., 730. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press.
[4] Hahn, Scott, ed. 2009. In Catholic Bible Dictionary, 745–46. New York; London; Toronto; Sydney; Auckland: Doubleday.
Hom. 1 Cor Homiliae in epistulam I ad Corinthios (Homily on the First Letter to the Corinthians)
CCC Catechism of the Catholic Church
* This collection of sayings relates to Luke’s understanding of the end time and the return of Jesus. Luke emphasizes for his readers the importance of being faithful to the instructions of Jesus in the period before the Parousia.
q Mt 24:45–51.
r Mt 25:1–13; Mk 13:35–37.
s Mt 24:43–44; 1 Thes 5:2.
* My master is delayed in coming: this statement indicates that early Christian expectations for the imminent return of Jesus had undergone some modification. Luke cautions his readers against counting on such a delay and acting irresponsibly. Cf. the similar warning in Mt 24:48.
t Jas 4:17.
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All Quotes - English Standard Version Catholic Edition. 2019. n.p.: Augustine Institute.