"Jesus calls every person to turn away from sin and to turn towards him - that is, to convert. This conversion requires not only change in one's actions but also a conversion of heart, a radical change of being. In the conversion of heart, one changes from being "dead to sin" to "alive... in Christ Jesus" (Rom 6:11), from a child of wrath (see Eph 2:3) to a child of God (see Gal 4:5-7).
We cannot change (convert) our own hearts, and so conversion is first a work of God, the one who "will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live" (Dt 30:6). God "circumcises our hearts" in Baptism, when we are cleansed from sin and made children of God, "fellow heirs with Christ" (Rom 8:17) , and "partakers of the divine nature" (2 Pt 1:4). God gives to each person the grace for conversion, to choose either to accept or reject. By a response of faith, the person accepts this gift of conversion, and by doing penance, cooperates with this grace.
Penance is any act which assists the Christian to turn away from sin and toward Jesus. Whenever we sincerely do penance, we cooperate with the grace of conversion. We will rejoice in our sufferings for the sake of Christ and experience a willingness to complete in our own bodies "what is lacking in Christ's afflictions" (Col 1:24; see also Phil 3:8). Our penance thus expresses an interior conversion.
Scripture suggests three forms of penance: fasting, prayer, and almsgiving (see TB 12:8, Mt 6:1-18). Fasting cooperates with the grace of conversion in one's individual life, prayer cooperates with the grace of conversion in one's life with God, and almsgiving cooperates with the grace of conversion on one's life with others. Traditional fasting means abstaining from food for a given period of time to draw closer to God. Some people fast on bread and water alone as a way of teaching that Christ alone is the soul's only real nourishment. Almsgiving means giving money (or food, clothing, etc.) to the poor. The Church teaches that we must recognize Christ in the poorest of the poor. These are his brothers and sisters; as members of his Body, we must care for them. Furthermore, the practice of penance in one form affects the other two. For example, if we pray with true repentance, we will desire to change our way of life and will change the way we treat others.
Because of ever-present human weakness and sin, continual conversion is necessary. Someone who truly desires to cooperate with God's grace need only utter a prayer like, "how can I love you more, Lord Jesus?" and many ideas will surely come to mind. Scripture teaches that crying tears of repentance (see Lk 7:37-48), "love for one another" (1 Pt 4:8), and "bring[ing] back a sinner from the error of his way" (Jas 5:20) each "covers a multitude of sins" (1 Pt 4:8; see also Jas 5:, and 20). Other ways to accomplish conversion are receiving the Eucharist, reading Scripture, praying the Rosary or any other devotion, worshipping Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, praying the Liturgy of the Hours, examining one's conscience, caring for the poor, giving money and time to those in need, seeking and following spiritual direction, visiting the lonely, practicing self-denial, and patient acceptance of suffering and persecution." ( taken from a handout printed by The Association for Catechumenal Ministry; ACM)
Sin in our world is massive and consuming, and without realizing it we can become so indifferent to the reality of sin that we become dismissive of God's will and assume authority of our own lives. The more indifferent and dismissive we become as a society, the harder it becomes for people to acknowledge their own sin and need for salvation. Mankind has become so egotistical that we have willfully ignored God's intentions for our lives here on earth and instead try to assert our own desires. Trey has asserted to me many times that most churches today have become nothing more to people than places where they can practice a faith of convenience. The idea behind his description is really quite disturbing for me... and after a while I realized that he has a point. There seems to lack a cohesiveness of beliefs among Christians today, and it seems like every one wants to assume their own authority in their faith and religion. And the only truth for me is that the only real authority is God himself and Christ our Lord, and the Church that Christ set up for us on this earth. People want to fit Christ around their schedules and want him to adapt to their lives when the truth is we NEED to center our lives on Christ. It may not always be convenient but it is always what God desires for us. It is only through Christ and trying to live by his example that we will ever find true spiritual nourishment. And without the true spiritual nourishment that God enabled us to have through his sacrifice of Christ, and the sacrifice that Christ gave to us of himself on the cross, the lives we lead will be nothing but an empty passage through time.
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