SPIRITUAL  THOUGHTS - THIRD  SUNDAY  OF  LENT
 
Can a Christian avoid, leave out, escape or evade the Law of Penance ? Christ Himself uses strong words, terms: “Unless you repent, you will all perish.” Do we not feel the need, the duty to do ‘penance’, and this follows  from the intrinsic necessities of our being … as fallen human beings ?

For, such we are; we bear within us a disease, an atavistic, recurring disease; the consequences of the original sin, which largely remain, even after baptism; we are beings in need of moral supervision, atonement, expiation, that is, ‘penance’.

Let us first fix our attention on the interior aspect of  ‘penance’, which is obligatory and   possible for everyone. In biblical term, this is called ‘metanoia’, now so commonly used. ‘Metanoia’ means conversion, repentance, inner change.  It means a change in outlook. And, it is the latter that is most important, to change one’s thoughts, ideas, way of thinking and judging oneself, to change one’s conscience, from false to true.

In this liturgical period when the exhortation to ‘metanoia’, this inner penance, this reordering of our mentality and our morality, becomes pressing, we must ask ourselves with courageous sincerity, what must we correct in our secret, intimate, personal life ? “Allour dignity consists in thought. Let us take care, therefore, to think well: this is the principle of morality.” (Pascal).

To change one’s erroneous and faulty mentality calls for humility and courage. To say to oneself: ‘I have been wrong,’ requires considerable strength of character. No one can say: ‘I am free to think as I like, because I belong to such and such an ideology.’ This person needs a spiritual revolution, possible only for him who is ready to sacrifice what is most personal in him, in his own opinion or conviction, to the truth.
Let us be guided by the exhortation of Saint Paul: “Be renewed in the spirit of your minds.”

From the Teachings of Paul VI