Jesus speaks often about fasting, almsgiving, and works of penance. This might surprise us. We live in a culture that has long shifted its focus. While fasting and charity still exist, they are often treated as secondary, even optional. This makes it difficult to understand what Jesus is saying. That is why we must rediscover the meaning of penance, and there is no better time for this than Lent.
Too often, when we hear the word penance, we think of extremes—medieval flagellants parading through the streets, people sleeping on broken glass, or fasting to the point of exhaustion. But these are distortions, misunderstandings that the Church has consistently opposed. True penance is something entirely different.
Despite its connotations, penance is not something negative. It is a gift. A true penance strengthens rather than weakens, heals rather than harms. It is not about punishment but about freedom. Penance restores us to our source. It reorients us toward God and places us back in right relationship with him.
God’s act of creation is not a distant event in the past. It is happening right now. In this very moment, God is creating each of us. He sustains us in existence. He alone holds us back from slipping into nothingness. We exist because he is thinking of us, because he is loving us. If, for even a single moment, he ceased to love us, we would cease to be.
Penance reminds us of this reality. It strips away the illusion of self-sufficiency. When we fast, give alms, or sacrifice anything we rely upon daily, we are confronted with a truth: everything in this world is fleeting. No amount of wealth, food, or comfort can ultimately satisfy us, nor can they save us from death. But there is one who can—the God who loves us at every moment, even in our sin and rebellion. He alone can make us happy. He alone can call us out of the grave and give us life.
This is the heart of Lent. It is not about somber faces, giving up chocolate, or finding loopholes for Friday abstinence. It is about rediscovering who we are and whose we are. It is about taking comfort in the overwhelming, unshakable love of God. If he loves us so much that he sustains our very existence—even in the moments we turn away from him—then what do we have to fear? Why should we be anxious or burdened with worry? We are dust, yes, but we are dust that is loved by the infinite Creator of the universe. And he is on our side.
So let us embrace this Lenten season fully. Let us return to the truth of who we are and to the God who calls us by name. Let us cast aside fear and live in the certainty of Christ’s love.