One of the principal themes of the Pontificate of Pope Francis is God’s mercy.  The Holy Father wants the world to know that God has so loved the world that He sent His only Son.  And Jesus, His Son, came to call sinners.  In a world so distorted by sin and so wounded by a lack of faith even in the existence of God, many don’t know that forgiveness is real.  Without hope, we could feel that our sins are too great and we are too unworthy.  Pope Francis again and again reminds the world that God wants to be merciful to us.

In light of that, it’s important we have a full and complete understanding of God’s mercy.  God’s pardon will forgive any sin we commit.  But God’s mercy is always respectful of us.  Our loving Father made each of us with free will.  He will not violate that freedom that is part of our dignity and makes us to be in God’s image.  That means He will not force His mercy upon us.  If He were to force His forgiveness we would not be truly free men and women.  Consequently, God’s pardon is not automatic.

Instead, God calls us to be cooperators with Him.  He asks each of us to be active, not passive, in receiving His mercy.  That’s why each time we are forgiven, we are changed for the better.  We become more and more conformed to Jesus.

In order to accept God’s mercy, then, we must first acknowledge our sin and our responsibility for it. 

We must look at our self, and name our own personal sin.  If we don’t first admit our sinfulness, we would diminish and demean the importance of God’s forgiveness.  And acknowledging our guilt is to recognize that sin is defined by God, not by us.  God made the world and us to function in a certain way according to His will.  We need the grace and the help of the Church to discern what God’s will is. 

When we offend against that will, we need to admit that we have sinned.

But that admission is not enough by itself.  We must take the logical next step which is to resolve to make every effort to be done with that sin and to avoid it in the future.  That too can be hard.  Sin has its illusory attraction.  Otherwise, why would we commit sin?  Whether it be sins of pleasure or power or wealth or anger, our weakness of spirit can render it hard to make and keep a resolution to avoid sin.  It is all too easy to rationalize our behavior and so to give in to temptation.  

We need a life of prayer, daily and over a lifetime, so that our wills become pure and we separate ourselves from sin.

Even so, our reception and acceptance of God’s mercy would still not be complete.  We need to do penance for the sins that we have committed and for those that the whole world commits against God’s will.  When God forgives us, our guilt before Him is eternally destroyed.  But the consequences of what we have done still remains.  

Think of two friends who have had a terrible argument.  Both may then go to confession and God does forgive.  But even after being absolved, the human hurts between them still remain to be healed.  The bitterness of heart that the argument engendered in their hearts needs prayer and spiritual practices to overcome the damage to themselves.

The concept of penance desperately needs to be recovered in our spiritual lives.  Forms of such penance could be extra times of prayer or Bible reading, dedicated especially to overcoming the damage of sin. 

It could take the form of times and works of charity, helping the poor or the pro-life cause.  It could be quiet fasting or returning to the Friday practice of abstaining from meat.  

In whatever manner, penance completes our free reception of God’s mercy.

Admission of our personal guilt, resolve to avoid sin, and acts of penance to heal our broken souls are all part of God’s mercy. If we understand the full meaning and greatness of that mercy, they all make sense.  And we will want to do them so that we are deepened in our love for God and for each other.