Charism of Penance

The Charism of a religious institute may be defined as a quality or virtue of the Church which is exemplified in a special way by that religious community. The charism is not the exclusive property of the congregation but it is illustrative of that Community.

The charism shapes an Order's life and personality. So, for example, the charism of a Missionary Institute will center on being sent to proclaim Christ and its ideals, themes of prayer, training will reflect this note. The charism of a Contemplative Institute will be reflected in all that goes to foster the life of prayer and recollection: the strict cloister, silence, the horarium and the daily work. Looking at a particular Institute, the Dominicans or, more correctly the Order of Friars Preachers, we see that all centers around this note of preaching: preparation by study, the necessity of a convent to have a lector, the emphasis on a clerical liturgy and the limited number of lay-friars .... all serve to facilitate tile preaching mission. Even, the power of dispensation from the Constitutions is provided for if this fosters studv and preaching.

Our own charism is asserted in the very titles of the Order: the ancient one Ordo Penitentiae Claustralis (whose initials are still preserved on the Coat of Arms) and the later title Third Order Regular of St. Francis of Penance. The emphasis was not on being "Tertiaries" but on being Penitents following the guidance of St. Francis. Under the influence of Francis and his first friars the previous Order of Penance was renewed and recalled from its exterior formalism, so much so that it seemed a new Order. It is recognized now that the Letter to the Faithful was really addressed to them as is indicated in the modern subtitle. In the first century the brothers and sisters preferred the title Order of Penance of St. Francis. Only with reluctance, due to increasing use in papal and first order documents, did the term Third Order come to be accepted. The color of the habit of the friars and sisters was ash gray, the common medieval sign of penance. The friars of the French Province and Sweden still preserve this traditional usage. For centuries there was a strong current of eremitical life in small, rather isolated friaries along with the gradually more numerous   "conventual" communities near the cities.

Now the austere life and the penitential habit were only the effects or means to facilitate an environment of penance and not the essence of penance. When these become the ends then this is a distortion lending itself to a formalistic, pharisaic, legalistic type of life. We still have friars reacting against this type of training received as young religious and often they tend to "throw out the baby with the bath water".

What is Penance?

In the Old Testament the word for penance (shub) is to be found over a thousand times meaning: to turn, to return, to restore. It always involves a turning from evil to the Lord. Conversion meant to turn away from idols and to come home to God. It meant to be again what you really were and to remember to WHOM you really belonged! The New Testament usually uses the word "metanoia" meaning: to turn around..... with the idea of stopping and going in a new direction. The idea expresses a fundamental change in direction, a new way of life. The assumption in the preaching of John the Baptist through Jesus to the first apostolic sermons is that we are on the wrong path, moving away from God. To do penance, to convert is to make an about face and take a new path. Conversion isfrom sin, injustice, lies, selfishness, guilt, etc. to salvation, justice, truth, pardon, others. Our thoughts are changed to be in harmony with God's thoughts and our ways are changed to His ways.

In both Old and New Testaments, penance involved a change of Lords. A constant biblical theme is repentance of idolatry. False gods (idols) had entered the household of the faith, alien gods demanded a service due only to the Lord God. These idols were not the little or large gold, silver or wooden statues but what these represented or promised. Our contemporary idols are not much different: wealth, power, a haughty pride, sex, military might. Conversion meant a turning away from the reigning idolatries back to the living God. So, in the New Testament, "to do penance" or "to be converted" can only be understood from the perspective of the Kingdom of God. To be converted to Christ meant to join Him, to follow Him, to transfer allegiance to Him and so become a member of the Kingdom, actively cooperating with Him to realize the prayer "Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." Jesus calls His disciples together to explain in the Sermon on the Mount what this Kingdom is all about (Mt.5-7, Lk. 6). It is a clear and practical vision of what it means to follow Jesus. He teaches about very concrete realities: money, possessions, power, violence, anxiety, sexuality, faith and the law, security, true and false religion, the treatment of our neighbor and our enemy. How we respond to these issues is the test of whether we have, in fact, transferred our allegiance to Jesus.

Every part of our lives belongs to the One God who created and redeemed us. To do penance is to surrender oneself to God in every aspect of our human existence. Penance is the decision to allow ourselves to be remade. It is a continuing attitude and not a once and finished event. It is a moment and yet, at the same time, a process of transformation which deepens and extends through the whole of our lives. Usually, for most, in the early stages of conversion there is only a confused idea of our sins and complicity in a lifestyle which is alien to God ... but knowledge and repentance grows. The warmth of God's grace melts the soul bringing a clarity of perception so that one is truly able to recognize oneself as sinner. This is not a crushing sensation however but a liberating one whose impulse is to move towards God. We see by God's grace that our lives have left the path of virtue which is a reflection of the eternal holiness of God. We see just where and how we have sinned and we want to turn towards the Good, the Beautiful .... towards God. We see that great sensitiveness in St. Francis.

The Sacrament of Penance/Reconciliation becomes the privileged place of encounter with the Loving Savior who loved us first even "when we in sin." Frequent and "non-automatic" use of this sacrament helps us to grow in sensitivity and a desire to progress in penance. In a practical way we return God's love by hating sin, by recognizing it in our lives, confessing it and turning from it.

The Penitent has been called a Man Turned Towards God. He has turned from a life organized around his own desires or the dictates and fads of society so as to belong to God alone and to give His service to God. The "fruits of penance" are clearly evident in his life and are the signs that a conversion has truly taken place. There is a change in all his relationships: to God, to this world, to possessions, to the poor and marginal, to war or violence, to friends and enemies, to the false gods of his society. Remember the amazement of the people of Assisi at the change, the conversion of values seen in the actions of Francis and his group of Penitents of Assisi.

To do penance means to commit our lives unreservedly to Jesus, to share His life with others. Our sins are forgiven, we are reconciled with the Father and our neighbor and we are sent to be instruments of God's plan for our world. In this spirit, Francis, sent his first brothers out from Assisi to simply preach penance ... i.e. to ask people whether they will follow Christ and live under the banner of His Cross. As in the primitive Church, the unity and harmony between their words and actions gave power and force to their message. The message was not only proclaimed but demonstrated!

Chapter IX of our Rule tells us that our Order with its special charism of Penance is most relevant to the Church today. Our personal response to conversion, publicly promised at our profession, answers the plea of Mary at Fatima and Medjogurie. In our apostolates we are to preach penance to the non-believer, the lukewarm and indifferent, those especially in need of God's compassion. But the call to do penance if it is to be effective now as in the past must come from men and women like John the Baptist, Francis, Angeline and all the modern founders of Franciscan congregations whose lives give witness to their own experience of conversion.

THE CONVERSION EXPERIENCE

" The fundamental truth about this simple and fascinating man, Francis, is that at the very core of his being and at the center of his life, HE WAS FILLED WITH GOD."  Duane Lapanski

This is every person's call

The following is a suggestion for prayer that might be of interest. We might parallel our own experience of God that brough us to follow the way of Francis with that of Francis' experience of his call. This can be used personally as well as with the community.

FRANCIS' EXPERIENCE