Sacrafice/Penance/Fasting

Glenman

Why is it said that it is pleasing to God when we do all/any of the above. The above make us miserable...is that what being a Christian is about?

bigeasyeah

Not being smart but moderate fasting is good for the body.
Many people have made sacrifices that benefit humankind.
Penance to me is taking responsibility for ones actions or acknowledging where one failed.

PDN

Fasting can be an enormously beneficial experience. Anytime I've fasted (anything from 24 hours to 40 days) I've enjoyed it and found it to be refreshing spiritually, mentally and physically.

Fanny Cradock

40 days!

CerebralCortex

bigeasyeah wrote: »

Not being smart but moderate fasting is good for the body...

Yes its called Calorie restriction where you get all the nutrients you need but with less calories.

Phototoxin

not good if type 1 diabetic!

kelly1

Glenman wrote: »

Why is it said that it is pleasing to God when we do all/any of the above. The above make us miserable...is that what being a Christian is about?

Sacrifice, penance and fasting etc actually are of huge value in terms of merit and atonement as taught in Catholic doctrine. The key factor is that the sacrifice/penance etc must be done in union with Christ to have any value. There are 3 main benefits as I understand it.

1. Penance/good works etc gains us a greater degree of glory in heaven i.e. makes us "closer" to God.

2. Penance may be offered to atone for the sins of another. By this means, God could, for instance, grant the grace of conversion to another person which they otherwise would not have obtained. e.g. the conversion of St Augustine happened because his mother prayed for him for 40 years!

3. They atone for personal sin thereby lessening the amount of temporal punishment due to sin i.e. lessen time in Purgatory.

God bless,
Noel.

Phototoxin

Sacrifice, penance and fasting etc actually are of huge value in terms of merit and atonement as taught in Catholic doctrine. The key factor is that the sacrifice/penance etc must be done in union with Christ to have any value. There are 3 main benefits as I understand it.

1. Penance/good works etc gains us a greater degree of glory in heaven i.e. makes us "closer" to God.

2. Penance may be offered to atone for the sins of another. By this means, God could, for instance, grant the grace of conversion to another person which they otherwise would not have obtained. e.g. the conversion of St Augustine happened because his mother prayed for him for 40 years!

3. They atone for personal sin thereby lessening the amount of temporal punishment due to sin i.e. lessen time in Purgatory.

God bless,
Noel.

sorry but I disagree ... surely Augustine converted because he wanted to of his own free will... i don't see how causing suffering to oneself is a good thing. I can understand temperance whcih makes a lot of sense but not for the sake of being uncomfortable.

Glenman

kelly1 wrote: »

Sacrifice, penance and fasting etc actually are of huge value in terms of merit and atonement as taught in Catholic doctrine. The key factor is that the sacrifice/penance etc must be done in union with Christ to have any value. There are 3 main benefits as I understand it.

1. Penance/good works etc gains us a greater degree of glory in heaven i.e. makes us "closer" to God.

2. Penance may be offered to atone for the sins of another. By this means, God could, for instance, grant the grace of conversion to another person which they otherwise would not have obtained. e.g. the conversion of St Augustine happened because his mother prayed for him for 40 years!

3. They atone for personal sin thereby lessening the amount of temporal punishment due to sin i.e. lessen time in Purgatory.

God bless,
Noel.

Thanks for that

kelly1

Phototoxin wrote: »

sorry but I disagree ... surely Augustine converted because he wanted to of his own free will...

Will is part of it but nothing's going to happen with God's grace.

Phototoxin wrote: »

i don't see how causing suffering to oneself is a good thing. I can understand temperance whcih makes a lot of sense but not for the sake of being uncomfortable.

I talking about accepting suffering as God's will, not self-inflicted suffering. This is exactly what Jesus did for us.

Sineadg

Just a note on my own recent experience of penance...I did Lough Derg Pilgrimage for the first time this year, more so out of curiosity than a real desire to do penance but I have to say I found it to be an extremely worthwhile exercise for me. I think ultimately fasting and penance is for our good, and not intended purely to make us miserable. It is a reminder that it is our spiritual element that is most important, and not our physical. I think it is even more profound an exercise in this day and age, when we are (in my case anyway) overly preoccupied with material concerns. The whole experience 'slowed me down' so much, put everything in perspective for me and I found a certain peace and new appreciation of life. I know it is a very individual experience and it wasnt to everybody's taste that I spoke to up there but 20,000 pilgrims a year indicates that penance still has something to bring. And apparently they were witnessing increased numbers this year!

Michael G

Glenman wrote: »

Why is it said that it is pleasing to God when we do all/any of the above. The above make us miserable...is that what being a Christian is about?

There is no point if all it does is make you miserable. The idea is that you are offering God a gift of something that you can choose to have or not to have.

Dades

Big fan of this quote, and passage in general from Moby Dick:

Herman Mellville wrote:

There is no quality in this world that is not what it is merely by contrast. Nothing exists in itself.

When experiencing contentment, you must have experienced the opposite to truly appreciate it.