One of the most important messages that St. Bernadette received at Lourdes is one of penitence, conversion, and purification. It seems that Bernadette took that message to heart for the rest of her life. As she laid in pain on her death bed, Bernadette recalled Mary’s message of “Penance, Penance, Penance,” and thus described what she was experiencing saying, “all this is good for Heaven!” (cited here, para 18)
One interpretation of the events at Lourdes (found here) sees the muddy grotto as a symbol of penance. Then also, Bernadette’s actions smearing mud all over her face, drinking from the water, and eating from the bitter plants, are acts of penance for the conversion of sinners.
It occurs to me that I never thought about penance in that way. My understanding of penance is that it is usually assigned by a priest in confession, although I can choose to do penance on my own, but I always saw it as actions that I take to atone for my own sins. I just realized I’ve been reading about this all week, and I didn’t realize until now that this is a different application of penance than I’ve ever considered.
Come to think of it, I do remember last Lent that we contemplated the possibility to turn any event in life into a prayer by offering it up for someone, which reminded me of my mom saying, “offer it up,” quite often when I was growing up. I suppose I just never called it penance.
The beauty of this approach is that the most mundane parts of your day could become prayer. As you begin to do the dishes, you can offer that work to God in honor of someone who needs prayers. How would that change the way that you complete that task? What if we made a point to offer part of each day as a prayer for someone else?
Would that cause us to face difficulties with a more positive attitude? Imagine going into a meeting with a disagreeable co-worker, and saying a prayer on the way into the meeting that you want to offer up this meeting as a prayer for God’s continued protection of your family. How would that change your frame of mind through the meeting?
God blesses us with his mercy and forgiveness every day. This message of the Blessed Mother reminds us to appreciate these gifts from God. Certainly, acts of penance for one another help us to build our capacity for compassion and empathy. Armed with those qualities, we are better suited to do our part as members of the body of Christ.
Lord God, we thank you for your mercy and forgiveness. Help us to demonstrate our appreciation in genuine acts of penance for one another.