Penance Is the First Command of Christ: Our Lord’s Words to Conchita – My Catholic Two Cents

“If any man would come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.” (Mt. 16:24) Modern spirituality tends to emphasize comfort, self-acceptance, and the avoidance of guilt, sometimes at the cost of real transformation, stemming from an exaggerated and unrealistic optimism, a fruit of post–Vatican II theology.
We must follow the words of the Virgin at Fatima—and indeed of all the spiritual doctors: “Do penance.” Even from a purely natural point of view, based on reason alone, we can see the utility of penance as a proper formation of our mentality. In other words, penance gives us a more objective outlook on life and on ourselves. Real optimism, which is in Christ, can only proceed from a deep penitential life.
Many do not know that the only biblical version ever formally declared authentic by an ecumenical council is the Latin Vulgate (translated by Jerome in the fourth century). In it, the first recorded words of Jesus at the beginning of His public ministry,…