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Penny for your Penance
Opinion | Articles | Chhotebhai | 04-Mar-2025
There are two common English phrases where the word “Penny” is used – “A Penny for your thoughts”, and “Going to spend a penny”. The first is obvious; the second means going to relieve one’s bladder. That could cost a penny in a British public convenience. In either case, the penny holds minimal value as a fraction of the pound sterling.
So how valuable is our penance? Worth more than a penny? The Mahakumbh has just ended in Prayagraj, 200 kms from where I live upstream on the Ganga. This religious event was reportedly taking place after 144 years and the U.P. government claims that over 66 crore (660 million) people bathed in the sacred river between 13th January and 26th February (45 days).
Hindus believe that ritual bathing at this auspicious time washes away their sins. Participating in the Kumbh is an arduous task made even more so by the government hype and propaganda. Pilgrims travelled long distances by road or rail. The final stretch entailed walking several kilometres carrying one’s own belongings. The pilgrimage was also fraught with danger. We read about or saw the stampedes at the ghats and railway stations, as also road accidents due to drivers dozing off at the wheel. The pilgrim would have spent much more than the proverbial penny. It was a matter of aastha (religious belief). It was also the coldest part of the year in the region, so bathing would again involve much discomfiture.
Is it a coincidence that less than a week later the holy month of Ramzan began on 2nd March. Here again we find that devout Muslims make great sacrifices for the expiation of their sins. During the lunar month (28/29 days) they fast from dawn to dusk. In equatorial regions this may be for 12 hours, but the further we move from the equator, the period could be longer or shorter, again depending on the time of year. Not just food, one must even abstain from water, a big penance in tropical regions. Abstinence even covers sex during the time of fast. Believers are also expected to donate a portion of their income as zakaat, similar to the biblical tithing. Here again we find that Islam expects its followers to make great sacrifices for the expiation and reparation of sins.
In Sikhism there is a provision for tankhaiya, a religious punishment for a public sinner, one who has gone against the Sikh Rehat Maryada (code of conduct). This public punishment is meted out by the Jathedar of the Akal Takht (High Priest). Kings and high-profile ministers have not been spared. A common punishment is to clean the footwear of the devotees at the entrance to the Gurudwara. It is a humbling act.
What about Christians, and more specifically Catholics? As I write we are about to enter Lent, just 3 days after Ramzan began. By a strange coincidence there is a sangam (confluence) of penitential seasons among the major religions in India.
Lent, though patterned on Jesus’ 40 day fast in the desert, is actually 47 days (including the 7 Sundays). Among Christians, who are multi-ethnic and from various Church traditions, there is no uniformity in Lenten practices.
Among them the Catholic Church is probably the most lenient when it comes to Lenten obligations. There are only two days of obligatory fasting – Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. The prescribed fast is actually more of a farce. One may have one and a half meals. Abstinence is only from meat, but one may consume fish, eggs, soup, butter, etc. This situation casts a shadow on our penance, particularly when compared to the prescribed practices of other religions.
To begin with, how many Christians have meat as a part of their daily food? If not, one cannot sacrifice what one doesn’t have in the first place. Abstaining from meat may be a sacrifice in very cold places like Europe, but not in most of India. To be fair though, the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) promulgated by Pope John Paul II on 11/2/1992 prescribes abstinence on all Fridays in the year (CCC 1438). Penance is not limited to abstinence either. It advocates fasting, prayer and almsgiving (CCC 1434).
It would also be in order to quote from the Ash Wednesday liturgy. “Come back to me with all your heart, fasting, weeping and mourning. Tear your hearts and not your clothes” (Joel 2:12). This is because the Jews would rend their outer garments as a form of penance while their hearts remained as hard as stone.
Catholics are also expected to frequent the sacrament of Reconciliation, earlier called Confession, at least once a year, during Lent. Its form varied considerably over the centuries (CCC 1447). Vatican II introduced a community penitential rite followed by general absolution. However, we have now, like almost everything else about Vatican II, reverted to individuals confessing before a priest. Many Catholics have reservations about this form, especially for women having to “confess’ to a male priest. As a consequence, even those who do go to confession tend to water down their sins or confess in generalized terms like “I get angry”, or “I have sexual desires.”.
On the other hand, it is highly unlikely that those who commit heinous crimes like murder, rape, or burglary will suddenly turn over a new leaf and humbly submit to confession. Recently there was a demand in Australia for priests to reveal to civil authorities serious crimes mentioned in confession. I see this as more hypothetical than ethical because I cannot envisage hardened criminals going for confession.
We are also taught that though “absolution takes away sin, but it does not remedy all the disorders that sin has caused … One must repair the harm done through compensation, etc” (CCC 1459). Here again this seems more of a hypothetical situation. If somebody robs a huge sum of money or valuables, he cannot expect to be absolved until and unless he returns the stolen goods. What about murder or rape? How does one compensate for the loss of life or dignity?
Take the case of Mehmet Ali Agca, who tried to assassinate Pope John Paul II. The latter visited him in prison and purportedly forgave him. Despite that, he had to serve his prison sentence as by law. It is not like the President of America, who can grant a presidential pardon, as Joe Biden did for his son Hunter or Trump did for his supporters who stormed Capitol Hill.
So crime and punishment, confession and absolution, are not as simple as being told by the confessor to recite three Hail Marys as penance.
I perceive another plausible reason why Christians may be lackadaisical in their reparation and repentance. They may be influenced by Paul’s letter to the Romans. “One man’s offense brought condemnation on all humanity, and one man’s good act has brought justification and life to all humanity” (Rom 5:18). This explanation of the New Adam needs to be tempered with the warning of the Prophet Ezekiel. “Why do you keep repeating this proverb—The parents have eaten sour grapes and the children’s teeth are set on edge … The one who has sinned is the one to die” (Ez 18:1-2). Therefore, we cannot blame either the Old Adam or the New One. If we ourselves are culpable, then we alone can atone for our personal transgressions.
As we enter this holy season of Lent, let us look beyond food and drink to see how we can be better, more just, and caring human beings. For lives, including that of those who cross our path, are worth more than a penny.
(The writer is the Convenor of the Indian Catholic Forum. Views expressed in the article are personal)
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