Penance and Mortification do not sound like very much fun at all. They are not, per se. However, consider that we are nearly always looking for some type of fulfillment, whether they are minuscule things like a chocolate chip cookie (one of my favorites) or deeper desires that reside in the heart. Ultimately our fulfillment can only be satisfied by God who is Love!
Penance and mortification are types of self-disciplines that help us point to God, to deny ourselves out of love for Him, the Triune God (Father, Son and Spirit). By doing so we can receive His grace. St. Ignatius of Loyola lived only for His grace and love. This 16th Century Mystic Saint is a great image for us to measure ourselves against our fallen selves. Ignatius was a man of the world, much like St. Francis and St. Claire, only the Spaniard lived three centuries later. Once all three of these great Saints of our Church reformed their lives, ordering themselves to God instead of this world, they then really lived their lives full of joy and full of love. They were, in a word- FULFILLED!
The "Heavenly Image": Our Lady of Guadalupe
If anyone knows something about penance, it is our heavenly Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary....here is how she revealed herself to St. Juan Diego and to us, as our celestial Mother, our Redemptris (advocating for her Son, the Son of God, J.C.)
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