“take up his cross daily”

 
Jesus speaks of uniting our sufferings and performing penance for the times we offend God. We wish to unite every day to be closer to Christ, but many do not know how to grow closer to Christ. We may not have a physical full size cross to carry, but there are many other ways to perform penance and bring us to conversion. Pope Francis says, “the road that Jesus willed for His Church is otherwise: the way of difficulties, the way of the Cross, the way of persecution . . . And this makes us wonder: what is this Church? Because it seems it is not a human enterprise.”[i]
 
What are the forms of penance? There are many different forms, but they can be boiled down to three ways: fasting, prayer, and almsgiving. (cf. Tob 12:8; Mt. 6:1-18). These express conversion away from selfishness and the sins that keep us from God.

A easy way to remember penance is the acronym G.P.S. The “G” is for good works, which can be associated with almsgiving. The “P” is for prayer. The “S” is for sacrifice or suffering, which can be associated with fasting, which is both a sacrifice and a suffering that can be offered up for the salvation of souls.
 
Here are some other forms of penance that the Church teaches us:
 
Eucharist and Penance – “Through the Eucharist those who live from the life of Christ are fed and strengthened. ‘It is a remedy to free us from our daily faults and to preserve us from mortal sins.’”[ii]The more we receive the Eucharist the more we become a part of the Body of Christ, and thus more like Christ. All other acts of charity flow from the sacrifice that is done on the altar.
 
Reading Sacred Scripture – “praying the Liturgy of the Hours and the Our Father – every sincere act of worship or devotion revives the spirit of conversion and repentance within us and contributes to the forgiveness of our sins.”[iii] In fact, by reading Sacred Scripture fifteen minutes every day prayerfully, we can receive a plenary indulgence.
 
Following the liturgical season closely and offering penance on the appropriate times within the season. What season are we in currently? If one is reading this on the twelth Sunday of Ordinary Time then that is the season, Ordinary Time. It is a time for us to continue to grow and bear fruit for the Lord. We must be willing to still offer penance even though it may not be Lent or Advent. “(Lent, and each Friday in memory of the death of the Lord) are intense moments of the Church’s penitential practice. These times are particularly appropriate for spiritual exercises, penitential liturgies, pilgrimages as signs of penance, voluntary self-denial such as fasting and almsgiving and fraternal sharing (charitable and missionary works).”[iv]
 
“Conversion is accomplished in daily life by gestures of reconciliation, concern for the poor, the exercise and defense of justice and right; by the admission of faults to one’s brethren, fraternal correction, revision of life, examination of conscience, spiritual direction, acceptance of suffering, endurance of persecution for the sake of righteousness. Taking up one’s cross each day and following Jesus is the surest way of penance.”[v]
 
“Penance requires…the sinner to endure all things willingly, be contrite of heart, confess with the lips, and practice complete humility and fruitful satisfaction.”[vi]

[i] http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-francis-church-is-in-a-love-story)
[ii] CCC 1436
[iii] CCC 1437
[iv] CCC 1438
[v] CCC 1435
[vi] Roman Catechism II, V, 21; cf. Council of Trent (1551): DS 1673