by the Forerunner of Christ
preaching the Gospel of Repentance: "Do penance, for the kingdom of
God is at hand." Our Lord announces His own mission to be to call
sinners to repentance: "Unless you all do penance, you shall all
likewise perish." He sent His Apostles that "penance and remission of
sin should be preached in His name among all nations." And, while on
earth, Jesus sent them, two and two, to preach that "men should do
penance."

And, after the ascension of the "Saviour whom God hath exalted with
His right hand to give penitence to Israel, and remission of
sins,"[10] the Apostles proclaimed the same truth. Peter's very first
sermon is: "Do penance and be baptized, every one of you."[11] He, on
the occasion of the cure of the lame man, preaches: "Be penitent and
be converted, that your sins may be blotted out."[12] The same Apostle
writes: "The Lord beareth patiently for your sake, not willing that
any should perish, but that all should return to penance."[13] St.
Paul, in like manner. "God commandeth all men, everywhere, to do
penance."[14] And again: "The benignity of God leadeth thee to
penance."[15]

This contrition or repentance does not mean a mere cessation from
wrong doing, and starting anew in the way of goodness, drowning in the
past the evil done. On the contrary, as by sin we turned our backs on
God to go into a far-off country, to spend there our substance, so by
contrition must we turn main, retrace our steps, and journey to that
Father and home whence we departed. Hence is the process named
conversion to God, just as sin is defined to be an aversion from God.
Moses, expressing this thought, says: "When thou shalt be touched with
the repentance of thy heart, and return to Him, the Lord thy God will
have mercy on thee."[16] And still more explicitly does the prophet
Joel declare: "Be converted to Me with all your heart, in fasting, and
in weeping, and in mourning; and rend your hearts, and not your
garments, and turn to the Lord your God: for He is gracious and
merciful, patient and rich in mercy."[17] Again, the inspired Word
says: "Cast away from you all your transgressions, by which you have
transgressed, and make to yourselves a new heart and a new spirit; and
why will you die, O house of Israel?"[18]

The Lord God, whom we have outraged by sin, knows no past. "I am who
am," is His name. In His holy sight, we who have sinned, and our
transgressions, are ever abominable, unless we make to o