the nature of sin

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

That'll be ten thousand "Hail Mary"s, my son.

ever wonder why something like a prayer (Prayer=praise or privileged to speak to a holy God) is used as a punishment?

It isn’t. The prayers are voluntary. A Catholic priest has no authority to punish a sinner.

Boru

[zebo-the-fat]

As I don't accept that any gods exist the OP can take his idea of sin and stick it where the sun don't shine

[Gawdzilla Sama]

ever wonder why something like a prayer (Prayer=praise or privileged to speak to a holy God) is used as a punishment?

It isn’t. The prayers are voluntary. A Catholic priest has no authority to punish a sinner.

Boru

Bich doesn't know shit about religion.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

It isn’t. The prayers are voluntary. A Catholic priest has no authority to punish a sinner.

Boru

Bich doesn't know shit about religion.

Yeah, he's always made that abundantly clear.

Boru

[Drich]

ever wonder why something like a prayer (Prayer=praise or privileged to speak to a holy God) is used as a punishment?

It isn’t. The prayers are voluntary. A Catholic priest has no authority to punish a sinner.

Boru

upon receiving confession isn't it the job of the priest to offer contrition or pentance for the sins confessed?

Bucky when he was a catholic school boy:
Bless me father for i have sinned, it has be 15 hours since my last confession.

Preist: what could you have possible do in 15 hours?

Bucky: I viewed and masturbated to gay donkey porn, then fashioned a large donkey 'wood shop project' out of a tree branch and reenacted my fav scenes. 

Priest: 
bless you son for the confession of your sin your penitence shall be 10 our fathers 36 hail marries and burn your wood shop project.

here used the prayer is used as a punishment/way to pay for your sin.
pentance:
1 : an act of self-abasement, mortification (see mortification sense 3), or devotion performed to show sorrow or repentance for sin He did charitable work as a penance.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

It isn’t. The prayers are voluntary. A Catholic priest has no authority to punish a sinner.

Boru

upon receiving confession isn't it the job of the priest to offer contrition or pentance for the sins confessed?

Bucky when he was a catholic school boy:
Bless me father for i have sinned, it has be 15 hours since my last confession.

Preist: what could you have possible do in 15 hours?

Bucky: I viewed and masturbated to gay donkey porn, then fashioned a large donkey 'wood shop project' out of a tree branch and reenacted my fav scenes. 

Priest: 
bless you son for the confession of your sin your penitence shall be 10 our fathers 36 hail marries and burn your wood shop project.

here used the prayer is used as a punishment/way to pay for your sin.
pentance:
1 : an act of self-abasement, mortification (see mortification sense 3), or devotion performed to show sorrow or repentance for sin He did charitable work as a penance.

Your definition is correct - it is an act of ‘self’ abasement, and is therefore voluntary. ALL acts of penance are voluntary. The prayers usually said after confession are the outward expression of the inner feeling, hence the term ‘act of contrition’. Contrition is what you feel, penance is how you express it. 

But prayers are never ‘used as a punishment’, that’s just silly. It’s simply more convenient for both priest and penitent if the act of contrition takes the form of prayer. 

Boru

[Drich]

upon receiving confession isn't it the job of the priest to offer contrition or pentance for the sins confessed?

Bucky when he was a catholic school boy:
Bless me father for i have sinned, it has be 15 hours since my last confession.

Preist: what could you have possible do in 15 hours?

Bucky: I viewed and masturbated to gay donkey porn, then fashioned a large donkey 'wood shop project' out of a tree branch and reenacted my fav scenes. 

Priest: 
bless you son for the confession of your sin your penitence shall be 10 our fathers 36 hail marries and burn your wood shop project.

here used the prayer is used as a punishment/way to pay for your sin.
pentance:
1 : an act of self-abasement, mortification (see mortification sense 3), or devotion performed to show sorrow or repentance for sin He did charitable work as a penance.

Your definition is correct - it is an act of ‘self’ abasement, and is therefore voluntary. ALL acts of penance are voluntary. The prayers usually said after confession are the outward expression of the inner feeling, hence the term ‘act of contrition’. Contrition is what you feel, penance is how you express it. 

But prayers are never ‘used as a punishment’, that’s just silly. It’s simply more convenient for both priest and penitent if the act of contrition takes the form of prayer. 

Boru

then why put a number on the amount of times a prayer had to be repeated? that is what makes it a punishment. contrition would see a man pray till he felt he earned penance. maybe bucky would have felt penance after just one prayer, but now as a means to earn his forgiveness he must pray 35 more times.

(this is all silly anyway as the bible says we can not earn penance or work our way to contrition.) rather we are to repent. Which can be a completely internal change with no external changes made.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

Your definition is correct - it is an act of ‘self’ abasement, and is therefore voluntary. ALL acts of penance are voluntary. The prayers usually said after confession are the outward expression of the inner feeling, hence the term ‘act of contrition’. Contrition is what you feel, penance is how you express it. 

But prayers are never ‘used as a punishment’, that’s just silly. It’s simply more convenient for both priest and penitent if the act of contrition takes the form of prayer. 

Boru

then why put a number on the amount of times a prayer had to be repeated? that is what makes it a punishment. contrition would see a man pray till he felt he earned penance. maybe bucky would have felt penance after just one prayer, but now as a means to earn his forgiveness he must pray 35 more times.

(this is all silly anyway as the bible says we can not earn penance or work our way to contrition.) rather we are to repent. Which can be a completely internal change with no external changes made.

No, one doesn’t ‘earn’ penance. Penance is the overt manifestation of the inner feeling of contrition. God, via the priest, absolves you of your sin prior to any penance being performed.

The reason that multiple prayers are often - but not always - suggested is a reflection of the severity of the mortal sin and for the priest to be sure that the penitent is truly contrite. But there isn’t anything in Catholic dogma which requires prayer for absolution. I’ve made confessions where I was asked to put a pound in the Poor Box, or apologize to Tommy Carlyle for swiping his bike - no prayers involved. More than once, I was told to ‘make a good act of contrition’ - the actual act was left up to me.

But I agree it’s all rather silly.

Boru

[chimp3]

No god, no sin. I don't give a shit what the Bible says.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

No god, no sin. I don't give a shit what the Bible says.

‘Sin lies only in hurting other people unnecessarily. All other “sins” are invented nonsense (hurting yourself isn’t sinful, just stupid).’ - Robert Heinlein

Boru