CathInfo.com

Forgive me as I have not posted here that much but I found this thread to be quite pertinent.  The "letter of the law" Catholic is certainly not what we are called to be in this valley of tears.  It is so true that we as Catholics MUST be totally different from the worldling.  Sometimes I believe (and I try to always be aware of this myself) that many Traditional Catholics think that it is enough to go to Mass for an hour and a half on Sunday (maybe once in a blue moon they will go to Mass on Saturday) and then proceed to live JUST LIKE their pagan neighbours.  I am preaching to the choir but Catholicism must enter our very being influencing our ENTIRE outlook on life.  It is not an "extra" that we happen to do on Sunday.  Also, we who are called to such heights of sanctity must always remember acts of charity that we can always do when the opportunity arises.  This is putting our faith into action.  How many times could we have performed that act of charity for our neighbour yet failed to do so because we have rationalized it away?  "Sunday Catholicism" will simply not do especially now when the world is so antagonistic to the truths of the Faith.  If we want to convert the world we must first convert ourselves and then goodness will diffuse itself.  It is not easy but we must always remember that Our Lord did not die on the Cross so that we may live as the wordlings does with a little "Catholicism" dabbed in to make us feel good on Sundays.  

Let us pray for one another so that we may have the courage to respond to the sublime calling of sanctity.

But Jesus said God wants love, not sacrifice.  Sometimes love means sacrifice, but sacrifice doesn't necessarily mean love.

I was reading from St. John Bosco a few days ago and something reminded me of where we left this thread.

A quote from one of his dreams:
"A great mistake which boys make is that of thinking that penance must be practiced by sinners only. Penance is necessary also in order to preserve innocence. If St. Aloysius had not done penance, he would certainly have fallen into mortal sin. This should be continually preached, inculcated and taught to children. How many more would preserve their innocence, while at present there are so few!"

I've only come to understand recently (my cluelessness is a product of being a cradle N.O. Catholic  ) that practicing penance is something we should do not only to atone for our sins, but to avoid future sinning as well. The regular denial of things which are not sinful prepares us for denying ourselves of things we desire which are sinful. The saints practiced tons of this! So, sacrifice as penance, especially when it is not demanded of us, is an excellent way to show love of God in maintaining the purity of our souls.