"Penance is a positive gift": Reading "The Light of the World" by Pope Benedict

"The concept of penance, which is one of the fundamental elements of the Old Testament message, is something we have increasingly lost. People somehow wanted to say only positive things. But the negative things do exist; that is a fact. The fact that one can change and allow oneself to be changed through penance is a positive gift."

(Part I, Chapter 3)