My penance was to read this

and so should you:

the Pope's Message for Lent.

"I distrust a charity that costs nothing and does not hurt."-His Holiness Franciscus

Sounds similar to something expressed by Soren Kierkegaard, from a quote found at the Lenten Reading list provided by The Anchoress:

"The difference between an admirer and a follower still remains, no matter who you are. The admirer never makes any true sacrifices. He always plays it safe. Though in words, phrases, songs, he is inexhaustible about how highly he prizes Christ, he renounces nothing, gives up nothing, will not reconstruct his life, will not be what he admires, and will not let his life express what it is he supposedly admires."