Confession and Indulgence.
- Thread starter Nelka
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EricFilmer
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There is a distinction between being forgiven and having a pure soul. Being a forgiven sinner means that a person will not go to hell, but it does not necessarily mean that he is also pure enough to enter heaven (and Revelation states that nothing impure can enter heaven). Everytime we sin, we create an unheathly spiritual attachment to that sin, and receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation (although a channel by which our sins are forgiven) may or may not also take care of this unhealthy spiritual attachment. If I recall correctly, the words of the Baltimore Catechism state that going to Confession “usually does not” sufficiently take care of this attachment. Nevertheless, the Sacrament of Reconciliation, objectively speaking, has the power to address both the culpability of sin and the attachment to it, but a number of aspects must be in place for it to do the latter (the penance must be appropriate, the person must do the penance in a proper way, etc., etc.)
Think of all this along the lines of a drug addict put on trial. The judge forgives his crime (attempting to buy illegal narcotics) so he does not go to prison. Nevertheless, this dismissal of the charges does not free the addict of his addiction. Therefore the judge still requires the addict to go to drug rehab in order to truly be free of his addicted attachment to the drugs. In this example, the addict represents the sinner, the addiction represents the attachment to sin, the judge represents God, and prison represents hell. The forgiven sinner does not go to hell, but still needs to go through “drug rehab.” Indulgences and Purgatory are examples of this “drug rehab.”
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Dsivanish
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Beautiful!
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Newbie2
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Indulgance is more about punishment than forgiveness.
Others can probably explain it better than this, but here goes:
I’m playing baseball in the yard with my friends. Dad told me not to, rather to go to the park to play so as not to break a window. But here we are, playing ball in the yard. I make an errant throw and break a window. Oops.
Dad finds out. Two things happen:
Confession/Reconciliation is sorta like #1. I tell him, yes, I screwed up and broke the window, and he forgives me.
An Indulgance is sorta like #2. He has already forgiven me, but I still have to face the music, pay the piper, do time, whatever we want to call it. We are punished for our sin, purged of our uncleanliness. Indulgances are ***sorta ***like “time off for good behavior”.
Maybe like the “presoak” setting on the U-do car washes.
It’s like getting a “pre-cleaning” before the big wash of purgatory.
However, we must be careful as not viewing indulgances like “get out of jail free” cards. Our hearts must be right. In seeking an indulgence, we must be truly sorry for our sin, strive for perfection and not just be interested in lessening our purgation.
Others can probably explain it better than this, but here goes:
I’m playing baseball in the yard with my friends. Dad told me not to, rather to go to the park to play so as not to break a window. But here we are, playing ball in the yard. I make an errant throw and break a window. Oops.
Dad finds out. Two things happen:
- He knows I’m a stupid kid and didn’t listen to him. But he forgives me anyway.
- Even though he forgave me, he still punishes me. I get grounded for two weeks. During that grounding, I am a model citizen, offering to do stuff around the house without being asked, helping my sister with her homework, etc, and I am doing this stuff not just to appear good but because I want to please Dad.
Confession/Reconciliation is sorta like #1. I tell him, yes, I screwed up and broke the window, and he forgives me.
An Indulgance is sorta like #2. He has already forgiven me, but I still have to face the music, pay the piper, do time, whatever we want to call it. We are punished for our sin, purged of our uncleanliness. Indulgances are ***sorta ***like “time off for good behavior”.
Maybe like the “presoak” setting on the U-do car washes.
It’s like getting a “pre-cleaning” before the big wash of purgatory.However, we must be careful as not viewing indulgances like “get out of jail free” cards. Our hearts must be right. In seeking an indulgence, we must be truly sorry for our sin, strive for perfection and not just be interested in lessening our purgation.
P
PAboy57
Guest
Hi Nelka,
By going to confession and living well we will get to Heaven as promised by Jesus. There is the problem of paying the debt for our sins. While we are forgiven we still have stains on our soul that only Purgatory or Plenary Indulgences or Partial Indulgences can remove. We cannot enter Heaven until our souls are spotless.
We receive indulgences by meeting the criteria established by the Church. It is a beatiful way of helping everyone get to Heaven faster or right away. Indulgences clean up the soul so fewer or no time is spent in Purgatory. On this website you can read all about the requirements for Indulgences.
Take care.
B
Bookcat
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