Indulgences

[Errham]

Despite having come pretty far through the Catechumenate I’m still having a lot of trouble understanding the idea of indulgences. Is the Pope really free to simply hand out sentences like a literal “judge in God’s courthouse”? Can I really have a week knock offed my punishments from God if I simply say X number of Ave Maria’s? Something tells me that I’m not really getting the concept here, and I’d be grateful if anyone could explain it to me.

Pax
-Errham

 

[Matt_Collins]

There is certainly a mystery involved here. The mystery of sin wrapped up in the mystery of God’s love, forgiveness, and mercy.

The temporal punishment due to sin is about at least two things: God’s justice and his mercy. God has no desire for us to suffer any more than we need to for his justice to be satisfied. And what is his justice? That we, as his children, will spend our eternity with him in heaven. That’s what his justice is! It’s not like human justice. In human courts, those who admit their crimes are punished. In God’s court, those who admit their crimes are acquitted. So don’t expect his justice and mercy to be like human justice and mercy.

So, if God’s justice is to bring the repentent sinner to heaven, for this to occur, the sinner has to be purged from all attachment to sin. It’s not that he wants us to suffer. It’s that he wants us to be free from attachment to sin so that we are able to enjoy being in his presence. It is we who, by our attachment to sin, make ourselves suffer when God works in our souls to remove our attachment to sin. That’s what purgatory is about. It’s not about God’s anger. It’s about his mercy. The mercy of not having to enter heaven still encumbered by our sins.

So you see, his justice is his mercy. They are different sides of the same coin, so to speak. That, however doesn’t even begin to plumb the depths of either his justice or his mercy. We see these things as through a fog.

However, one of the things we do know is that God gave his Church, and specifically, Peter and his successors, the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven. Whose sins he holds bound on earth are held bound in heaven, and whose sins he looses on earth are loosed in heaven. So yes, for his own mysterious reasons and in his own mysterious ways, God has bound himself to the decisions of men. What a concept!

If he has bound his forgiveness to the decisions of men, why not his mercy?! They are certainly wrapped up together. Of course, an indulgence requires the sincere sorrow of the person. It’s not magic. It’s grace that can only work on the soul if the person is truly sorry for his sins. It’s grace that makes it possible for the person to enjoy being in the presence of God.

Why he has done this, and the implications of it, are mysteries we will never fully understand, at least until the Last Judgement. All will become clear then.

If this doesn’t sit well with you, then think about the sacrament of Baptism. If someone–and it doesn’t even have to be a Christian, much less a priest–simply pours ordinary water over the head of an unbaptized person while speaking some specific words, they are instantly cleansed of all sin, no matter how horrible! And if they die right then, they’ll go directly to heaven without any purgatory at all!

Isn’t that outrageously merciful?! But it’s an article of faith. That’s why I love to attend baptisms, especially baptisms of adults.

 

[Joe_5859]

Despite having come pretty far through the Catechumenate I’m still having a lot of trouble understanding the idea of indulgences. Is the Pope really free to simply hand out sentences like a literal “judge in God’s courthouse”? Can I really have a week knock offed my punishments from God if I simply say X number of Ave Maria’s? Something tells me that I’m not really getting the concept here, and I’d be grateful if anyone could explain it to me.

Pax
-Errham

There are certainly no shortage of misunderstandings surrounding indulgences! Let me try to explain.

When we sin, there are two types of consequences: eternal (that which lasts forever) and temporal (that which lasts for a time). Our sins have eternal consequences because they offend an eternal, infinite God. And they have temporal consequences because they hurt ourselves and others, too.

The Sacrament of Reconciliation wipes away the eternal consequences of sin. That’s really the hard part. That’s a bridge we could never cross on our own because it covers an infinite chasm between us and God. Yet even when the eternal consequences are wiped away, the temporal consequences remain.

The most often used analogy I hear is that of a child who hits a baseball through a neighbor’s window. Now, the child can go next door, ring the door bell, and apologize. And the neighbor can say, “I forgive you.” But the window is still broken, and it still needs to be fixed. Someone will have to pay the debt for the repair. That broken window is like the temporal consequences for our sins.

So where do indulgences fit in? Indulgences are special graces administered by the Church that can reduce or eliminate those temporal consequences. It’s more or less the other side of the coin from the Sacrament of Reconciliation. And both Confession and indulgences are powers the Church has because Christ Himself gave those power to the apostles and their successors when He gave them the power to “bind and loose” (Matthew 18:18).

At a very basic level, indulgences are about reducing the temporal consequences for sin by drawing near to God in prayer. Because that’s what all indulgences are: different types of prayer. It makes sense that, the closer we draw to the Lord, the more this “debt” would be paid down.

Indulgences are a great grace because they provide us with specific opportunities that we can have certitude will reduce these temporal consequences, just like the Sacrament of Reconciliation gives us certitude that the eternal consequences have been wiped away.

Some mistake this to be “earning our way into heaven.” But that’s not what indulgences are about. If we are in unrepentant mortal sin, no amount of indulgences are going to cross the eternal gulf. That can only come through grace through Reconciliation. But our faith must be a living faith and must be manifested by our works. And that’s where indulgences come in.

Sorry if I rambled. Hopefully I made things clearer and not more confusing.

 

[Matt_Collins]

Indulgences are special graces administered by the Church that can reduce or eliminate those temporal consequences. It’s more or less the other side of the coin from the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

Bravo! That’s a good way to help people understand how God’s justice and mercy are really different sides of the same coin!

 

[Irish_Cabbie]

Someone once explained indulgences to me by telling me a little parable.

Suppose Bob goes over to visit his mother for a few minutes before going to work. While Bob is there, he asks his Mom if he can have some orange juice. While Bob is pouring the orange juice into a cup, he accidentally drops the pitcher. All of the orange juice is then spilled on the floor.

Bob is truly sorry for what he did. He apologizes to his mother and asks for her forgiveness. His mother quickly forgives Bob. She certainly isn’t going to banish Bob from her house, particularly after he apologized for what he did.

That said, the orange juice is still on the floor. It needs to be mopped up, and it needs to be mopped up despite the fact that Bob has already been forgiven. Justice dictates that Bob should mop up the mess that he made. Bob could and probably should mop up the mess. Bob’s generous sister, Mary, could also offer to clean up the mess so that Bob isn’t late for work.

When Bob is cleaning up the mess that his sins created, he is “doing time” in Purgatory. When Mary cleans up her brother’s mess, Bob receives an indulgence. When we, the Church Militant here on Earth, merit an indulgence and offer it up for someone in Purgatory, we are acting in the same way that Mary acted in the parable above. We, through the Catholic Church that Christ created, are cleaning up someone else’s mess.

I hope that helps. Thanks for asking such a great question.

 

[Joe_5859]

Bravo! That’s a good way to help people understand how God’s justice and mercy are really different sides of the same coin!

I didn’t see your post till after I had already posted and noticed we both used that phrase. I like the justice and mercy approach.

 

[Matt_Collins]

When Bob is cleaning up the mess that his sins created, he is “doing time” in Purgatory. When Mary cleans up her brother’s mess, Bob receives an indulgence. When we, the Church Militant here on Earth, merit an indulgence and offer it up for someone in Purgatory, we are acting in the same way that Mary acted in the parable above. We, through the Catholic Church that Christ created, are cleaning up someone else’s mess.

What a great parable! I’m going to remember that and use it when explaining indulgences. I don’t think I’ve ever heard an explanation that’s easier to understand.

 

[Irish_Cabbie]

What a great parable! I’m going to remember that and use it when explaining indulgences. I don’t think I’ve ever heard an explanation that’s easier to understand.

The only thing I would change, ever so slightly, is to say that Bob dropped the pitcher through carelessness (which would be a venial sin) or anger (which might be a mortal sin). Either sin could be forgiven, but like you said, the orange juice and glass still need to be cleaned up.

Thanks for the kind words, Matt. I like your suggestion. I forgot to mention that if Bob and Mary cleaned up the mess together, then Bob would have received a partial indulgence as opposed to a plenary (full) indulgence.

God bless.

 

[PJM]

=Errham;12897094]Despite having come pretty far through the Catechumenate I’m still having a lot of trouble understanding the idea of indulgences. Is the Pope really free to simply hand out sentences like a literal “judge in God’s courthouse”? Can I really have a week knock offed my punishments from God if I simply say X number of Ave Maria’s? Something tells me that I’m not really getting the concept here, and I’d be grateful if anyone could explain it to me.

Pax
-Errham

I have an extensive lesson on this topic that I can send you if you wish send me a private message.

The answer to you’re question is mostly YES:thumbsup: Here’s why

In Mt. 10:1-8 we see Jesus passing along some of His Godly Powers to the Apostles.

In Mt. 16:18-19 we seee Jesus giving all of the key’s to His Kingdom to Peter and through Peter to the other Apostles Mt. 18:18

Then in John 17:14-20 “[14] I have given them thy word, and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world; as I also am not of the world. I pray not that thou shouldst take them out of the world, but that thou shouldst keep them from evil.] Sanctify them in truth. Thy word is truth. [18] As thou hast sent me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. [19] And for them do I sanctify myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth. [20] And not for them only do I pray, but for them also who through their word shall believe in me”

Then it Mt. 28:18-20 "And Jesus coming, spoke to them, saying: Going therefore,** teach ye all nations**; baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and behold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world.

The “Key’s” are the point of authority being granted to Peter and through him his successors. At the time and place Jesus gave the key’s and the authority to BIND and or to Loose; the terms meant UNLIMITED Powers of Governance. [Another Lesson I have if you’d care to see it?]

In an absolute sense this was necessary as Christ knew that He would Die ofr our sins and Redemption, and that Peter would need the Power and authority to administer and run and grow His New One -Church.

In John 17:18 we see that Christ sends the Apostles with the same AUTHORITY and He, Jesus was sent by :the Father." We see this repeated again in John 20:21 “He said therefore to them again: Peace be to you.** As the Father hath sent me, I also send you.** When he had said this, he breathed on them; and he said to them: Receive ye the Holy Ghost. [23] Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained”.

The POWER to forgive sins includes the POWER to remit Temporal Punishment due to all sins, which is what Indulgences do.

Limited space forces be to be far more brief that I’d like to be. But YES the Power of the Keys DOES permit Indulgences.

God Bless you,

patrick

 

[Gara3987]

Despite having come pretty far through the Catechumenate I’m still having a lot of trouble understanding the idea of indulgences. Is the Pope really free to simply hand out sentences like a literal “judge in God’s courthouse”? Can I really have a week knock offed my punishments from God if I simply say X number of Ave Maria’s? Something tells me that I’m not really getting the concept here, and I’d be grateful if anyone could explain it to me.

Pax
-Errham

This might help; it is from the Catholic Addis Dictionary archive.org/stream/catholicdiction00addiuoft#page/440/mode/1up

 

[littlestsouls2]

God once permitted the servant of God, Mary Quiro, to behold in a vision the great value of indulgences. He showed her a large table in a public place upon which were heaped a great many pieces of gold and silver, countless diamonds and other priceless jewels. “These treasures are free,” said Our Lord; “everybody may take as many of them as he wishes or needs.”

Source: pamphlets.org.au/docs/cts/australia/html/acts1326.html

Indulgences are so precious that it is worth gaining a good understanding of them - enough, at least, to convince us to obtain as many as we can. Within reason.