Indulge Me ( Part ONE)- The Indulgence for the Papal Blessing of Pope Francis

This is the first of a THREE part series on indulgences. It was only supposed to be TWO, and I started writing them some time ago, but yesterday's election of Pope Francis presented an opportunity to make it a teachable moment!
  
Here in PART ONE, I will describe the current process for obtaining an indulgence.
In PART TWO, you will learn what an indulgence really is, read about the logic behind indulgences, and how they truly are part of God's mercy toward us.
In PART THREE, I will discuss the history of indulgences and how they have evolved over the years. And I'm betting most of you take away new knowledge about them!
First, please take the time to READ our new Holy Fathers first words to us...


Pope Francis: his first words

"Brothers and sisters good evening.

You all know that the duty of the Conclave was to give a bishop to Rome. It seems that my brother Cardinals have come almost to the ends of the earth to get him… but here we are. I thank you for the welcome that has come from the diocesan community of Rome.

First of all I would say a prayer pray for our Bishop Emeritus Benedict XVI.. Let us all pray together for him, that the Lord bless him and Our Lady protect him.

Our Father…
Hail Mary…
Glory to the Father…

And now let us begin this journey, the Bishop and people, this journey of the Church of Rome which presides in charity over all the Churches, a journey of brotherhood in love, of mutual trust. Let us always pray for one another. Let us pray for the whole world that there might be a great sense of brotherhood. My hope is that this journey of the Church that we begin today, together with help of my Cardinal Vicar, be fruitful for the evangelization of this beautiful city.

And now I would like to give the blessing, but first I want to ask you a favour. Before the bishop blesses the people I ask that you would pray to the Lord to bless me – the prayer of the people for their Bishop. Let us say this prayer – your prayer for me – in silence.

[The Protodeacon announced that all those who received the blessing, either in person or by radio, television or by the new means of communication receive the plenary indulgence in the form established by the Church. He prayed that Almighty God protect and guard the Pope so that he may lead the Church for many years to come, and that he would grant peace to the Church throughout the world.]

[Immediately afterwards Pope Francis gave his first blessing Urbi et Orbi – To the City and to the World.]

I will now give my blessing to you and to the whole world, to all men and women of good will.

Brothers and sisters, I am leaving you. Thank you for your welcome. Pray for me and I will be with you again soon.
We will see one another soon.

Tomorrow I want to go to pray the Madonna, that she may protect Rome.

Good night and sleep well!"
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I think I'm going to like this guy. A lot.
So- back to that speech- note the part I have highlighted. There is a PLENARY INDULGENCE connected to that blessing!!!! So if you saw it- in just about any way you might have seen it- you are eligible for the indulgence!!

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So- how do you GET an indulgence? You must be a Catholic in a state of grace ( see #3) at least by the time you have completed the indulgence.

Indulgences are connected to an EVENT or an action. My initial reason for this series was to explain the indulgence connected to the Year of Faith. As we can see, the Urbi et Orbi Blessing ( to the city and to the world) is an indulgenced event.  Other indulgenced events include being present at: a First Eucharist, an Ordination, time spent in adoration, a visit to a cemetery, your parish's titular feast, reading scripture, praying the Stations of the Cross ( special props if you do it in Jerusalem :-) )  This list is NOT complete- you can google Enchiridion (en-keer-ID-ee-on) of Indulgences for a more exhaustive treatment. Be sure you look at a list dated 1999 or later.

During the Pauline Year, indulgenced events included attending Mass at a parish named for St. Paul. During the Jubilee year, Bishops selected locations within their Dioceses as "pilgrimage" sights. In the diocese of Toledo, Bishop Blair designated the Shrine at Carey. The Feast of St Peter and Paul (June 29) is indulgenced. And it's my wedding anniversary! In the month of November, all indulgences are on behalf of the dead (you can apply them to a specific person or let the Lord decide).


Within a reasonable amount of time ( generally a week or so before and after the indulgenced event), complete the following:

1.You must participate in the event to obtain the indulgence, and you MUST have the intention of obtaining the indulgence. You can't sin by accident, and consequently- you can't get an indulgence by accident either!
2. Receive Holy Eucharist.
3. Make a sacramental Confession. (This brings you into the required state of grace)
4. Pray for the Intentions of the Holy Father. ( these change monthly and are available HERE )
5. (This is the tough one!) Have a complete detachment from all sin- even venial sin.

You may obtain ONE plenary (complete) indulgence per day, and it may be applied to yourself or offered for the dead, but NOT to another living person. 

If you do not successfully complete the plenary indulgence, you still get a partial indulgence. More on those terms in PART TWO.    <===click here

 

Indulge Me ( Part TWO).... What Indulgences REALLY are, and Why YOU Should Get One!

In Part ONE, we learned how to obtain an indulgence. There is absolutely NOTHING that we can do to make up to the Lord for our sins, all of which offend him greatly. Nothing. That is why Jesus had to die on the cross. It was our only hope. God is merciful, but he is also just, and justice demands that we offer some sort of action to show our sorrow for having offended God. That is what an indulgence does: it is a series of actions that in no way makes up for our offenses, yet our merciful Lord accepts them as our humble apology and promise to do better. Through indulgences, the Lord offers us a way to remove the stain of sin from our souls because only that which is pure and clean and holy may enter heaven...and very few people have ever died that ready to walk through the pearly gates. The graces and mercy we receive through indulgences are not based on our own merits or works, but solely on the infinite merits of  Jesus Christ.

Indulgences show us the mercy of God in relation to the justice of God.

Indulgences have changed over the years, as we will see in Part THREE. 
For now, let's look at how indulgences WORK.

Indulgences are defined as "the remission of the temporal punishment due for sins that have already been sacramentally forgiven." There's a lot in that sentence....

Imagine  you have stolen something. You are arrested and tried. Let's even say you plead guilty and are truly sorry for the crime. OK, no biggie. The justice system just lets you go. You ARE sorry, after all. That is how it works, right?

Of course not. Even if you plead guilty, you still have a sentence for the crime, a just punishment. Let's say it was a small item, and they give you 6 months in jail.

Serve your time, and it is all behind you, right?

Wrong. You have paid for your crime, but you still have a record. Every time you fill out a job application, you need to put you have been convicted of theft. Your past still follows you, it stains you, so to speak.

That is what sin does to our souls. Sin stains us. When we go to confession, the Lord forgives our sins (Christ after all, paid the punishment- "did the time"- on the cross for all of our sins- even the ones we never confess)- they are washed away...but the stain of sin remains on our souls.

Returning to our example, let's say you fulfill the terms of your post-release, report to your parole officer, do community service and become a fine and upstanding citizen. You can petition the court, show them what you have done, say you have learned your lesson. If they agree, they will seal- or perhaps even expunge- your record. Then you no longer need to put anything about it on job applications- it is as good as gone.

THAT is what an indulgence does! It wipes clean your record. ... Remember purgatory from earlier posts? Purgatory is where we remain until we are purged from any stain of sins for which we have already been forgiven we have when we die. Remember- purgatory is for those who are saved. Indulgences help us cleanse our sins here, in this life. And the really cool part about them? We can gain indulgences for the deceased! The Communion of Saints in action! We cannot, however, obtain indulgences for other living people. They are for ourselves or for the deceased.

Returning to the two types of indulgences, a plenary indulgence is "complete," a removal of all punishment due for sins which have already been sacramentally forgiven. If you don't get the plenary when it is available, you still get a partial.

Indulgences have changed over the years, so let's back up and take a look at the history of indulgences in part THREE.<====click here

Catholic Social Justice- Part One ( and HABEMUS PAPAM!!!)

One of my pet peeves is the misrepresentation of Catholic Social Justice Teaching. Mostly because people either completely misunderstand Church teaching on the matter or they intentionally distort the truth and cherry-pick quotations to suit their purposes.

This is the first of a series of posts about this wonderful body of teachings given to us by the lord through his Church. It will not be an exhaustive treatment; I hope, rather, to break the larger concept into bite-size pieces and present them so that those of you who take the time to read will (hopefully) learn something new or gain a fresh perspective.

What IS social justice teaching?

Catholic social justice teaching refers to a collection of principles that guide a person in making decisions about their behavior in the world-specifically, behavior toward others and especially those less fortunate. It is an example of development of doctrine: the teachings have always been true, but they have not always been put to paper or formally taught as a single body.

Rerum Novarum (by Pope Leo XIII in 1891) and Quadragesimo Ano ( by Pius Xi in1931) are often cited as examples of early formal social justice teaching. In truth, social justice teaching goes back to Christ- and even reaches into the Old Testament. Social justice teachings remind us to be grateful for the blessings we have from the Lord, and to not be greedy about what we have.

Old Testament social justice directives include:
Deuteronomy 15- Loans to other Israelites must be interest free, and in the end of the seven year (sabbatical) cycle, those free loans are to be forgiven. The Israelites were called upon to help their countrymen who needed it- and to always be mindful of the debt that owe to the Lord, who provided the abundance they had to be able to share with those in need.  

Levitucus 23:22- When harvesting a field, you must leave some of the crop behind for gleaners. This allows the poor to work for their share of the grain, rather than begging for it...preserving their dignity. Remember, too-this gleaning was key in the story of Ruth...who becasme an ancestor of Jesus Christ.

I could go on and on. I won't right now, because there is much to say over the series.

In conclusion- I first celebrate and offer a prayer for Pope Francis I, who was elected only 2 hours ago. I had planned this series on social justice for some time and his election tells me the nudging came from the Holy Spirit!

Lord, strengthen your servant Francis I. Fill him with your Holy Spirit, that he may faithfully fill the shoes of the Fisherman and guide the world closer to Jesus Christ. Amen.