Pastor’s Letter: March 16, 2025

Pastor’s Letter: March 16, 2025

14 Mar 2025 | Posted by: chadmin

Dear St. Philomena Parish Family,

Blessed week to you all! I hope everyone is well—it is hard to believe we are already so far into Lent! I pray you all are enjoying a fruitful time of prayer and growth! As I mentioned two weeks ago, here is a more in depth review of indulgences which will hopefully help us understand how good and helpful they are…and hopefully give us good incentive to receive these special gifts available during our Diocese’s 150th Anniversary celebration.

What is an indulgence? What is the difference between a plenary and partial indulgence? What do you do to get these special graces?  Ok, first of all…let me say the best explanation I’ve seen was about 12 pages long! In an attempt to keep from breaking the record for length of our bulletin, I’ll try to summarize Church teaching on indulgences. For many, “indulgence” might be a scary word. Also, unfortunately there is a shady part of Church History regarding indulgences. There was a point where these special graces were being sold or traded for donations to fund Church building projects. This is never acceptable! We should note that only a small number of individuals were responsible for this…yet unfortunately, the name has been marred because of that history. Hopefully, in this summary we can reclaim good sentiment for the gift of indulgences!

So, I’ll start with a blanket statement…Indulgences are a GOOD thing! Pope Paul VI taught, “An indulgence is a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven, which the faithful Christian who is duly disposed gains under certain prescribed conditions through the actions of the Church which, as the minister of redemption, dispenses and applies with authority the treasury of the satisfactions of Christ and the saints.” That is a packed paragraph! Let’s try to break it down a little.

To better understand indulgences, we need to understand what happens when we fall into serious sin: We separate ourselves from God and (unfortunately) we strengthen our attachment to sin. The first part, we all understand from when we are young, but what about the second part? Because of our fallen nature, we are vulnerable to creating sinful habits (vices, for another name). Whenever we sin, we become more vulnerable to falling into that same sin again. Have you ever had a sprained ankle? Do you know how, even after it heals, you have to be careful that you don’t re-sprain it? Sin often works in a similar way. We commit the sin, feel sorry, go to Confession to begin anew, but then find that we are still weak and vulnerable to committing that sin again. Unfortunately, the more deeply rooted a sin is in us, the more vulnerable we are. This is what we are talking about when we say there is an attachment to sin. Ok, Father, but how does that fit in? This is where we are going to connect to the phrase “temporal punishment due to sins.”

Temporal punishment is any punishment that isn’t eternal. Maybe the word punishment can be distracting for us, but really what we are talking about here is purification of the soul so we can be with God. God is perfectly holy, and to be with Him we must also be holy.  Joyfully, we are cleansed of sins in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, but that second kind of damage we just talked about above (attachment to sin) needs to be repaired through acts of penance and charity. That is, the best way to overcome a bad habit (vice) is to replace it with a good habit (virtue). Over time, we can build up a life of virtue that heals us from attachment to sins and helps us become less vulnerable to falling back into old sins.

Do we have to do this alone? Not at all! The beauty of the Christian Faith is that we are all in this together. Since we all share in the life of Christ through our baptism, we are united in His victory and in the many ways we all share His victory—the merits of good graces and works. Since we are united, we are able to “offer” particular graces for our intentions (This is where offering intentions for the Mass also comes in.). That is why I could offer a time of fasting for someone I know in need, or I could offer a time of prayer for a person who is sick, or I could offer a rosary for a family going through rough times, and on and on. Above all, the Church, which has the power of the keys (given to St. Peter) is able to dispense the “Treasury of Graces of the Church” as needed. That is, the Church, by the merits of the victory of Christ, and all the saints and Christians who share in that victory, is able to extend the fruits of those graces to those who need it. This is what we properly call an “indulgence.”

When the Church grants an indulgence, it is a gift. This is why indulgences should never have been associated with money! The Church can say how significant the gift is (A full or plenary vs. a partial indulgence comes in here.). As our Catechism teaches, “An indulgence is partial or plenary according as it removes either part or all of the temporal punishment due to sin” (CCC 1471).

What are some examples of a partial indulgence? Partial Indulgences are gained for: Praying the Magnificat or Hail Holy Queen; Praying Acts of Faith, Hope, and Charity, and the Creed; Making the Sign of the Cross; A visit to the Blessed Sacrament; or a visit to a cemetery just to name a few.  A few examples of Plenary Indulgences:  Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament for at least a half hour; Scripture reading for at least a half hour; Praying the Stations of the Cross; Praying the Rosary in church, with a family group, or with a religious community; or the blessing from a newly ordained priest, again, to name a few.

Are there any conditions we have to fulfill to gain these graces? There are sometimes requirements given to help us receive the gift of the indulgence fruitfully or to help do our small part in adding to the treasury of graces in Christ. The Catechism goes on to say, “the faithful can gain indulgences for themselves or apply them to the dead.” Conditions for a Plenary (full) Indulgence are: Reconciliation/Confession, reception of Holy Communion, and saying a prayer for the intentions of the Holy Father. Usually, these are done within a reasonable time of each other (whenever your first opportunities for Mass, Confession, and Prayer are).

Although this was a somewhat BRIEF (!) overview, I hope it gives at least a general understanding of indulgences and why they are favorable for our hearts! There actually is an entire book listing different indulgences if anyone is interested: Manual of Indulgences. No doubt, many may be already receiving indulgences without even realizing it! =)

Know of my prayers and blessing this week!

In Christ,

Father Luke