Jesus continues His eschatological parables today in our reading from Luke. Our task this week is discern the meaning of these promissory notes.
I have come to think of promissory notes as what we owe for the broken windows in our lives, if you recall my homily from a couple of weeks ago. The broken windows represent the temporal punishment for our sins.
Indulgences are the remission of temporal punishment for any sins that have been forgiven through the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
In a partial indulgence our measures owed may be reduced by some amount. Using the examples from Scripture, the measure owed could be reduced from one hundred to fifty, one hundred to eighty, or to some other value depending on the nature of the indulgence.
In a plenary indulgence, it is reduced to zero measures owed; meaning a complete remission of what we owe. Or to paraphrase what Jesus said to Saint Faustina, our debt to His justice is fully paid off.
The grace from the Cross is applied through the Sacrament of Reconciliation in terms of forgiveness for the fault of our sins. The grace from the Cross can also be a remedy for what we owe for the temporal consequences of our sins. When we receive that grace through prayer, fasting, and/or almsgiving, it is called an indulgence.
After my homily on purgatory a couple of weeks ago, I received a few questions about how to reduce our time in purgatory. It really comes down to two things.
The first is to become as fully conformed to Christ as we can possibly be in our mortal life. I am sure to talk more about this in another homily.
The other is to routinely gain plenary indulgences. The Church, through the charism of binding and loosing, has given us several prescriptions for obtaining indulgences.
Opportunities to receive plenary indulgences are far more common than many realize (and opportunities for partial indulgences are even more common). For example, visiting a church on the anniversary that its altar was consecrated appears to be an opportunity for a plenary indulgence. The Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis was consecrated on June 29th. Therefore, visiting the Basilica on June 29th is an opportunity for a plenary indulgence. I believe the same is true for our parish altars as well.
Visiting any Franciscan Church (such as Saint Anthony's in south Saint Louis) on August 2nd is an opportunity to receive the Porziuncola Pardon.
Eucharistic adoration, Stations of the Cross, and going on a retreat are other opportunities for a plenary indulgence that you can receive at almost any time.
New Years Eve, New Years Day, Divine Mercy Sunday, and each day of the Easter Triduum are all opportunities to gain a plenary indulgence. There are many others.
There is a document called The Enchiridion of Indulgences, which lists "nearly every" plenary and partial indulgence that is available in the treasury of the Church.
As we avail ourselves to this vast treasury of mercy, we must keep in mind that there are some conditions to receiving a plenary indulgence that we need to meet:
1. Complete the prayer or work prescribed for a particular indulgence; such as praying the Stations of the Cross on a Friday, visiting the Blessed Sacrament in Adoration, visiting a particular church on a particular day, going on a retreat, or whatever may be called for by a particular indulgence.
2. Detachment from all sin, even venial.
This may be the most challenging requirement as it is also related to our conformity to Christ. The more attached we are to things of the world and the flesh, the less conformed to Christ we are. We need to take a serious look at our attachments and make progress toward divesting ourselves of those attachments. Looking at our internet history, looking at patterns of sin, and looking at things that make us angry (or feel other negative emotions) could give us some clues to things from which we need to detach. I’ll unpack this more in a future homily.
3. Sacrament of Reconciliation
Generally speaking, you can receive Reconciliation 20 days before or 20 days after for receiving the indulgence. Since it is important to be in a state of grace in order to receive an indulgence, I’d recommend receiving Reconciliation within a week prior to receiving the indulgence.
4. Holy Communion
We must receive Holy Communion on the specific day that we intend to receive the plenary indulgence, preferably within the context of a Mass. This is different from Reconciliation where we have a 40-day window to receive the sacrament. We must receive the Eucharist on the same day we receive the indulgence.
5. Prayer for the intentions of the pope.
Mass generally includes a petition related to the intentions of the Pope. The Pope also has monthly intentions that you can refer to and pray for. Many people will pray an Our Father and a Hail Mary for the Pope’s intentions, but this is just a suggestion and not a requirement as long as the Pope’s intentions are prayed for in some fashion..
If you are homebound and watching this online, and therefore unable to travel places to fulfill the requirement, I believe there is a Saint Dismas approach to these requirements that I would be happy to discuss in a particular situation. Saint Dismas was the good thief on the Cross, a reminder that God will meet us where we are in our difficulties so that we may avail ourselves to His fount of mercy.
In the meantime, we can rejoice that Jesus has given us opportunities to, as He said to Saint Faustina, “draw all the indulgences from the treasury of My Church”. These gifts of grace can be applied to either ourselves or to a loved one in purgatory to reduce the promissory note owed for our broken windows down to zero. What an incredible gift of mercy.
Indeed, through indulgences, the Lord reveals to the nations His saving power.
Thanks be to God!
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