Indulgences - PART ONE - What is Temporal Punishment?

(Read PART TWO HERE)  (Read PART THREE HERE) (Read PART FOUR HERE)

In Part One I will set the stage for the understanding of indulgences.

(this is taken from Indulgences: Double Your Gift)

Indulgences get a bad wrap because of Martin Luther and the posting of his 95 theses 500+ years ago. His complaint about indulgences concerned the abuse of selling them. But the "abuse doesn't take away its use" as they say. While there were reasons for legitimate complaints and much needed reform about the practice of granting indulgences, the theology that they flow from is so important and beatiful and is a means of connecting so many important aspects of the Catholic Faith. The correct use of indulgences can be life-changing and beneficial in so many ways and is a great blessing!

The term “indulgences” refers to specific prayers and actions, permeated with a spirit of penance, that are an extra-special channel of God’s superabundant, healing grace. Once a person has repented of his sins and, if necessary, received forgiveness from Christ through the Sacrament of Reconciliation, indulgences help to further the healing process that is needed for himself or for a Holy Soul in Purgatory and for the people that have been hurt by his/her sins.

Two-fold Consequence (i.e. Punishment)* of Sin

*Before we get started, please know that the Church uses the words consequence and punishment interchangeably here because in this case, the natural consequences of sin are, in fact, a punishment that naturally flows from sin. There are negative effects set in motion every time we sin but the effects can be greater and much more intense depending on whether the sin is mortal or venial.

(Some of the following is taken from this excellent article )

In order to come to grips with the Church’s teaching on indulgences, one must first understand the Catholic teaching on the two-fold consequence/punishment of sin: namely, the eternal and the temporal.

The eternal consequence of sin refers to hell, the permanent separation from God by persisting in a state of unrepentant mortal sin. Thus, the eternal aspect refers to whether or not we are forgiven.

The temporal consequence of sin, on the other hand, refers to the way in which our sins wound us and others.

God wants not only to forgive our sins, but to heal and transform us.

If we were to imagine our sins as nails driven into a piece of wood, and forgiveness as the removal of those nails, we would still be left with holes in the wood where the nails previously were.

In other words, the work of God is not complete upon mere forgiveness, but seeks to go further through healing and transformation accomplished by our cooperation with supernatural grace through penance & indulgences (i.e., filling in the holes of the wood).

In this light, the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) explains:

“These two punishments [eternal and temporal] must not be conceived of as a kind of vengeance inflicted by God from without, but as following from the very nature of sin” (CCC, 1472).

We know this is true because we see the temporal consequences of sin everywhere. Even after we have repented of our sins and received forgiveness it is still obvious that further healing is necessary, not only for ourselves but also for the people we have hurt by our sins.

“For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption” (Galatians 6:8).

Forgiveness and temporal punishment/consequences are not opposite ends of a spectrum. They are two sides of the same coin. Together, they establish an essential part of the Lord's plan for believers.

Forgiveness is relational. It puts us back into a right relationship with someone. The Father sent Jesus to make a sacrifice on our behalf, and by so doing reconciled us to Himself. By His mercy alone, we can have communion with the Lord.

On the other hand, consequences are circumstantial. Often God does not remove consequences simply because we trust Christ as Savior or confess sin. He leaves them in place for us to struggle with and to grow from for many important reasons. Here are three:

• to learn from our mistakes;
• in order to fortify us for future temptations because when we experience the consequences or realize there is a punishment accrued, it makes it easier to resist future temptations.
• to grow in humility and empathy for others.
  etc.

God gives a punishment (consequence) because He not only wants to forgive us, but to heal and transform us completely not merely superficially.

We do this as parents. When our children get in trouble, and they say they’re sorry, we respond both with forgiveness and their punishment.

The punishment is not for them to earn our forgiveness back, but to redress the disorder wrought in their souls by the wrongdoing.

In Hebrews 12:6-11 we read:

“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor lose courage when you are punished by him. For the Lord disciplines him whom he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives. 7 It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 8 If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 9 Besides this, we have had earthly fathers to discipline us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? 10 For they disciplined us for a short time at their pleasure, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. 11 For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant; later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.”

It’s precisely because we believe in this dual consequence of sin (eternal and temporal) that we: do penance, believe in purgatory, and embrace the doctrine of indulgences. 

Penance

There is a perennial temptation, once we have sinned and repented, to merely sigh sorrowfully without mending our ways but scripture says,

“Bear fruit that befits Repentance” (Matthew 3:8).

The good news is that the principle of reaping and sowing works in a positive way as well. We can sow good seeds that will turn negative situations into positive ones through Penance & Indulgences

"The one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life" (Gal. 6:8).

So, what is Penance?

Penance, in the sense it is being used here, is an act of self-denial or devotion performed voluntarily to show sorrow for a sin or other wrongdoing in an attempt to remedy the negative consequences. Penance is, first and foremost, retribution for wrongdoing such as returning stolen goods, trying to restore a person’s reputation that we have damaged through detraction, calumny or slander, kind acts to a person we have hurt, etc. – this will be different for each person and each sin. As we do all we can to repair the damage we have caused, we precede, accompany and follow those actions with prayer, fasting & almsgiving. Penance, as understood in this way, is a channel of God's grace for the purpose of our own transformation and for the healing the temporal consequences of sins in ourselves and the people affected by our sins.

CCC 1450 – The Acts of the Penitent are Contrition, Confession & Satisfaction.

We are the penitent and the “acts of contrition, confession & satisfaction” are referring to what we have to bring with us (the disposition of our heart) to the Sacrament of Reconciliation in order for it to be a valid confession (this also goes for acts of repentance made outside of the Sacrament of Reconciliation). More than likely we know and understand the need for contrition (true sorrow) and confession (the act of confessing our sins) but we might not know and understand what satisfaction is.

So, what is satisfaction?

Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC)

CCC 1459 SATISFATION DEFINED:

“Many sins wrong our neighbor. One must do what is possible in order to repair the harm (e.g., return stolen goods, restore the reputation of someone slandered, pay compensation for injuries). Simple justice requires as much.

But sin also injures and weakens the sinner himself, as well as his relationships with God and neighbor.

Absolution takes away sin, but it does not remedy all the disorders sin has caused.

Raised up from sin, the sinner must still recover his full spiritual health by doing something more to make amends for the sin: he must "make satisfaction for" or "expiate" his sins. This satisfaction is also called "penance."

Furthermore, penance can be considered a "win/win/win" because it not only helps the person doing it, and the people who have been hurt by our sins, but can also be offered as a prayer of intercession for others not directly involved.

Purgatory

This is where Purgatory comes in. Purgatory is not a second chance or a middle ground. Rather, purgatory is for those who die in friendship with God (i.e., the eternal consequence of sin has been dealt with), but not yet completely purified (i.e., some of the temporal consequence/punishment of sin remains).

God begins his work of transformation in us now and he provides every opportunity to make amends for our sins and every grace we need to grow in this life; if left incomplete upon death, He will complete it in a state called “purgatory (see Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1030, 1054).

In Purgatory, a person can no longer do penance or make satisfaction for himself/herself. They count on us to do it for them. Penance, in the form of indulgences, can be offered for our loved ones who have died and, after having Masses offered for the repose of their soul, is the greatest way of assisting them.

The transformation that results from this is necessary for the Holy Souls in Purgatory to enter into full communion with God. And as always, with God’s Will for us, it also transforms us as we do this. Our transformation is necessary too.

Indulgences flow from penance (satisfaction) and our understanding of purgatory.

IN PART TWO WE WILL GO INTO INDULGENCES IN GREATER DETAIL COVERING THE TREASURY OF THE CHURCH/TREASUREY OF GRACE AND MERIT