Editor’s note: This Jubilee Year 2025, with its theme “Pilgrims of Hope,” offers opportunities to receive indulgences. In this column, Father Tom Margevicius, director of the Office of Worship in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, dives into ways to understand this gift and grace.
The Gospel of John includes one of the most powerful episodes in Jesus’ ministry (Jn 8:1-11). When his antagonists throw at his feet a woman caught in the act of adultery, they try to trick Jesus into disregarding either his message of mercy or the law of Moses (which required her to be stoned). We know his famous response: “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone.” Her accusers depart quietly without executing justice or further challenging Jesus. Then Jesus tells the woman: “Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do not sin anymore.” That two-fold reply neatly summarizes the Church’s teaching on indulgences: You are forgiven; and don’t sin anymore.
To understand the Church’s practice regarding indulgences, “it is necessary to understand that sin has a double consequence,” says the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC 1472). “Grave sin deprives us of communion with God and therefore makes us incapable of eternal life, the privation of which is called the ‘eternal punishment’ of sin.” This is what the sacrament of penance accomplishes: remitting eternal punishment. “On the other hand,” CCC 1472 continues, “every sin, even venial, entails an unhealthy attachment to creatures, which must be purified either here on earth, or after death in the state called Purgatory. This purification frees one from what is called the ‘temporal punishment’ of sin.”
Our archdiocesan patron St. Paul bares his soul to the Romans: “I do not do the good I want, but I do the evil I do not want. … I take delight in the law of God in my inner self, but I see in my members another principle at war with the law of my mind, taking me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Miserable one that I am! Who will deliver me from this mortal body?” (Rom 7:19-24) We resonate with his sentiments; even if we do not choose to sin, there still exists something inside of us that wants to sin. We’re attached to it. Moral theologians call this concupiscence, the disordered desire to do what we know harms us spiritually (see CCC 1264).
In “The Odyssey,” the Sirens were mythical creatures who lived on remote rocky outcrops in the sea. They were so beautiful to behold, and even more, to hear singing, that sailors could not resist sailing toward them, only to crash upon the rocks and die. To prevent that, the ship captain Odysseus told his sailors to tie him securely to the ship mast, then stuff their own ears with beeswax as they approached the Sirens. Only he could hear their irresistible voices, and though he pleaded with his sailors to untie him, they did not hear him either and the ship sailed onward safely.
Indulgences are like that mast-rope and beeswax. They are practical actions we take so we will not feel the Sirens’ pull toward destruction. As Jesus told the woman caught in adultery, he wants us not only to be forgiven; he wants us to not want to sin anymore. Sacramental confession remits sins’ eternal punishment; indulgences remit their temporal punishment. Confession keeps us from shipwrecking our souls; indulgences block our desires from heeding to temptation.
That is why the Church ordinarily includes not only certain prayers — the Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be, Apostles’ Creed — in the spiritual exercises that constitute an indulgence; it also invites us to perform bodily actions like making a pilgrimage to a designated church, going to sacramental confession and attending Mass. These external actions help us realize that it is not enough simply to desire to sin no more; we have to do something practical to retrain our desires according to God’s will.
Even after Odysseus was tied to the mast, he still wanted to give in to the Sirens. But his fellow sailors prevented him. The Church teaches that indulgences may be attained not only for ourselves — like affixing ourselves to the mast of Christ to keep us from giving in to sin’s attractions — but also for the souls in purgatory, like putting wax in their ears. We want even our faithful departed to no longer feel the attraction to sin. We want them to be freed, like St. Paul, from the torment of desiring what they know would harm them. We want them too to be purified from the temporal punishment of sin.
Jesus entrusted to St. Peter and his successors the “power of the keys:” “Whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven” (Mt 16:19). That means the Church on Earth has the authority to determine what actions here can assist those who have passed into their eternal reward. It is comforting to know that if I carry out certain spiritual and corporal works of mercy, the Church guarantees that she can apply those graces to those in purgatory.
Indulgences can be either partial or plenary. Partial indulgences typically involve fewer spiritual and corporal works of mercy and assist in remitting some of the temporal punishment of sin. Plenary indulgences, on the other hand, because they involve more extensive internal and external works, can remit all temporal punishment for sin.
I imagine the woman caught in adultery felt relieved the day Jesus absolved her and dismissed her. But the next day she may have woken up and wondered whether it was all a dream; she may have once again felt inside her heart the desire to return to her paramour. That’s why the Church says we may obtain a new plenary indulgence every day. Yesterday’s graces may feel remote, and our spiritual ears may need a fresh dose of wax.
Pope Francis has decreed that the Jubilee Year 2025 includes the opportunity to obtain a plenary indulgence. Let us take advantage of this opportunity to free ourselves and our beloved faithful departed from the temporal punishment for sin.
JUBILEE YEAR INDULGENCES
In his homily during Masses the weekend of Dec. 28-29, 2024, to open Jubilee Year 2025 in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, Archbishop Bernard Hebda outlined four steps the faithful could take to participate as “Pilgrims of Hope” and in the grace of indulgences that are promised. They are:
- Undertake a pilgrimage to the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis or the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul; or engage in an act of charity for migrants, the elderly, someone in prison, living in poverty or in some other area of need.
In addition:
- Make a sacramental confession
- Attend Mass and/or receive holy Communion
- Offer a prayer for the intention of the Holy Father
St. Maron in Minneapolis, a Maronite Catholic church, also is a Catholic pilgrimage site in the archdiocese, recognized by the Eparchy of Our Lady of Los Angeles Bishop Elias Zaidan as the oldest church (1903) in the 34-state eparchy. Bishop Zaidan chose sites in five other states in the eparchy as pilgrimage sites in the Jubilee Year.
The Vatican “Decree on the Granting of the Indulgence During the Ordinary Jubilee Year 2025 Called by His Holiness Pope Francis” can be found here: usccb.org/resources/jubilee-indulgence-eng
Indulgences: Bestowed through the authority of the Church
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Editor’s note: This Jubilee Year 2025, with its theme “Pilgrims of Hope,” offers opportunities to receive indulgences. In this column, Father Tom Margevicius, director of the Office of Worship in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, dives into ways to understand this gift and grace.
The Gospel of John includes one of the most powerful episodes in Jesus’ ministry (Jn 8:1-11). When his antagonists throw at his feet a woman caught in the act of adultery, they try to trick Jesus into disregarding either his message of mercy or the law of Moses (which required her to be stoned). We know his famous response: “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone.” Her accusers depart quietly without executing justice or further challenging Jesus. Then Jesus tells the woman: “Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do not sin anymore.” That two-fold reply neatly summarizes the Church’s teaching on indulgences: You are forgiven; and don’t sin anymore.
To understand the Church’s practice regarding indulgences, “it is necessary to understand that sin has a double consequence,” says the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC 1472). “Grave sin deprives us of communion with God and therefore makes us incapable of eternal life, the privation of which is called the ‘eternal punishment’ of sin.” This is what the sacrament of penance accomplishes: remitting eternal punishment. “On the other hand,” CCC 1472 continues, “every sin, even venial, entails an unhealthy attachment to creatures, which must be purified either here on earth, or after death in the state called Purgatory. This purification frees one from what is called the ‘temporal punishment’ of sin.”
Our archdiocesan patron St. Paul bares his soul to the Romans: “I do not do the good I want, but I do the evil I do not want. … I take delight in the law of God in my inner self, but I see in my members another principle at war with the law of my mind, taking me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Miserable one that I am! Who will deliver me from this mortal body?” (Rom 7:19-24) We resonate with his sentiments; even if we do not choose to sin, there still exists something inside of us that wants to sin. We’re attached to it. Moral theologians call this concupiscence, the disordered desire to do what we know harms us spiritually (see CCC 1264).
In “The Odyssey,” the Sirens were mythical creatures who lived on remote rocky outcrops in the sea. They were so beautiful to behold, and even more, to hear singing, that sailors could not resist sailing toward them, only to crash upon the rocks and die. To prevent that, the ship captain Odysseus told his sailors to tie him securely to the ship mast, then stuff their own ears with beeswax as they approached the Sirens. Only he could hear their irresistible voices, and though he pleaded with his sailors to untie him, they did not hear him either and the ship sailed onward safely.
Indulgences are like that mast-rope and beeswax. They are practical actions we take so we will not feel the Sirens’ pull toward destruction. As Jesus told the woman caught in adultery, he wants us not only to be forgiven; he wants us to not want to sin anymore. Sacramental confession remits sins’ eternal punishment; indulgences remit their temporal punishment. Confession keeps us from shipwrecking our souls; indulgences block our desires from heeding to temptation.
That is why the Church ordinarily includes not only certain prayers — the Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be, Apostles’ Creed — in the spiritual exercises that constitute an indulgence; it also invites us to perform bodily actions like making a pilgrimage to a designated church, going to sacramental confession and attending Mass. These external actions help us realize that it is not enough simply to desire to sin no more; we have to do something practical to retrain our desires according to God’s will.
Even after Odysseus was tied to the mast, he still wanted to give in to the Sirens. But his fellow sailors prevented him. The Church teaches that indulgences may be attained not only for ourselves — like affixing ourselves to the mast of Christ to keep us from giving in to sin’s attractions — but also for the souls in purgatory, like putting wax in their ears. We want even our faithful departed to no longer feel the attraction to sin. We want them to be freed, like St. Paul, from the torment of desiring what they know would harm them. We want them too to be purified from the temporal punishment of sin.
Jesus entrusted to St. Peter and his successors the “power of the keys:” “Whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven” (Mt 16:19). That means the Church on Earth has the authority to determine what actions here can assist those who have passed into their eternal reward. It is comforting to know that if I carry out certain spiritual and corporal works of mercy, the Church guarantees that she can apply those graces to those in purgatory.
Indulgences can be either partial or plenary. Partial indulgences typically involve fewer spiritual and corporal works of mercy and assist in remitting some of the temporal punishment of sin. Plenary indulgences, on the other hand, because they involve more extensive internal and external works, can remit all temporal punishment for sin.
I imagine the woman caught in adultery felt relieved the day Jesus absolved her and dismissed her. But the next day she may have woken up and wondered whether it was all a dream; she may have once again felt inside her heart the desire to return to her paramour. That’s why the Church says we may obtain a new plenary indulgence every day. Yesterday’s graces may feel remote, and our spiritual ears may need a fresh dose of wax.
Pope Francis has decreed that the Jubilee Year 2025 includes the opportunity to obtain a plenary indulgence. Let us take advantage of this opportunity to free ourselves and our beloved faithful departed from the temporal punishment for sin.
In his homily during Masses the weekend of Dec. 28-29, 2024, to open Jubilee Year 2025 in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, Archbishop Bernard Hebda outlined four steps the faithful could take to participate as “Pilgrims of Hope” and in the grace of indulgences that are promised. They are:
In addition:
St. Maron in Minneapolis, a Maronite Catholic church, also is a Catholic pilgrimage site in the archdiocese, recognized by the Eparchy of Our Lady of Los Angeles Bishop Elias Zaidan as the oldest church (1903) in the 34-state eparchy. Bishop Zaidan chose sites in five other states in the eparchy as pilgrimage sites in the Jubilee Year.
The Vatican “Decree on the Granting of the Indulgence During the Ordinary Jubilee Year 2025 Called by His Holiness Pope Francis” can be found here: usccb.org/resources/jubilee-indulgence-eng
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