The ripple effect: a study of indulgences

Daily Catholic ^ | September 15, 2004 | Jacob Michael

[sinkspur]

Thanks for posting an article addressing the single most pressing issue in the Church today.

[Canticle_of_Deborah]

You know, you complain about the endless trad vs. N.O. wars, then when someone posts something different about Catholic theology you are the first person to hurl an insult.

Thanks for attempting to destroy yet another thread with your ugly behavior.

[pascendi]

That's just plain messed up, man. Why do you do that?

[sinkspur]

Is this not something that keeps Catholics up at night?

Why, just today, I was trying to figure out whether saying the Angelus at noon would get me 1,000 days, or, if I waited five minutes and combined the Angelus with the Memorare, if I couldn't squeeze another 500 days out of it.

We need to know these things.

[pascendi]

"We need to know these things."

Figuring as how Holy Mother Church is the origin of them, I would say you're right.

Has the Church been wrong regarding these things?

[sinkspur]

That's just plain messed up, man. Why do you do that?

I've got lots of time coming to me in Purgatory. Don't you?

I'd rather get a plenary and take care of it all at once. Whacking this down days at a time is taxing my mathematical skills.

[sinkspur]

Has the Church been wrong regarding these things?

Why, no. Can I get a plenary?

[pascendi]

"I've got lots of time coming to me in Purgatory. Don't you?"

Probably.

"I'd rather get a plenary and take care of it all at once."

Not a bad idea. However, among other things, to be effective it requires one to be free from all attachment to venial sin.

[Fool for Christ]

Thank you for posting this article. I found it refreshing and enriching. There's always the danger of looking at it purely as a 'numbers game,' but if anything, I got the opposite impression from the post. Reflecting on the differences between God's mercy and God's wrath can be particularly fruitful - especially during trying times.

[sinkspur]

However, among other things, to be effective it requires one to be free from all attachment to venial sin.

Actually, it doesn't. One only has to free of venial sin, which can be accomplished through the penitential rite at Mass.

While we're on this, what do I get if I spend an hour with a woman in a nursing home?

Or, does that not count? Do I have to say some prayer to get this plenary indulgence, or can I earn it through ministering to some of God's forgotten people?

[Canticle_of_Deborah]

Welcome to FR.

What brought you from agnosticism to Catholicism?

[sinkspur]

I will continue in this vein in a future installment, but for now I would like to leave you with the fact that Holy Mother Church has given us many prayers, short ejaculations, and devotional acts that are attached to indulgences, and it is to our own loss if we do not make use of them.

So saying formulaic prayers is the only way I can gain an indulgence?

I get nothing for spending an hour listening to a lonely woman in a nursing home tell me about her life?

I get nothing for being a Big Brother to a fatherless kid?

Help me out here.

[pascendi]

"Actually, it doesn't. One only has to free of venial sin, which can be accomplished through the penitential rite at Mass."

Nope. It's free from all attachment to venial sin.

"While we're on this, what do I get if I spend an hour with a woman in a nursing home?"

In the name of charity, I will forego a most amusing and sarcastic question.

[sinkspur]

In the name of charity, I will forego a most amusing and sarcastic question.

In the name of reality, you have no answer to the question.

[Fool for Christ]

Thanks for the welcome. I suppose anyone who answered that would ultimately say 'God.' In my case, it was through what used to be known as the Saint Ignatius Institute within the University of San Francisco. Unfortunately it was canned by the Jesuit president (it exists in name only today) for being too Catholic.

[Canticle_of_Deborah]

the Saint Ignatius Institute within the University of San Francisco. Unfortunately it was canned by the Jesuit president (it exists in name only today) for being too Catholic.

Yes, I've heard :-(

[Canticle_of_Deborah]

I'll answer.

Works without faith and love are dead.

[pascendi]

"I get nothing for spending an hour listening to a lonely woman in a nursing home tell me about her life? I get nothing for being a Big Brother to a fatherless kid?"

Comforting the afflicted in a rest home, one of the corporal works of mercy. Virtue is its own reward.

"Help me out here."

The Lord helps those who help themselves. Look, you're fixating on what's genuine charity in one domain to the exclusion of a higher charity in another. The Blessed Virgin's simple Fiat made way for the Incarnation, which made possible the defeat of Satan and the salvation of souls from an inevitable eternal Hell. Repeating the angelic salutation in the course of a formulaic Hail Mary is no small matter. You can't ignore forumulaic prayer in favor of corporal works of mercy, or make the case that the two are synonymous with each other. They are distinct.

The Masons do lots of charity stuff. Lots of people do charity stuff. Is it all bad? No. Are there various reasons why it is done? Yes. Are there ulterior motives? Sometimes. Does it all flow from supernatural virtue? No; some of it is just natural virtue. You're talking about two different things, sink.

[Smocker]

Thanks, good article.

Don't forget to pray for the Poor Souls in Purgatory to alleviate their suffering, especially those who are forgotten, have died in wars, and have no one to pray for them.