SEED FALLING BY THE WAY SIDE

 A SERMON FOR SEXAGESIMA SUNDAY

There’s a lot of seed being planted in today’s parable, and most of it is ending up where it doesn’t belong: on rocky ground, among the thorns, and by the way side.  This seed doesn’t produce any fruit.  The parable is interpreted for us by our Lord himself, and he tells us that the seed represents the word of God.  So it’s not a question that any of this seed is bad seed.  Like the word of God, it must all be good, very good, so the blame for why it fails to produce fruit rests not on the quality of the seed but on the ground on which it falls—and even more so, on the aim of the sower who sows the seed.  In other words, it’s up to us to make sure that this seed falls on good ground so that it isn’t wasted.

The word of God comes to us in many ways.  When we pray and meditate on the sacred mysteries, when we read holy Scripture and other spiritual books, as we get closer to God and understand better what he wants of us, we come to realize what a tremendous treasure is available to us in this word of God.  Indeed there are so many ways that we can avail ourselves of this infinite treasury that we can’t possibly ever hope to benefit from all of them.  But there are some that would be a great pity to waste, and I’d like to concentrate on just one of them today.

Like so many of these graces, this one was first thrown out on to the rocky ground by the Protestants, just one more example of how Martin Luther and the sheep he led astray reject the gifts God gave them through the Church.  Sacraments tossed by the wayside, the intercession of our Lady and the saints, the very presence of God in the Holy Eucharist, and so the list goes on.  But today I’d like to focus on just one of these beautiful gifts from God—Indulgences. 

We’ve been made to feel guilty about Indulgences.  The propaganda that is constantly being hurled against the Catholic Church, her practices and her history, has succeeded in putting Catholics on the defensive.  Some Catholics even start believing the propaganda themselves, and start feeling guilty about issues like Galileo, the crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, and yes, Indulgences.  But before we hang our heads in shame at the abuses which drove Martin Luther and his followers to quit the Catholic Church and reject the whole notion of Indulgences, we should examine their true history and nature.  A short Sunday sermon is never going to be adequate in doing this, so I would encourage you, especially those of you who have your doubts about Indulgences, to look up Indulgences online in the Catholic Encyclopedia.

Very briefly, an Indulgence is the remission of the temporal punishment due to sin, the guilt of which has already been forgiven.  We know that through the Sacrament of Penance our sins are forgiven.  We walk out of the confessional in the state of grace, with a clean soul free from the stain of sin.  It’s a good feeling, and obviously so much more.  But what about making satisfaction for those sins that were just absolved.  There still remains a debt to pay.  Our neighbor might forgive us for breaking the lawn mower he lent us, but we still owe him a new lawn mower.  We still owe God something for the manifold offences we’ve committed against him.  The penance given to us by the priest who absolves us is part of that satisfaction, and must have been fulfilled in order to gain an indulgence, and then it is these indulgences that help us complete that satisfaction in this life instead of in Purgatory.  That’s why it’s so important to go to confession frequently.  We can’t work on gaining any indulgences unless our sins have been forgiven and sacramental satisfaction has been made for them.  Confessing our sins opens up to us the Church’s treasury that flow from the infinite merits of Christ and the abundant merits of his saints.  Indulgences are a very important part of that treasury, seeds of grace that deserve to be sowed on the fertile ground of souls free from mortal sin.

The authority of the Church in this matter is clear.  She derives this authority to bestow indulgences, in other words, to commute the penalty still attached to a sin that has been forgiven, from Christ himself.  When our blessed Lord established the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, he gave to St. Peter and his successors what we call the “power of the keys.”  “I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven,” he declared; “and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”  In so declaring, Christ is bestowing power on the Church, which will be observed and ratified by God himself.  We know from Scripture that our Lord gave the apostles the power to forgive sin.  With the power of the keys, it follows that the Church has the power not only to forgive the guilt of sin but also to remit the penalties due to that sin.  I’ll leave it to you to think about that later, and to thank God for providing such a tremendous gift to us.  But now, it’s up to us to use this gift and use it wisely, making sure this good seed does not fall by the way side and get wasted.

As you know, an indulgence can be either plenary or partial.  The plenary indulgence remits all temporal punishment due to sin, so that no further expiation will be required in Purgatory.  A partial indulgence commutes only a certain portion of the penalty. For example, there’s a 500-day indulgence for kissing your scapular when you put it on or take it off.  Contrary to popular belief, this does not mean you get out of Purgatory 500 days earlier every time you kiss your scapular.  No, a certain effort is demanded of the faithful.  But indulgences make that effort a lot easier!  To say that an indulgence of so many days or years is granted means that it cancels an amount of punishment in Purgatory equivalent to that which would have been remitted, in the sight of God, by the performance of so many days or years of the ancient canonical penance. More simply put, when you kiss your scapular and fulfill the other conditions, it is as though you were doing 500 days of very strict penance.  Lent is only 40 days, so do the math.  500 days—that’s a lot of penance, and the type of penance which was done in the Middle Ages was much stricter than our little Lenten sacrifices, that’s for sure.  To perform 500 days of such penance would be extremely meritorious if done properly, but in her mercy the Church has allowed us to fulfill these obligations by a simple act like kissing our scapular.  How can we possibly waste such opportunities?

Indulgences may be applied to oneself or to the souls in Purgatory.  While we cannot apply Indulgences to the living, the poor souls in Purgatory have no way to make satisfaction for their sins except through their terrible sufferings—or with our help.  They cannot help themselves, but we have the great privilege of being able to help them.  Our prayers and penances, particularly our indulgenced prayers and penances, are the most efficient way we have, outside of having Masses said, of aiding our departed loved ones and the other forgotten souls in Purgatory.  This is charity, the love of neighbor commanded by Christ himself.  It follows that we have a duty to gain as many Indulgences as we can.  And yet, how much time do we spend on making sure that our actions are geared to have this effect?  How much effort do we put into gaining Indulgences for the Poor Souls?

So today, as we approach the penitential season of Lent (it begins one week from Wednesday), let’s prepare ourselves so that we’re able to receive as many Indulgences as we can.  There are certain conditions that must be observed.

The first of these conditions is to be in the state of grace.  So let’s start by making our Shrovetide Confession and Communion.  Only by being in the state of grace can we avail ourselves of an Indulgence.  We must, therefore, have been absolved from all mortal sin.  To receive a Plenary Indulgence, not only Confession but also Holy Communion is necessary, either in the day or two before performing the indulgenced act, or within the eight days following.  For a Partial Indulgence, we must at least have a contrite heart. 

Secondly, to receive any Indulgence we must have the intention to receive it—it’s not enough to perform the act or say the prayer, not knowing that there’s an indulgence attached, or not thinking about it.  Naturally, we must also follow any instructions specific to the action or prayer in question, for example, the times and places required for the November 2^nd Toties Quoties Indulgence.

Thirdly, and don’t be put off by this one, we must include “prayers for the intentions of the Sovereign Pontiff.”  While you might wonder what happens if there is no Sovereign Pontiff, or worse yet, what “Pope Francis’s” avowed “Intention of the Month might be (an end of global warming, the overthrow of capitalism, the abolition of the traditional Latin Mass, or who knows what), there’s no need to worry.  We can still pray for the four intentions of the Holy See that never change.  They are: 1) the progress of the Faith and triumph of the Church; 2) peace and union among Christian Princes and Rulers; 3) the conversion of sinners; and 4) the uprooting of heresy.  Nothing wrong with those intentions, so make sure you pray for them.  A simple Our Father and a Hail Mary will suffice.

Once we’ve prepared our souls by being in the state of grace, and our minds by familiarizing ourselves with the other conditions, our Lenten preparation should continue with a little research to find out which prayers and actions have Indulgences attached to them.  The best way is to have in your home a copy of The Raccolta, the official manual of indulgences authorized by the Holy See.  It contains all the prayers and devotions enriched by these indulgences.  The 1957 pre-Vatican II edition is still in print and available online.

We’re almost halfway through Shrovetide, so there isn’t much time left to prepare.  Pick up your Raccolta and make your resolutions.  It’s a thick book and there are plenty of ways to help our dear departed this Lent, so let’s make sure we don’t miss out on any of those seeds being sprinkled from the Church’s treasury.  Make it your hobby to gather up as many Indulgences as you can, so they don’t fall by the way side.  Be the good ground on which these seeds of grace may bear fruit, and come to the aid of our brethren, members of the Church Suffering.  Let’s try to apply for as many Indulgences as we can possibly devise, and fill this Lent with as many acts of charity as we possibly devise.