Pope Francis invites us to be “pilgrims of hope” during this Jubilee Year. Being pilgrims of hope should be part of the nature of being Christians. Jesus offers us the fundamental, saving hope of eternal life. To follow Jesus means to walk with him as well as walk like him, trusting he will lead us to our eternal home in the Father’s house.
During this Jubilee Year, the Catholic Church is also marking a historical milestone for the teaching magisterium: the 20th anniversary of Pope Benedict XVI’s first encyclical, Deus Caritas Est, promulgated on Christmas Day, 2005. In the encyclical, the late Pope Benedict eloquently reflected on the nature of both human love and divine love. He dedicated a substantial portion of the document to the ways God’s infinite love transforms the human heart and how the disciples of Jesus continue to share the Lord’s gift of divine love through the many charitable works of the Church.
The professorial pope insisted that the charitable works of the Church are not peripheral to the evangelizing mission of the Church, but an essential living dimension of the Catholic Church as the mystical body of Christ.
The Catholic Church reveals her intimate union with the Lord Jesus in three fundamental ways: sacramental Liturgy, proclamation of the word and charity. These vital ecclesial responsibilities complement one another and are inseparable; so much so that neglecting one of these dimensions impoverishes the others. Pope Benedict spoke of them as an intertwined three-fold responsibility. (DCE, 25)
Any active Catholic parish we know easily validates Pope Benedict’s insight. Inspiring, reverential celebrations of the sacrifice of the Mass provide a taste of the truth found in gospel teaching and motivates disciples to love others as Christ has loved us in the Eucharist. Effective proclamation and teaching of the Lord’s Gospel draws young and old to discover Jesus in the sacraments and to serve others as they would serve Christ. The charitable works of the Church transform the world by bringing the merciful bounty of the Eucharistic table into the public square and teaching without words a lesson on God’s endless mercy.
The encyclical, Deus Caritas Est, provides a helpful roadmap for any pilgrim of hope. By personally practicing the three-fold responsibility to proclaim the word of God, celebrate the sacraments and exercise the merciful works of charity, we express to a weary world the saving love of God, in whom we have placed all our hope.
The fortunate convergence of the Jubilee Year with the 20th anniversary of Deus Caritas Est provides a new look into a common Catholic practice -- indulgences. Especially during the celebrations of jubilee years, Christians are encouraged to seek the indulgence of God’s divine grace. Many Catholics have inquired about how such indulgences are granted; others squirm about the seemingly transactional idea of indulgences. Some raise the historical link between the practice of indulgences and the abuses that triggered the Protestant Reformation. Pope Benedict’s teaching on the religious and sacramental nature of charity offers fresh light with which to appreciate practicing works of mercy for the sake of divine indulgence.
First, the Catechism of the Catholic Church offers an interesting perspective on the tradition of indulgences. To look for this teaching, one must turn to the pages on the sacrament of penance (confession). Nothing worthwhile or efficacious for the disciple of Jesus can be separated from the saving work of the Lord. The all-meritorious and powerful work of the paschal mystery, the Lord’s death and resurrection, is what saves us. As St. Paul confessed to us in his letter to the Romans, “Miserable one that I am! Who will deliver me from this mortal body? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Rom 7:24-25) “By his wounds you have been healed,” (I Pt 2:24) said St. Peter in his first letter. So, the Christian is only saved by the merciful work of Jesus. Only by uniting oneself to Christ does the work of a disciple come to share in the redeeming work of the Lord.
For these reasons, we approach the sacrament of penance as sinners so that we may draw nearer to the redeeming cross of Christ. The sacrifice of the cross frees us from our sins. In the sacrament, through the ministry of the priest, we confess our sins to God the Father. Because of his Son’s priestly sacrifice offered for our sake, the Father looks with mercy on the sinner and indulges us with his mercy.
An essential element of the sacrament is the penance prescribed by the minister. Even though the wounds of Jesus have healed us, a penance provides the penitent a salutary way of uniting oneself more closely with the sacrifice of Jesus. Through performing the penance, the remedy Jesus has offered the repentant sinner from the cross enables one to be an instrument for remedying the harm caused by sin. In fulfilling the act of penance, the penitent conforms oneself more to Christ; one’s action conforms to the divine merciful action of absolution offered by Christ through his ordained minister, the priest-confessor.
Following this explanation of the sacrament of confession and the prescribed penance, the catechism instructs us on the practice of indulgences. The section on indulgence begins with the following introduction: “The doctrine and practice of indulgences in the Church are closely linked to the effects of the sacrament of penance.” (CCC, 1471) While the effect of the sacrament of penance overflows with God’s mercy and frees the penitent from the eternal punishment due to grave sin, there often lingers an unhealthy – often habitual – attachment to the passing things of this world. This attachment to what may lead one to sin is one of the effects of sin. With God’s grace, the penance given to the penitent in the sacrament aids to purify oneself and break the chains of sin so that the disciple more freely lives one’s Christian vocation. (CCC, 1472)
The practice of indulgences assists the follower of Jesus in a similar manner. They help us to walk with Jesus and to walk like Jesus. Through performing various spiritual and temporal works of mercy for the sake of further enjoying the indulgence of God’s wisdom and mercy, the disciple is uniting oneself to the crucified Christ in making reparation for sins and remedying the consequences of sin. Indulgences may be practiced for the remission of one’s own sins as well as the sins of others, living and deceased. (CCC, 1475-1476)
In Deus Caritas Est, Pope Benedict insisted on the sacramental character of the works of charity. He connected the Divine Charity flowing from the holy Eucharist to the many works of charity performed by those who have been nourished at the table of the Lord’s sacrifice. (DCE, 14) This prolongation of the sacramental grace from the Eucharist into the world may also be found in the sacrament of penance. The healing and redeeming power of God’s mercy that flowed from the wounded side of Christ to the penitent in confession continues to flow into a broken world through the penance prescribed in the sacrament as well as through the practice of indulgences. (CCC, 1476)
Understanding this marvelous economy of grace during this Jubilee Year, may we more eagerly approach the throne of God’s grace found in the Eucharist and in the sacrament of confession. With the same enthusiasm may we eagerly perform the works of charity and the practice of indulgences as “pilgrims of hope” so that the mercy and wisdom of heaven will flow over the whole earth.